Pharmacy technician-led research
Pharmacy Research Showcase highlights
Pharmacy technicians are involved at every point in a medicine’s journey, yet they are rarely involved in research. At the Pharmacy Research Showcase, Panayiotis Sphikas, Head of Pharmacy Operations at University College London Hospitals (UCLH) and himself a pharmacy technician, and Dr Yogini Jani, Director of CMORE, the Centre for Medicines Optimisation Research and Education, explained how UCLH set out to change that.
Many technicians reach their roles through vocational rather than university routes, so research can feel like a mystery. When they hear about it, their first thought is often that it is not for them, explained Mr Sphikas. Fear of getting involved, a lack of time, imposter syndrome and few relatable role models all add to the problem, he said.
Evaluation by the people doing the work
The turning point, said Dr Jani, was the trust’s pharmacy strategy. She and Mr Sphikas jointly lead its research and innovation pillar, which helped them build research into everyday work.
When UCLH took on new pre-registration pharmacy technicians, Mr Sphikas set a challenge. He did not want CMORE to evaluate the new programme itself. Instead, he wanted the trainees to be taught to carry out the evaluation, so that the people delivering the service would also evaluate it.
CMORE, now ten years old, provided the infrastructure. Dr Jani met the two trainees every week for one-to-one mentoring and supervision, showing them how to set and refine objectives and what data collection tools look like. A research assistant worked alongside them, giving them a peer to learn from as they collected data and later shared their findings.
Research demystified
The results have been striking. UCLH pharmacy technicians have presented posters at national and international conferences, including the European Association of Hospital Pharmacists congress and the Health Services Research and Pharmacy Practice conference. They are leading an evaluation of an enhanced clinical technician programme funded by NHS England.
The team also visits schools, works with T-level students and employs young people leaving care, and is now evaluating that work too. None of this would have been possible, Mr Sphikas said, without the research mindset the team now has.
“We’ve been successful with two of our pharmacy technicians on the RISE programme” and further NIHR applications are pending, he said. Other organisations now ask UCLH for help, and the team is supporting a pharmacy technician who runs a hypertension clinic outside the trust. In short, said Mr Sphikas, research has been demystified and technicians can now see more, be more and do more in research.
Lessons for others
Dr Jani closed with three lessons. The first was joint leadership. As CMORE’s director, she said, she had to listen to her operational co-lead.
The second was that turning interest into engagement means letting people do the work themselves, rather than doing it for them or to them.
The third was protected time. Mr Sphikas released two pre-registration trainees for one day a week for a year. Without that commitment, she said, their work would never have reached a European stage. For pharmacy teams elsewhere, the message is that technicians can lead research when leaders give them the time, support and permission to do so.
Pharmacy Research Showcase
The Pharmacy Research Showcase was a one-day event organised by the NIHR-Supported Incubator for Pharmacy Professionals which brought together policy-makers and researchers to share experiences and insights. It was held on 22nd October 2026 at the Royal College of Pharmacy headquarters in London.
Image: Dr Yogini Jani and Mr Panayiotis Sphikas
