PCN Pharmacy Technician

NHS; Morpeth; On-site; GBP 25,000 - 35,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare provider seeks a motivated Pharmacy Technician to join their pharmacy team. This role involves working in a multidisciplinary team to improve patient care through effective medicines management and optimisation. Candidates will support medication reviews and engage directly with patients, ensuring optimal use of medications while complying with healthcare standards.

Qualifications

• Registered with the General Pharmaceutical Society.
• Experience as a Pharmacy Technician in primary or secondary care.
• Understanding of medicines management.

Responsibilities

• Promote safe and effective medicines use.
• Conduct medication reviews and support patients effectively.
• Partner with multidisciplinary teams for medicines optimisation.

Skills

Excellent communication skills

Excellent organisational skills

Ability to work safely under pressure

Time management

Teamwork

Self-Motivation

Education

BTEC/NVQ level 3 or equivalent in pharmaceutical sciences

Tools

NHS IT Systems

Job description

If you are a highly motivated Pharmacy Technician (PT) then we would love to hear from you. This is a fantastic opportunity to join our growing pharmacy team within Well Up North Primary Care Network.

For more information on Well up North PCN visit:-https://www.wellupnorth.co.uk

Main duties of the job

The successful candidate will work as part of a multidisciplinary team alongside PCN Clinical Pharmacists and PCN Pharmacy Technicians, as well as integrating within practice teams to provide care for patients.

The post will involve working in our pharmacy hub, and face to face consultations within our practices.

About us

The post holder will be working as part of the Well Up North Primary Care Network (PCN), a combined list of over 62000 patients and a group of 7 practices: Alnwick Medical Group, Belford Medical Group, Gas House Lane, Wooler Surgery, Greystoke Surgery, Union Brae and Well Close Medical Group.

Job responsibilities

Job Purpose

The purpose of this role is to promote and supportimprovements to maximise safe and best practice in prescribing and improve thequality of patient care.

Pharmacy Technicians play a key role, complementingClinical Pharmacists, Community Pharmacists and other members of the PCNmulti-disciplinary team.

Pharmacy Technicians core roleresponsibilities will cover clinical, technical, and administrative categories.The purpose of the role is to lead improvements to maximise safe,cost-effective best practice in prescribing to improve the quality of patientcare. The post holder will help patients to get the best from their medicinesby switching 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 forencouraging the development of better understanding of the principles ofmedicines optimisation throughout the practice teams and promoting goodpractice in line with therapeutic developments. This will involve assisting thePCN in achieving national requirements, NICE implementation, and utilisation ofmedicines optimisation initiatives.

Main duties and areas ofresponsibility: Pharmacy Technician

Clinical responsibilities of the PharmacyTechnician:

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

Conductmedicine's optimisation tasks including effective medicine administration(e.g., checking inhaler technique), supporting medication reviews, andmedicines reconciliation. Where required, utilise consultation skills to workin partnership with patients to ensure they use their medicines effectively

Support,as determined by the PCN, medication reviews and medicines reconciliation fornew care home patients and synchronising medicines for patient transfersbetween care settings and linking with local community pharmacists.

Providespecialist expertise, where competent, to address both the public health andsocial care needs of patients, including lifestyle advice, service information,and help in tackling local health inequalities

To act as an Education Supervisor forPre-registration Pharmacy Technicians

Take avital role in the clinical aspects of shared care protocols and consulting withspecialist pharmacists for more complex patients

Supportinitiatives for antimicrobial stewardship to reduce inappropriate antibioticprescribing.

Assistin the delivery of medicines optimisation and management incentive schemes andpatient safety audits

Supportthe implementation of national prescribing policies and guidance within GPpractices, care homes and other primary care settings. This will be achieved throughundertaking clinical audits (e.g., use of antibiotics), supporting qualityimprovement measures and contributing to the Quality and Outcomes Framework andenhanced services.

Technical and Administrative responsibilitiesof the Pharmacy Technician:

Workwith the PCN multi-disciplinary team to ensure efficient medicinesoptimisation, including implementing efficient ordering and return processes,and reducing wastage.

Participatein practice meetings, and other meetings to improve engagement of the role andto promote issues relevant to prescribing.

Liaisewith multidisciplinary team, prescribing support team, community pharmacy andhospital pharmacy teams.

Handlefunction specific information, which may be sensitive, complex, or confidentialand appropriately recording, transferring and/or coordinating such informationin accordance with the GDPR; Caldicott Guidelines and the Confidentiality Codeof Conduct.

Beresponsible for the organisation and planning of own workload to meet setdeadlines.

UtiliseGP practice clinical systems to conduct prescribing audits.

Undertaketraining and development, to ensure the required knowledge and skills forpractice-based work.

Escalateproblems or issues to line manager that requires additional support or input.

Carryout other duties which are appropriate to the skills and competencies of thepost holder and grade of the post as the priorities of the service change.

Establishand maintain effective working relationships with GP practices, staff, andother healthcare professionals.

