What is it about?
Pharmacy technicians are a key part of pharmacy services, but across Europe their education, legal status, and permitted activities vary widely. This review maps how pharmacy technician roles are defined in different European countries, including professional titles, qualification levels, training duration, and regulatory approaches. Using publicly available information from the EU Regulated Professions Database plus data from national pharmacy technician organizations, we compared 28 countries. We found substantial differences in qualification level (European Qualifications Framework levels 4–6), training length (about 2 to 4.5 years), and the strength of regulation—ranging from mandatory licensing and protected titles to little or no regulation. The scope of practice also varies: in some settings pharmacy technicians mainly support dispensing and stock management, while in others they undertake broader technical and clinical responsibilities. Overall, the European landscape remains fragmented, which can affect professional identity, cross-border mobility, and workforce planning.
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Why is it important?
We conducted a review using: Public data from the EU Regulated Professions Database. Information gathered from national organizations representing pharmacy technicians. We extracted and compared: titles, qualification level, regulation type, program duration, and role/scope descriptions across countries.Workforce planning: inconsistent frameworks make it harder to plan and develop the pharmacy support workforce across countries. We found it important due to Mobility and recognition: differences in protected titles, licensing, and qualification levels can limit professional mobility within Europe. ScienceDirect Service optimization: clearer, more comparable role definitions can support safer delegation and better use of skill-mix in pharmacy services.
Perspectives
Data from 28 European countries show major variation in pharmacy technician preparation and oversight. Qualification levels span EQF 4–6, with training typically ~2 to 4.5 years. Regulation ranges from mandatory licensing + protected title to minimal/no regulation. Scope of practice ranges from dispensing/inventory-focused roles to broader technical/clinical responsibilities depending on country. Overall fragmentation may limit professional identity, mobility, and workforce planning.
PhD João José Joaquim
Instituto Politecnico de Coimbra
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Pharmacy technicians in Europe: exploring the diversity in training, roles, and regulation, Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy, December 2025, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.sapharm.2025.12.001.
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