Perception of Pharmacy Technicians and Stakeholders towards Their Capability to Practice According to the Competency of Pharmacy Technicians in Thailand

Abstract

Objective: To study the perspectives of pharmacy technicians and stakeholders on their capability to practice according the competencies of pharmacy technicians in Thailand. Methods: The study was survey research in 342 pharmacy technicians nationwide selected by simple random sampling. The samples were divided into 5 groups according to their workplaces, namely, regional/general hospitals, community hospitals/ Crown Prince Hospital, provincial public health offices, other health institutions (e.g. health care centers, sub-district health promoting hospitals) and hospitals under other ministries and private hospitals. The study also collected data from 342 people involved in working with pharmacy technicians in each of the five groups above, who were snowball sampled. Data collection was conducted using questionnaires on the ability to practice according to competency of pharmacy technicians in 7 domains including pharmaceutical service, drug manufacturing, medical supply management. public health pharmacy, drug information service, pharmaceutical care and primary care. Results: Pharmacy technicians from 5 different work setting reported differences in their ability to practice according to competency of pharmacy technicians in the domain of public health pharmacy (P=0.02). They rated their ability to practice according to competency of pharmacy technicians at a moderate to a high level with total scores of 5 as follows: pharmaceutical service (4.25±0.64), medical supply management (3.98±0.90), pharmaceutical care (3.90±0.65), drugs manufacturing (3.86±1.00), public health pharmacy (3.69±0.96), drug information service (3.57±1.13). primary care pharmacy (3.49±1.00). The stakeholders from 5 different work setting reported differences in pharmacy technicians’ ability to practice according to the competency in the domain of drug manufacturing (P<0.01). They rated their pharmacy technicians’ ability to practice according to the competency at a moderate to a high level with total scores of 5 as follows: pharmacy service (4.18±0.59), medical supply management (3.92±0.69), pharmaceutical care (3.82±0.65), drug manufacturing (3.80±0.78), public health pharmacy (3.69±1.12), drug information service (3.40±0.98), and primary care pharmacy (3.45±1.01). Conclusion: Although the stakeholders and pharmacy technicians from various institutions rated pharmacy technicians’ ability to practice according to the competency at a moderate to high level, some competencies are still in need to improve, i.e., drug information services and primary care pharmacy.