PCN Pharmacy Technician

NHS; Gravesend; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare provider in Gravesend is seeking an experienced Pharmacy Technician to support clinical pharmacists in delivering patient-centered care. Responsibilities include conducting medication reviews, managing prescription requests, and promoting electronic delivery systems. Ideal candidates will have relevant qualifications and experience in a primary care setting. This rewarding role offers the opportunity to make a significant impact on patient care and support the practice in achieving national health targets.

Qualifications

• Registered pharmacy technician with experience in primary care.
• Ability to influence and persuade stakeholders effectively.
• Good clinical pharmacy knowledge including terminology.

Responsibilities

• Conduct structured medication reviews and handle prescription queries.
• Support the practice in achieving national targets for medicines optimisation.
• Promote electronic repeat dispensing and online ordering.

Skills

Attention to detail

Communication skills

Pharmacy knowledge

Analytical thinking

Education

BTEC/NVQ level 3 or equivalent in pharmaceutical sciences

Professional registration with GPhC

Tools

Microsoft Office

GP clinical systems

Job description

Clinical Pharmacy in General practice is part of an exciting programme of change to address the requirements of the long term plans for the NHS of the future and part of that development is the introduction of Primary Care Networks (PCN's) and the diversification of the clinical workforce.

The role available is for a Pharmacy Technician, to work alongside our PCN Clinical Pharmacists, with a range of service delivery objectives.

Main duties of the job

See full job description attached, but in summary:

• structured medication reviews
• use of EPS
• eRD and on line ordering
• handling prescription requests and queries
• support the Practice (and PCN) in delivery of National targets, QIPP, QoF, IIF medicines optimisation and enhanced services.

About us

Garden City PCN looks after C57,000 patients across 3 practices in Rural Gravesend, Dartford and Bexley. The practices are responsible for their own additional roles staff. This role is with Downs Way Medical Practice, a 3 site, 8 partner training practice. Downs Way has always been a high performing, high quality practice and anyone joining the extensive/diverse team of clinicians and non clinician support will need to put patients at the very centre of all they do.

Job responsibilities

Clinical Pharmacy in General Practice is part of an exciting programmeof transformation to develop a new model of care which addresses our ambitionto deliver person-centred, coordinated care across the district. The ClinicalPharmacy in General Practice model is supported by the direction of nationalpolicy including the Five Year Forward View and GP Forward View where there isa need to better utilise the role of pharmacy within primary care topro-actively help patients stay safe and well and out of hospital as well ashelping to reduce the demands on general practice.

Pharmacy technicians play an important role, complementing clinicalpharmacists, community pharmacists and other members of the PCNmulti-disciplinary team. Pharmacy technicians are different to clinicalpharmacists as they are not able to prescribe or make clinical decisions,instead working under supervision to ensure effective and efficient use ofmedicines.

Pharmacy technicians’ core role responsibilities will cover clinical, and technical and administrative categories.

The purpose of the role is to lead improvements to maximise safe, costeffective best practice in prescribing to improve the quality of patient care.The post holder will help patients to get the best from their medicines byswitching medications to agreed and approved protocols, improving repeatprescribing processes in General Practice, including promotion of repeatdispensing and online ordering, minimising clinical risk and aiming to reducewasted medicines.

In addition, the post holder will be responsible for encouraging thedevelopment of better understanding of the principles of medicines optimisationthroughout the practice teams and promoting good practice in line withtherapeutic developments. This will involve assisting the PCN in achievingnational requirements, NICE implementation and utilisation of medicinesoptimisation initiatives.

Clinical

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

Carry out medicines optimisation tasks including effective medicineadministration (e.g. checking inhaler technique), supporting medication reviewsand medicines reconciliation. Where required, utilise consultation skills towork in partnership with patients to ensure they use their medicineseffectively.

As determined by the PCN, support medication reviews and medicinesreconciliation for new care home patients and synchronising medicines forpatient transfers between care settings, linking with local communitypharmacies

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

Provide expertise to address both the public health and social careneeds of patients, including lifestyle advice, service information, and help intackling local health inequalities.

