The National Pharmacy Association has struck up a partnership with a training provider to roll out Level 2 and Level 3 pharmacy apprenticeships to its members in England.

As part of the collaboration with Preston-based Skills4Pharmacy, the NPA will offer a Level 2 apprenticeship for pharmacy support workers and Level 3 apprenticeship for pharmacy technicians.

Skills4Pharmacy was established in 2015 by managing director Amerjit Singh (pictured), a pharmacist with over 25 years’ experience who has been keen to help young people enter the pharmacy industry.

“As contractors we are facing challenging times, however I firmly believe that apprenticeship programmes which upskill and empower our workforce are essential for our future survival,” he said.

“Apprenticeships are a great way to build a strong talent pipeline and bring new skills to pharmacies. The role of technicians, in particular, who on our courses will become ACT's, will help contractors to concentrate on new services and provide new funding streams.”

Louise Baglole, the NPA’s director of professional services and development, said apprenticeship schemes can help its members “recruit and strengthen” their pharmacy teams and, pointing to data from the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, boost productivity by an average of £244 a week.

“Demand for Level 3 apprenticeships has been building amongst our members and we are delighted now to be in a position to meet it,” she said.

“With this new partnership, we will be able to provide Level 2 and Level 3 pharmacy apprenticeships, so I look forward to working closely with Amerjit and the team.”