Pharmacy technicians in hospitals are graded on the same Agenda for Change banding as audiovisual technicians, dental nurses and theatre support workers. They start on a set percentage of a Band 4 (usually 75% - an average annual wage of £20,698) as a trainee moving on to Band 4 when newly qualified PhT and can work their way to a Band 8b in charge of a department/area. A Band 8b is the equivalent of a Nurse Lead/Senior Nurse Manager in nursing or other Head of Department in the NHS. Although Band 8b is possible, a successful pharmacy technician can reasonably expect to reach Band 7a in the latter stage of his/her career, earning an average of £35,898.