Local pharmacy technician wins Wales apprentice award
Kiera Dwyer, Pre-registration Technician trainee, one of Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW) 2020 cohort pharmacy technician trainees was last night announced as Apprentice of the Year at the Apprenticeship Awards Cymru.
HEIW deliver a Welsh Government funded Modern Apprenticeship Framework in Pharmacy Services with support from ALS Training. There are currently 85 pre-registration pharmacy technicians working in various sectors of pharmacy practice throughout Wales completing the apprenticeship. This is an integral route for increasing the Pharmacy Technician workforce in Wales.
Pharmacy technician Kiera Dwyer has shown determination, dedication and commitment to achieve a series of qualifications to support the community pharmacy where she works in Abercynon. Kiera, 24, from Rhydyfelin, Pontypridd, has Asperger's and Irlen Syndrome, which is also known as visual stress, has taken on extra responsibility to allow pharmacists at Sheppards Pharmacy, part of the Avicenna group, more time to deal with front line patients. This has resulted in the pharmacy receiving a rating of up to 100% from patients.
The awards recognise the outstanding achievements, during unprecedented times, of employers, apprentices and work-based learning practitioners.
Kiera said “I am delighted to achieve this award, I wanted an apprenticeship to be able to apply knowledge that I learn, including how medical conditions can affect patients and how different drug classes in treatments work in different ways,” explained Kiera.
“I overcame a lot of obstacles to complete my apprenticeship as the odds were stacked against me from the start. Despite this, I managed to make it to the other side and not only completed my apprenticeship but also my BTEC and NVQ qualifications.”
Wendy Penny, Head of Pharmacy Technician Training at HEIW said “The HEIW Pharmacy Team are extremely proud that Kiera was named as Apprentice of the Year last night. She is a deserving recipient of the award having overcome personal challenges to complete her training programme whilst continuing to work on the front line in a community pharmacy during the pandemic.
“Throughout the training programme Kiera remained positive and determined to succeed whilst delivering person centred care to the community where she worked. Kiera is a role model and inspiration to individuals embarking on a career as a health care professional.”
Information on careers in Pharmacy in Wales including the role of pharmacy technician can be found on our careers pages.