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Simulated workplace
Scenario · Pharmacy

Complete the weekly imprest, cold chain and drug safe checks

You are a pharmacy technician at the Toronto pharmacy.

Intermediate2 to 3 hours7 tasks
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The situation

What has happened

It is Monday and the weekly stock checks fall to you under the supervision of the Pharmacist in Charge. The treatment room imprest and the dental imprest are due for their weekly check against the agreed lists. The adult diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine stock has been quarantined in fridge 1 since the 4 September temperature excursion and the state program has advised it can be used, but no release decision is recorded. A sodium chloride order is due to arrive today. An amoxicillin pack expires at the end of the month. The drug safe register must be balanced with the pharmacist. Last week a dose administration aid was packed with a discontinued medicine and caught at the pharmacist check.

Your brief. Complete the weekly imprest checks, receive and put away the incoming order, process the expiring stock, record the release decision on the quarantined vaccines with the pharmacist, balance the drug safe register and update every affected line in the Pharmacy Stock, Imprest and Cold Chain system with accurate records.
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Tasks

Deliverables

  • Updated Pharmacy Stock, Imprest and Cold Chain records for every line checked
  • Imprest check sheets for the treatment rooms and dental clinic
  • Written release decision for the quarantined vaccines
  • Drug safe balance record
  • Improvement suggestion for the near miss

Documents to use

Systems to use

Pharmacy Stock, Imprest and Cold Chain

Manages pharmaceutical stock levels, imprest supply to the treatment rooms and dental clinic, expiry tracking, scheduled medicine control and fridge monitoring.

Clinical Incident and Hazard Register

Records clinical incidents, near misses, medication and specimen errors, staff injuries, privacy breaches and hazards with a severity rating, review status and actions.

For trainers and assessors

Units of competency

Current on training.gov.au for the Health as at 10 September 2026.

HLTPHA013Order, maintain and distribute pharmaceutical stock
HLTPHA010Maintain pharmaceutical imprest stock
HLTPHA015Provide assistance in dispensary administration
HLTPHA011Pack pharmaceutical products
HLTWHS001Participate in workplace health and safety

Qualifications

HLT37121Certificate III in Hospital or Health Services Pharmacy Support
HLT47121Certificate IV in Hospital or Health Services Pharmacy Support
Assessor notes

What to look for

Evidence guide

Check that the vaccine release decision references the temperature log, the state program advice and the pharmacist's sign-off, and is not made by the technician alone. The drug safe balance must show two signatures and a clear escalation path for a discrepancy. Stock records must be consistent with the policy on expired medicines. The improvement suggestion must address the actual cause of the near miss.

The student's evidence summary lists every record they created or changed in the systems named above, their notes and the tasks they ticked. Verify it against the deliverables and your own assessment tool.