The CPPE Accuracy checking pharmacy technician (ACPT) programme aims to support pharmacy technicians to:
From 1st August 2024, NHS England has funded CPPE to offer the ACPT programme for pharmacy technicians working in community pharmacy, NHS hospitals, and in Health and Justice. A total of 80 NHS-funded places are available, with 10 places on the course each month. NHS England funding for places on the ACPT programme will end when all 80 places have been allocated or by the end of March 2025. 50% of the funding has been allocated for community pharmacy and 50% for other sectors.
If you are not eligible for an NHS England-funded place, the total cost of the course is £330 including VAT, which can be paid by either you or your employer.
The ACPT programme is open to pharmacy technicians who are registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC), work in a premises in England and who meet the entry criteria. You can check the entry criteria here.
Since 2017, CPPE is proud to have supported over 1200 pharmacy technicians working in community, hospital and secure environment sectors to become final accuracy checkers through our ACPT programme.
In 2019, the ACPT programme lead, Joanne Nevinson, visited a community pharmacy to meet Edward and Helen to discuss the impact that Helen’s completion of the Accuracy checking pharmacy technician programme had had on their pharmacy. Watch the video below:
Here are some quotes from pharmacy technicians who have completed the programme:
"The professional discussion helped me to reflect on my practice, particularly when checking drugs I am unfamiliar with."
"The ACPT team was very supportive. The programme helped me develop my confidence in checking."
"The professional discussion supported me in developing my leadership and communication skills."
"It gave me more confidence in having professional communication within the workplace."
"I was sceptical when I found out that we would be doing an online checking assessment, as I imagined the process would be too far removed from the real-life checking process. However, I was impressed by the ease of use. The assessment was very user friendly, uncluttered and fit for purpose."
"CPPE were fast at responding to my email queries and always very helpful. They showed compassion by extending my deadline for completion."
Recent end of programme survey results show that:
The ACPT programme costs £330.00 including VAT.
Contact acpt@cppe.ac.uk if you cannot find the answers to your question on the Accuracy checking pharmacy technician programme pages.
The CPPE Accuracy checking pharmacy technician (ACPT) programme is a 3-12 month training and development programme available to pharmacy technicians, with employer support. The course is designed to support you in meeting a range of competencies during your training in order to deliver safe and effective patient care. It includes tasks that will develop your leadership skills to support the team and drive performance.
Our programme offers a blended approach to learning that includes resources for self-directed study, e-learning and practice-based activities. It is flexible so that it meets the needs of stakeholders. Following comprehensive assessment, you will be able to use this learning to support optimisation of skills in the dispensary.
The CPPE ACPT programme is supported by a dedicated ACPT team, including tutors who are pharmacy technicians themselves. You will be supported to complete the practice-based activities by a workplace education supervisor.
Before starting the programme, you will need to complete the introductory e-learning and assessment. See the 'How to apply' section below for more information.
When you start the ACPT programme, you will complete learning modules focusing on professional and legal frameworks, leadership, good practice for final accuracy checking and preventing dispensing errors, labelling and packaging requirements, communication skills and calculations. After completing these you will start a 1000-item checking log. At 500 items you will have a mid-point professional discussion with a CPPE ACPT tutor. You will then complete the checking logs and take a final assessment. A CPPE tutor will assess your submitted evidence to provide certification of completion.
You can find out more about the programme in the detailed programme handbook. You can access this in the 'Resources' section below.
Funded places
NHS England has funded CPPE to offer 10 places each month from 1st August 2024, with 80 funded places available in total until March 2025. This funding is available to pharmacy technicians working in community pharmacy, NHS hospitals, and in Health and Justice. If you work in one of these sectors, please follow the application process below to check you meet the entry criteria and to apply for your funded place:
Payment if you are not eligible for a funded place
If you do not work in community pharmacy, an NHS hospital or in Health and Justice, you cannot apply for an NHS-funded place.
The cost of the ACPT programme is £330 including VAT. Payment can be made by payment card or by purchase order. Employers may be able to claim the fee back from the Workforce, Training and Education Directorate of NHS England. Employers will need to discuss this with their regional office.
Complete the following steps to apply and pay for your place:
Declaration of dispensing accuracy form
Completion and extension guidance
Roles and responsibilities including entry criteria
NB: Checking logs and review paperwork will be accessible via Canvas.
CPPE has designed an efficient way to record the key activities and assessments you undertake as you progress with the Accuracy checking pharmacy technician programme. This will help you to track your progress with milestones, learning and assessments throughout the programme.
The CPPE ACPT team will be able to see your progress with your learning, assessments and ePortfolio evidence and will provide feedback to you in activity series 3.
This pathway progress tracker is only for pharmacy technicians who have applied and been accepted by CPPE onto the ACPT programme.
