Pharmacy Clinical Assistant | Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Oxford; On-site; GBP 25,000 - 30,000; Full time

Job summary

A prominent NHS Trust seeks a Clinical Assistant to join their Gastroenterology Pharmacy Team in Oxford. This role requires excellent communication and organizational skills to manage prescription requests and liaise with patients effectively. Responsibilities include monitoring prescription requests, managing email queries, and supporting the clinical pharmacist. The ideal candidate will have a calm demeanor and be proficient in Microsoft Office applications. Note: This position does not qualify for Skilled Worker visa sponsorship.

Qualifications

• Ability to communicate effectively with patients and staff.
• Experience in roles that require organization and attention to detail.
• Calm demeanor in emotional circumstances.

Responsibilities

• Monitor prescription requests and ensure timely processing.
• Manage and prioritize queries from the shared email account.
• Contact patients to arrange urgent medications.
• Support the clinical pharmacist with new patient registrations.
• Maintain Pharmacy held databases accurately.

Skills

Excellent communication

Organisational skills

Empathy

Time management

Tools

Microsoft Word

Excel

Outlook Email

Job description

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.

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, Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Headington and the Horton General Hospital in Banbury.

Key responsibilities

• Monitor prescription requests that are sent from the homecare delivery companies for the clinical area and print off paperwork (e.g. prescriptions) to ensure repeat prescriptions are processed in a timely manner. This includes exchange of confidential, sensitive or contentious information with staff, patients and carers which require persuasive skills where agreement and co‑operation is required. This also includes ensuring changes in delivery dates are recognised.
• Monitor the shared email account and prioritise queries as appropriate. This will include chasing medication deliveries, liaising with patients, referring to the clinical pharmacy team as appropriate.
• Manage, collate and send completed homecare prescriptions to the homecare delivery companies daily while maintaining security of each prescription.
• Ensure all copies of the prescriptions are sent over to the OUH Pharmacy Homecare team for invoicing needs, and to ensure the trust settles all invoices and costs are passed over to the commissioners in a timely manner.
• Liaise with the OUH Pharmacy Homecare team about invoicing queries they have.
• Confirm all prescriptions are received by the homecare company by confirmation emails and keeping hard copies of this confirmation in an organised filing system.
• Ensure a copy of each prescription is uploaded onto the electronic prescribing record (EPR) and keep all sent prescriptions organised appropriately on file to look back on if required. Ensuring all necessary email correspondence/phone conversations are uploaded onto the electronic prescribing record.
• Contact patients as appropriate to arrange and collect urgent medications from the OUH Dispensaries. This can result in occasional exposure to distressing or emotional circumstances when dealing with patients, so it is important to have a calm demeanour.
• Support the clinical pharmacist in registering and consenting all new patients to homecare.
• Book/ chase /update spreadsheet for Outpatient clinical appointments as requested by the clinical pharmacy team.
• Guide patients to appropriate teams / refer them to the IBD Advice line if required.
• Ensure that the Pharmacy held databases for patients receiving homecare and daycase medications are adequately maintained and organised.
• Using the above Pharmacy held databases to print off all homecare prescriptions for all drugs on time to ensure delivery companies get drugs to patients for when their dose is due.
• Work to establish standard operating procedures (SOP) when dealing with telephone calls from patients and colleagues which requires the ability to understand and explain basic medical / pharmacy processes, role demands, and a lot of physical effort will be required for concentration and duties. You will have a degree of interruptions from a variety of sources, so time management is especially important.
• Provide active listening skills, reassurance, compassion, empathy and support to patients and carers over telephone or in person regarding medicine‑related concerns while also maintaining communication with Gastroenterology Pharmacists and uploading relative conversations to EPR.
• Support the completion of incident forms related to homecare complaints, missed deliveries, missed nursing visits, incorrect drug delivered, incorrect delivery date, patient not being contacted etc.
• Be able to use different databases to search patient details / demographics to facilitate global patient mailing when needed. This may include providing reports and data collection.
• Be confident in using a variety of computer software including Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook Email, Outlook Calendar, OUH SharePoint and other basic web design packages and publishing software.
• Devise and maintain an efficient and effective administrative system including organised filing, message taking, prioritising calls and prioritising emails to ensure we deliver an efficient service.
• Assistant in producing reports as necessary and participating in data collection for local homecare audits, monitoring growth in activity to identify needs for investment of resources.
• Support the training in rotational staff such as pre‑registration pharmacists and diploma pharmacists in the maintenance of databases and homecare logistics.
• Participate and co‑ordinate the development and maintenance of policies and procedures as necessary, by creating SOPs and providing comments on those written by others.
• Provide general office duties such as filing, photocopying and scanning etc.
• Be accountable for own actions and work without supervision whilst the line manager is not available for advice when required.
• Work independently and refer to members of the Gastroenterology Pharmacy Team.
• Ensure the safe and effective use of storage and disposal of information in line with the Data Protection Act, Caldicott Principles and General Data protection regulations.
• To be involved in any auditing of the service as required by the Pharmacy department / directorate.
• Any other reasonable duties agreed with Consultant Pharmacist / Team Leader.

Note

NOTE: Please note that this role does not meet the criteria for Skilled Worker visa sponsorship.

Closing Date

This advert closes on Wednesday 31 Dec 2025.