Gastroenterology Pharmacy Clinical Assistant

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Oxford; On-site; GBP 23,000 - 28,000; Full time

Job summary

A prominent NHS teaching trust in Oxford is seeking a Clinical Assistant to provide high-quality administrative support to the Gastroenterology Pharmacy Team. The ideal candidate will possess excellent communication and organisational skills, as well as experience with databases. Familiarity with the NHS environment is preferred. This role involves direct interaction with patients and supporting timely medication deliveries.

Responsibilities

• Provide high quality professional and comprehensive administration support.
• Support day to day administrative management of medication supply.
• Use Microsoft Office and databases daily.

Skills

Excellent communication skills

Problem solving skills

Excellent organisational skills

Database experience

Education

NVQ level 3 in Business Administration or equivalent experience

Job description

Overview

The Gastroenterology Pharmacy Team is looking for a Clinical Assistant with excellent communication and organisational skills to join the team. The post is based at the John Radcliffe site. You will provide high quality professional and comprehensive administration support to the Gastroenterology Pharmacy Team, including supporting the day to day administrative management of medication supply via homecare delivery companies to patients to ensure their medication is received in a timely manner, including speaking to patients.

Responsibilities

• Provide high quality professional and comprehensive administration support to the small Gastroenterology Pharmacy Team.
• Support day to day administrative management of medication supply via homecare delivery companies to patients to ensure timely delivery, including speaking to patients.
• Use Microsoft Office and databases daily; apply excellent communication, problem solving and organisational skills to support the team.
• Monitor prescription requests from homecare delivery companies; print and process repeat prescriptions timely; manage changes in delivery dates.
• Monitor the shared email account, prioritise queries, chase medication deliveries, liaise with patients, and refer to the clinical pharmacy team as appropriate.
• Manage, collate and send completed homecare prescriptions to homecare delivery companies; maintain security of prescriptions.
• Ensure copies of prescriptions are sent to the OUH Pharmacy Homecare team for invoicing and timely cost settlement with commissioners.
• Liaise with the OUH Pharmacy Homecare team regarding invoicing queries.
• Confirm receipt of prescriptions by homecare company via emails and maintain organised hard copies.
• Upload copies of prescriptions to the electronic prescribing record (EPR) and keep related correspondence on file; upload relevant emails/phone conversations to EPR.
• Contact patients to arrange and collect urgent medications from OUH Dispensaries; maintain a calm demeanour in distressing circumstances.
• Support the clinical pharmacist in registering and consenting all new patients to homecare.
• Book/chase/update spreadsheets for Outpatient clinical appointments as requested; guide patients to appropriate teams or the IBD Advice line if required.
• Maintain and organise Pharmacy-held databases for patients receiving homecare and day-case medications; print homecare prescriptions on time for delivery.
• Develop standard operating procedures (SOPs) for telephone communications; understand and explain basic medical/pharmacy processes; manage interruptions and time effectively.
• Provide active listening, reassurance, compassion, empathy and support to patients and carers over the telephone or in person; upload relevant conversations to the EPR.
• Support completion of incident forms related to homecare complaints, missed deliveries, missed nursing visits, incorrect drug delivery or delivery dates, and uncontacted patients.
• Use different databases to search patient details/demographics to facilitate global patient mailing; provide reports and data collection as needed.
• Be proficient with computer software including Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook (Email/Calendar), OUH SharePoint and related publishing tools.
• Devise and maintain an efficient administrative system with organised filing, messaging, prioritised calls and emails to deliver an efficient service.
• Assist in producing reports and participate in data collection for local homecare audits; monitor activity growth to identify resource needs.
• Support training for rotational staff (pre-registration pharmacists and diploma pharmacists) in database maintenance and homecare logistics.
• Contribute to development and maintenance of policies and procedures; create SOPs and comment on those written by others.
• Provide general office duties (filing, photocopying, scanning, etc.).
• Work independently and refer to Gastroenterology Pharmacy Team when supervision is not available.
• Ensure safe and effective handling of information storage and disposal in line with the Data Protection Act, Caldicott Principles and GDPR.
• Participate in any required auditing of the service by the Pharmacy department/directorate.
• Any other reasonable duties agreed with the Consultant Pharmacist/Team Leader.

Qualifications

• Excellent communication skills
• Problem solving skills
• Excellent organisational skills
• Database experience
• NVQ level 3 in Business Administration or equivalent demonstrable experience

Desirable criteria

• NHS experience

About the Trust

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest NHS teaching trusts in the country. It provides a wide range of general and specialist clinical services and is a base for medical education, training and research. The Trust comprises four hospitals: the John Radcliffe Hospital, Churchill Hospital and Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Headington and the Horton General Hospital in Banbury. Our values, standards and behaviours define the quality of clinical care and the professional relationships we make with our patients, colleagues and the wider community. We call this Delivering Compassionate Excellence, focusing on the values of compassion, respect, learning, delivery, improvement and excellence. These values place patients at the heart of what we do. Watch how we set out to deliver compassionate excellence via the OUH YouTube channel. In 2023 NHS England launched its first sexual safety charter, and our Trust signed it. We pledge zero tolerance for inappropriate sexual behaviour and commit to the ten core principles Oxford University Hospitals promotes a safe, respectful hiring environment.