Are there good ones, bad ones, ones that have their error log up to date and available or who don't keep one? Are there ones who don't have much regard for regulations and ones that do?
If you are a locum are you happy to work with one you don't know but are told is alright?
Are you happy with the responsibilities you take for what they do when signed in as responsible pharmacist?
If you are an ACT what issues would you like to raise with pharmacists?
All comments welcome.
Steve
My experience with ACT's in
My experience with ACT's in hospital has been very god. My experience is that they are very aware of their responsibilities and take them seriously. Becoming an ACT is something that requires a certian level of experience and a structured training programme. However I am aware there is a great disparity in training between hospital and community for technicians .
I think there needs to be a standardized training for technicians and a standardized assessment and training before progression to ACT status.
Sally A Haynes
different impressions
My experience in hospital matches with Ms Haynes ones, ACT are well trained, know their roles and their set limits and stick to it. So nothing to moan about it from my side in that respect. I do really appreciate their knowledge and their input.
On the other side, my encounters with ACTs in community are mixed. In one store I regularly work I feel comfortable. I know the team, they know their roles. I know what they are doing and how they are doing it. Lets put it that way, I can trust them enough to feel safe as a pharmacist.
As a locum I came across of several other stores, mainly alliance/boots, with a bad gut feeling throughout the day. The knowledge is limited and often ACTs present the image of being/feeling superior, sometime even above the pharmacist. As a locum you don't have much of a choice, otherwise you are just creating a bad atmosphere or slowing systems down, plainly putting the workflow at risk. You can always delegate to different task to secure systems, but it is sometimes difficult. The biggest problem I found is that some ACTs thin they are matching the pharmacist and overriding rules, such as selling P medicines to the public whilst the pharmacist is absent (I found it out by off chance!). Plainly I feel comfortable with some ACTs, especially if I know they are good and knowledgable. Personally a centralised independent accreditition would be nice, to outrule forged exams by companies to push through some "cheap" workforce.
By the way, I think the ACTs are the lesser problems as they are not so common yet, counter assistant and dispensary staff are more problematic in respect of training. Even with the certificates hanging at the walls, near enough no knowledge is visible or existent to support the pharmacist or to make at a safe and secure place to work in for patient/customer and pharmacist.