The NPA is calling on the Government to rule out proposals that would allow pharmacy technicians to supervise the supply of prescription-only medicines.

The call comes after a report, published last week, found that NHS-wide medication errors are leading to the deaths of thousands of people each year.   

An NPA spokesperson said: “Community pharmacists are the last line of defence against medication errors, dispensing more than a billion prescription items each year and clinically checking each one.

“They use their professional judgement and expertise to query about 6.6 million of those items, helping avoid many incidents that might otherwise have resulted in serious harm.

“Pharmacy technicians are a valued part of any pharmacy team but it is hard to see how removing medicines experts from the supply process can improve patient safety. Such proposals must be ruled out.”