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

Support initiatives for antimicrobial stewardship to reduceinappropriate antibiotic prescribing locally.

Technical and Administrative

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

Implement efficient ordering and return processes and reducingmedication wastage.

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

Promotion of Electronic Repeat Dispensing (eRD) and online ordering

Develop relationships with other pharmacy professionals and members ofthe multi- disciplinary team to support integration across health and socialcare including primary care, community pharmacy, secondary care and mentalhealth.

Support practice reception teams in streaming general prescriptionrequests, so as to allow GPs and clinical pharmacists to review the moreclinically complex requests.

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

Support the PCN to deliver on QIPP agenda, QOF, IIF, MedicinesOptimisation Projects and locally commissioned enhanced services

Support the PCN in reviewing and developing practice policies for CQCrequirements

All Pharmacy Technicians must work within their competencies, and haveprofessional indemnity for their role.

General

• Develop a culture thatpromotes equality and values diversity. The postholder must be aware ofand committed to the Equality and Diversity policies of the appointing GPFederation and comply with all the requirements of these policies andactively promote Equality and Diversity issues relevant to the post.
• Ensure the principles ofopenness, transparency and candor are observed and upheld in all workingpractices.
• The post holder will have,or acquire through training provided by the organisation, the appropriatelevel of safeguarding and knowledge, skills and practice required for thepost and be aware of and comply with the organisation’s safeguardingprotection policies and procedures.
• Ensure that any infectionprevention and control issues are reported to the line manager/InfectionPrevention and Control

Equality and diversity:

The post-holder will support the equality, diversity and rights ofpatients, carers and colleagues, to include:

• Acting in a way thatrecognises the importance of people’s rights, interpreting them in a way thatis consistent with practice procedures and policies, and currentlegislationRespecting the privacy, dignity, needs and beliefs of patients,carers and colleagues
• Behaving in a manner whichis welcoming to and of the individual, is non-judgmental and respectstheir circumstances, feelings priorities and rights.

The post-holder will participate in any training programme implementedby the practice as part of this employment, with such training to include:

• Participation in an annualindividual performance review, including taking responsibility for maintaininga record of own personal and/or professional development
• Taking responsibility forown development, learning and performance and demonstrating skills andactivities to others who are undertaking similar work

Quality:

The post-holder will strive to maintain quality within the practice, andwill:

• Alert other team members toissues of quality and risk
• Assess own performance andtake accountability for own actions, either directly or under supervision
• Contribute to theeffectiveness of the team by reflecting on own and team activities andmaking suggestions on ways to improve and enhance the team’s performance
• Work effectively withindividuals in other agencies to meet patients’ needs
• Effectively manage own time,workload and resources

Person Specification

Knowledge and Understanding

• Relevant advanced theoretical and practical knowledge of Primary Care Networks, General Practice and evidence based medicine
• An appreciation of the NHS agenda and Government targets
• Awareness of systems to support management of patients in a primary care setting, delivering pharmaceutical input and support in the context of pathways of care and the business of the organisation(s)
• Awareness of GP budget-management and funding systems to enable GP clinical pharmacist services to assist delivery of PCN and NHS priorities and requirements for financial balance and quality
• Good clinical pharmacy knowledge including terminology
• An appreciation of the nature of primary care prescribing, concepts of rational prescribing and strategies for the improvement of prescribing
• Knowledge and understanding of pharmacy law and ethics and current legislation

Experience

• 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

Quality, Attributes and Other

• Computer literate with an ability to use Microsoft office packages
• 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 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 peoples needs for alternative methods of communication
• Influencing and negotiating skills
• An excellent understanding of data protection and confidentiality issues
• Computer literate with an ability to use the required GP clinical systems

Qualifications

• Professional registration with GPhC
• BTEC/NVQ level 3 or equivalent in pharmaceutical sciences

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.

£14.82 an hourMay be higher depending on experience