PCN Pharmacy Technician

NHS; Goole; On-site; GBP 24,000 - 30,000; Full time

Job summary

The NHS is looking for a Pharmacy Technician to work within a Primary Care Network in Goole, England. This role focuses on optimising medication use, supporting patients and healthcare teams to improve care quality. Responsibilities include managing prescriptions, conducting audits, and ensuring adherence to healthcare policies. Applicants should be registered with GPHC and possess a relevant qualification such as BTEC/NVQ Level 3.

Qualifications

• Registered pharmacy technician with professional development.
• Experience in primary care, community or hospital pharmacy preferred.
• Strong ability to analyse prescribing data and influence stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Oversee medication administration and ensure effective use of medicines.
• Conduct patient-facing roles and support medication reviews.
• Implement national prescribing policies and support clinical pharmacists.

Skills

Computer literate

Attention to detail

Excellent communication skills

Analytical thinking

Influencing skills

Education

Professional registration with GPHC

BTEC/NVQ Level 3 in pharmaceutical sciences

Primary care pharmacy education pathway (desirable)

Tools

EMIS

Systmone

Microsoft Office

Job description

Clinical Pharmacy in General Practice is part of an exciting programme of transformation to develop a new model of care across the Primary Care Network. This model is supported by national policy including the Five Year Forward View and GP Forward View to better utilise the role of pharmacy professionals within the wider healthcare team. Overarching goals are to help keep patients safe and well, out of hospital and reduce the demands on general practice regards medicine use.

Pharmacy Technicians play an important role, complimenting clinical pharmacists, community pharmacists and other members of the PCN multi-disciplinary team. While Pharmacy Technicians do not prescribe nor make clinical decisions, they do work under supervision to ensure the effective and efficient use of medicines. In the PCN, their core responsibilities cover clinical, technical, and administrative roles.

Main duties of the job

The purpose of the role is to maximise safe, cost-effective, prescribing to improve the quality of patient care.

The post-holder will help patients get the best from their medicines, use existing protocols to maximise cost-effective preparations, improve repeat prescribing processes (including use of electronic repeat dispensing and online ordering), minimising clinical risk and reducing avoidable wasted medicines. As well, the post-holder will develop and encourage a positive culture of medicines optimisation principles to assist the PCN in achieving local and national medicines-related objectives.

The pharmacy technician will complete audits around patient safety in the prescribing of medication and present the information for sharing with the clinical team.

About us

CygnetPCN covers a large geographical area within the East Riding of Yorkshire. Our network covers over 51,000 patients and is made up of the five following GP Practices:

Bartholomew Medical Group

Snaith & Rawcliffe Medical Group

Montague Medical Practice

Howden Medical Centre

PCN's build on existing primary care services and enable greater provision of proactive, personalised, coordinated and more integrated health and social care for people close to home. Our PCN are proactively providing care and services for the people and communities we serve.

New roles are being introduced to the network as we are expanding into different areas of healthcare.

The network provides a single point of access for the nursing, residential and learning disability homes in the area.

Our team are passionate and committed to making a difference to patient care.

Job responsibilities

Clinical

Undertake patient-facing and patient supporting roles to ensure effective medicines use, through shared decision-making conversations with patients.

Carry out medicines optimisation tasks including effective medicine administration (e.g., checking inhaler technique), supporting medication reviews and medicines reconciliation. Where required, utilise consultation skills to work in partnership with patients to ensure they use their medicines effectively.

As determined by the PCN, support medication reviews and medicines reconciliation for new care home patients and synchronising medicines for patient transfers between care settings, linking with local community pharmacies.

Support the Clinical Pharmacist in Structured Medication Review (SMR), i.e., organise necessary monitoring tests prior to SMR.

Provide expertise to address both the public health and social care needs of patients, including lifestyle advice, service information, and help in tackling local health inequalities.

Manage shared care protocols and liaise with Clinical Pharmacists for more complex patients.

Support initiatives for antimicrobial stewardship to reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing locally.

Technical and Administrative

Support the PCN multi-disciplinary team to ensure efficient medicines optimisation processes are being followed.

Implement efficient ordering and return processes and reduce medication wastage.

Provide training and support on legal, safe, and secure handling of medicines, including the implementation of the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS).

Promote Electronic Repeat Dispensing (ERD) and online ordering.

Develop relationships with other pharmacy professionals and members of the multi-disciplinary team to support integration across health and social care including primary care, community pharmacy, secondary care, and mental health.

Support practice teams in streaming general prescription requests, so as to allow GPs and clinical pharmacists to review the more clinically complex requests.

Support the implementation of national prescribing policies and guidance within GP practices, care homes, and other primary care settings.

Support the PCN to deliver on QIPP agenda, QOF and locally commissioned enhanced services.

Support the PCN in reviewing and developing practice policies for CQC requirements.

This advert may close early dependent upon number of applicants.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Professional registration with GPHC
• BTEC/NVQ Level 3 or equivalent in pharmaceutical sciences
• Working on the Primary care pharmacy education pathway (desirable)
• Evidence of continued professional development (CPD)
• Experience of working as a qualified, registered pharmacy technician in primary care, community or hospital pharmacy
• Demonstrate ability to influence and persuade partners and stakeholders of the respective merits of different options, innovations, new opportunities, and challenges

Experience

• Computer literate with an ability to use the required GP clinical systems EMIS/Systmone (desirable) and Microsoft Office packages (essential)
• Understand the aims of current healthcare policy within the PCN
• Able to analyse and interpret prescribing data
• Has attention to detail, able to work accurately, identifying errors quickly and easily. Able to analyse and interpret prescribing data.
• Able to effectively manage allocated resources.
• Has a planned and organised approach with an ability to prioritise their own workload to meet strict deadlines.
• Able to think analytically; anticipating obstacles and thinking ahead; using analytical techniques to draw logical solutions to problems
• Excellent communication skills, verbal and written, with the ability to adjust communication style and content to suit the audience
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with team members, patients, carers, and other healthcare professionals. Whilst recognising people's needs for alternative methods of communication
• Influencing and negotiating skills
• An excellent understanding of data protection and confidentiality issues

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.