Pharmacy Technician

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

Job summary

A prominent healthcare organization is seeking a Pharmacy Technician to enhance patient care by optimizing medicine use. The role encompasses clinical, technical, and administrative responsibilities within a dynamic healthcare team in Leicester. Suitable candidates will have a professional registration and some experience in a pharmacy setting. This position offers a chance to improve prescribing safety and contribute significantly to patient wellbeing.

Qualifications

• 2-3 years post-qualification experience in any pharmacy sector.
• Experience of working in primary care.
• Experience of working in a GP practice.

Responsibilities

• Support clinical pharmacist in medication reviews.
• Help patients get the most from their medicines.
• Promote repeat dispensing and online ordering.

Skills

Computer literate

Attention to detail

Excellent communication skills

Analytical thinking

Negotiation skills

Education

Professional registration with GPhC

BTEC/NVQ level 3 or equivalent in pharmaceutical sciences

Job description

Pharmacy technicians play an important role; in complementingclinical pharmacist and other members of the practice team as well.

The purpose ofthe role is to improve patient care by implementing best practices andmaximising prescribing safety. The post holder will help patients getthe most from their medicines, improve repeat prescribing processes,lead and promote repeat dispensing/online ordering as well as aiming toreduce medicine waste, as well as assisting the practice with on the-day queries.

In addition, the post holder willbe responsible for developing the understanding of medicinesoptimisation throughout the practice team. This will involve assistingthe practice in achieving national requirements, NICE implementation and theutilisation of medicines optimisation initiatives.

Main duties of the job

• Computer literate with an ability to use the required GP clinical systems (desirable) and Microsoft office packages (essential)
• Understandthe aims of current healthcare policy and appreciate the implicationsof this for the Clinical Pharmacy in General Practice pilot sites
• 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
• Ableto think analytically; anticipating obstacles and thinking ahead; usinganalytical techniques to draw logical solutions to problems
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Influencing and negotiating skills
• An excellent understanding of data protection and confidentiality issues

About us

We employ a host of highly skilled staffincluding pharmacists, pre-reg pharmacists, nurses, HCAs and other roles. Weare a training practice and support medical students and GP resident doctors.

We are an extremely supportive andstrong team. We pride ourselves on working smarter, being innovative and beinghigh achieving (in terms of QOF, IIF and DES).

Job responsibilities

Pharmacytechnicians play an important role; complementing our clinical pharmacy team along with the wider practice team. Not only will you be workingclosely within the practice, you will be expected to work closely withcolleagues outside of the organisation such as the PCN, communitypharmacies, CCG pharmacy professionals and secondary care. The pharmacytechnicians core responsibilities will cover clinical, technical andadministrative duties.

The purpose of the role is toimprove patient care by implementing best practice and maximisingprescribing safety. The post holder will help patients get the most fromtheir medicines, improve repeat prescribing processes, lead and promoterepeat dispensing/online ordering as well as aiming to reduce medicinewaste.

The role isfunded under the additional role reimbursement scheme (ARRS). Thepost-holder will be required to enrol on the CPPE Primary Care PharmacyEducation Pathway (PCPEP). You will have a key role in the pharmacy team.

Clinical

• Undertakepatient facing and patient supporting roles to ensure effectivemedicines use, through shared decision-making conversations withpatients.
• Carry out medicines optimisation tasks includingeffective medicine administration (e.g. checking inhaler technique),supporting medication reviews and medicines reconciliation. Whererequired, utilise consultation skills to work in partnership withpatients to ensure they use their medicines effectively.
• Asdetermined by the practice, support medication reviews and medicinesreconciliation for new care home patients and synchronising medicinesfor patient transfers between care settings, linking with localcommunity pharmacies.
• Support the Clinical Pharmacist in Structure Medication Reviews (SMR) i.e. organise necessary monitoring tests prior to SMR
• Provideexpertise to address both the public health and social care needs ofpatients, including lifestyle advice, service information, and help intackling 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.
• Supportthe implementation of national prescribing policies and guidance withinGP practices, care homes and other primary care settings.
• Support the practice to deliver on QIPP agenda, QOF and locally commissioned enhanced services

Technical and Administrative

• Support the PCN multi-disciplinary team to ensure efficient medicines optimisation processes are being followed.
• Support prescription team by implement efficient ordering processes and reducing medication wastage.
• Providetraining and support on the legal, safe and secure handling ofmedicines, including the implementation of the Electronic PrescriptionService (EPS).
• Promotion of Electronic Repeat Dispensing (eRD) and online ordering
• Developrelationships with other pharmacy professionals and members of themultidisciplinary team to support integration across health and socialcare including primary care, community pharmacy, secondary care andmental health.
• Support and provide leadership for practicereception teams in streaming general prescription requests, so as toallow GPs and clinical pharmacists to review the more clinically complexrequests.
• Support the practice in reviewing and developing practice policies for CQC requirements.

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

The post-holder will:

Developa culture that promotes equality and values diversity. The post-holdermust be aware of and committed to the Equality and Diversity policies ofthe appointing GP practices and comply with all the requirements ofthese policies and actively promote Equality and Diversity issuesrelevant to the post.

Ensure the principles of openness, transparency and candor are observed and upheld in all working practices.

Thepost holder will have, or acquire through training provided by theorganisation, the appropriate level of safeguarding and knowledge,skills and practice required for the post and be aware of and complywith the organisations safeguarding protection policies and procedures.

Ensure that any infection prevention and control issues are reported to the line manager/Infection Prevention and Control

Equality and diversity:

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

Actingin a way that recognises the importance of peoples rights, interpretingthem in a way that is consistent with practice procedures and policies,and current legislation

Respecting the privacy, dignity, needs and beliefs of patients, carers and colleagues

Behavingin a manner which is welcoming to and of the individual, isnon-judgmental and respects their circumstances, feelings priorities andrights.

Thepost-holder will participate in the CPPE Primary Care PharmacyEducation Pathway (PCPEP) and any other training required by thepractices as part of this employment, with such training to include:

Participationin an annual individual performance review, including takingresponsibility for maintaining a record of own personal and/orprofessional development

Taking responsibility for owndevelopment, 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, and will:

Alert other team members to issues of quality and risk.

Assess own performance and take accountability for own actions, either directly or under supervision

Contributeto the effectiveness of the team by reflecting on own and teamactivities and making suggestions on ways to improve and enhance theteams performance

Work effectively with individuals in other agencies to meet patients needs

Effectively manage own time, workload and resources

Person Specification

Qualifications

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

Experience

• Evidence of continued professional development (CPD)
• 2-3 years post-qualification experience in any pharmacy sector.
• Experience of working in primary care
• Experience of working in a GP practice

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.