Supervisepractice reception teams in sorting and streaming general prescriptionrequests, to allow GPs and clinical pharmacists to review the more clinicallycomplex requests

Provideleadership for medicines optimisation systems across PCNs, supporting practiceswith a range of services to get the best value from medicines by encouragingand implementing Electronic Prescriptions, safe repeat prescribing systems, andtimely monitoring and management of high-risk medicine

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

Developrelationships with other pharmacy technicians, pharmacists, and members of the multi-disciplinaryteam to support integration of the pharmacy team across health and social careincluding primary care, community pharmacy, secondary care, and mental health.

The post holder will comply with the organisations policiesand procedures:

Collaborative Working Relationships

The post holder will be registered with theGeneral Pharmaceutical Society and have a BTEC/NVQ level 3 or equivalent inpharmaceutical sciences.

Recognises the roles of other colleagueswithin the organisation and their role in patient care.

Demonstrate use of appropriatecommunication to gain the co-operation of relevant stakeholders (includingpatients, senior and peer colleagues and other professionals, other NHS/Privateorganisations, e.g., ICBs).

Demonstrates ability to work as a memberof a team.

Can recognise personal limitations andrefer to more appropriate colleagues when necessary.

Actively works towards developing andmaintaining effecting working relationships across the PCN.

Foster and maintain strong links with allservices across locality.

Explores the potential for collaborativeworking and takes opportunities to initiate and sustain such relationships.

Demonstrates ability to integrate generalpractice with community and hospital pharmacy

Knowledge, Skills and Experience Required

Have experience and an awareness ofcommon acute and long-term conditions that are likely to be seen in GeneralPractice.

Recognises priorities whenproblem-solving and identifies deviations from normal pattern and can refer toseniors or GPs when appropriate.

Able to follow legal, ethical, professional,and organisational policies/procedures and codes of conduct.

Involves patients in decisions aboutprescribed medicines and supporting adherence as per NICE guidelines.

Leadership

Demonstrate understanding of the pharmacytechnician role in governance and can implement this appropriately within theworkplace.

Demonstrate understanding of, andcontributes to, the workplace vision.

Demonstrates ability to improve qualitywithin limitations of service.

Reviews yearly progress and developsclear plans to achieve results within priorities set by others.

Demonstrate ability to motivate self toachieve goals.

Promotes diversity and equality in peoplemanagement techniques and leads by example.

Management

Demonstrate understanding of theimplications of national priorities for the team and/or the service.

Demonstrate understanding of the processfor effective resource utilisation.

Demonstrate understanding of, andconforms to, relevant standards of practice.

Demonstrates ability to identify andresolve risk management issues according to policy/protocol.

Follows professional and organisationalpolicies/procedures relating to performance management.

Demonstrate ability to extend boundariesof service delivery within the team.

Education, Training and Development

Understands and demonstrates thecharacteristics of a role model to members in the team and/or service.

Demonstrates understanding of thementorship process.

Demonstrates ability to conduct teachingand assessment effectively according to a learning plan with supervision fromexperienced colleagues.

Demonstrates self-development throughcontinuous professional development activity; collaborating with colleagues toidentify areas to develop.

Participates in the delivery of formaleducation programmes.

Demonstrates an understanding of currenteducational policies relevant to working areas of practice and keeps up to datewith relevant clinical practice.

Ensures appropriate clinical supervisionis in place to support development.

Research and Evaluation

Demonstrates ability to criticallyevaluate and review literature.

Demonstrates ability to identify wherethere is a gap in the evidence base to support the practice.

Demonstrates ability to generate evidencesuitable for presentations at practice and local level.

Demonstrates ability to apply researchevidence base into working place.

Demonstrates understanding of principlesof research governance.

Job Description Agreement

This job description is intended as abasic guide to the scope and responsibilities of the post and is notexhaustive. It will be subject to regular review and amendment as necessary inconsultation with the post-holder.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Registration with the General Pharmaceutical Society and have a BTEC/NVQ level 3 or equivalent in pharmaceutical sciences.
• Enrolled in, undertaking or qualified from, an approved training pathway. For example, the Primary Care Pharmacy Educational Pathway (PCPEP) or Medicines Optimisation in Care Homes (MOCH) OR willing to undertake CPPE Primary Care pharmacy education pathway (this is a necessary requirement for us to recruit to this role).

Experience

• Previous experience working as a qualified Pharmacy Technician either in Primary Care, Secondary Care or Community Pharmacy.
• Experience of medicines management.
• Experienced working with National and Local prescribing guidelines and policies.
• Experience of working in General Practice.
• Experience of working with QOF.

Knowledge and Skills

• Previous work within patient facing role
• Understanding of GMS contracts and Medicines Management Incentive Schemes
• Experience of NHS IT Systems.
• Good IT Skills
• Excellent communications skills (verbal and written)
• Excellent organisational skills.
• Ability to work safely under pressure
• Work as part of a team
• Have excellent time management and workload prioritisation skills
• Understand clinical governance and risk management
• Awareness of current medicines Management Agendas
• Knowledge of audit and research
• Demonstrate accountability for delivering professional expertise and direct service provision
• Self-Motivation
• Adaptable
• Ability and willingness to travel to all practices within the Primary Care Network
• Previous work within patient facing role
• Understanding of GMS contracts and Medicines Management Incentive Schemes
• Experience of NHS IT Systems.

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.