Pharmacy Technician

NHS; Metropolitan Borough of Solihull; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 35,000; Full time

Job summary

A healthcare provider in Solihull seeks a motivated Pharmacy Technician to enhance medicines management in a dynamic pharmacy team. You will provide crucial support to patients and healthcare professionals, ensuring safe and effective medicine use. The ideal candidate holds a GPhC registration, possesses strong communication skills, and is committed to collaboration within a multidisciplinary team.

Qualifications

• In depth therapeutic and clinical knowledge of evidence-based healthcare.
• Experience working within a primary care or general practice.
• Knowledge of clinical governance issues in primary care.

Responsibilities

• Provide specialist medicines management advice to patients.
• Support medication reviews and optimise the repeat prescribing process.
• Participate in high-risk drug monitoring and medication audits.

Skills

Excellent written and verbal communication skills

Interpersonal skills

Organisational skills

Decision making skills

Knowledge of health promotion strategies

Education

Mandatory registration with General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC)

Membership of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society

Specialist knowledge acquired through post-graduate diploma

Tools

EMIS clinical system

MS Office

Job description

An exciting opportunity has arisen fora Pharmacy Technician to join our growing pharmacy team. We are looking forcollaborative, motivated and forward-thinking technicians. The role willinvolve supporting medicines management by working within the general practicesetting, with the support of our Clinical MDT including Senior ClinicalPharmacists and GPs. You will provide specialist medicines management adviceto patients and other healthcare professionals, to promote the safe, effectiveand high quality, cost effective use of medicines in all prescribing decisions.The role will also focus on improving the repeat prescribing process, relievingclinical workload pressures.

The PCN recognises that pharmacytechnicians will play an important role, complementing our existing clinicalpharmacist team, as well as working alongside community pharmacies, GPs andother members of the PCN multi-disciplinary team.

Main duties of the job

Pharmacy technicians core role responsibilities will cover clinical, and technical and administrative categories. The following sets out the key role responsibilities for pharmacy technicians:

Clinical

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

Undertake Long Term Conditions reviews and ensure appropriate compliance with national and local guidelines.

To provide telephone advice to patients with LTCs on specific medicines management issues

Provide health promotion where appropriate, including flu vaccinations.

Carrying out medicines optimisation tasks including effective medicine administration (e.g., checking inhaler technique), supporting medication reviews, medicine awareness 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, supporting medication reviews and medicines reconciliation for new care home patients and synchronising medicines for patient transfers between care settings, linking with local community pharmacists, and referring to the pharmacist for structured medication reviews.

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

About us

SHP are a Solihull based partnership looking after over 56,000 patients and operating out of 7 sites. This

role provides an opportunity to join a large forward thinking organisation whose vision is to be the most

respected Primary Care provider in the West Midlands.

Through our centralised back-office functions, our systems are organised so we can concentrate on

healthcare and not administration. Our practices place great value on teaching, training and mentorship

within the team.SHP Vision Statement: To provide person-centred care at the heart of the community.

Mission Statement:

Solihull Healthcare Partnership aims to be the provider of choice in delivering holistic care to our neighbourhood.

Honest - We practice and encourage open and honest communication, acting with integrity in all that we do.

Excellence - We strive to achieve the highest standards in the care we deliver

and enable our team to create an environment that encourages excellence.

Accountable - We take personal and collective responsibility for our actions and the way we deliver care.

Respectful - We engage with our team, our patients and our community with respect, providing kind and compassionate person-centred care.

Transformational - We are committed to continually improving our standards, working with the community, being responsive and adapting to the changing needs of the neighbourhood

Job responsibilities

Taking a central role in the clinical aspects of shared care protocols and liaising with practice pharmacists and GPs for more complex patients.

Supporting initiatives for antimicrobial stewardship to reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing.

To provide advice to GPs, staff and patients in changes to prescribing to support the improvement of prescribing safety, quality and cost effectiveness.

To participate in high risk drug monitoring and medication audits.

To prepare evidence based resources and information to support the implementation of rational cost-effective prescribing.

To take a proactive approach to the safe handling of prescriptions, including assessment of risk and making recommendations for improvement.

To respond to medication queries from patients and staff in a professional manner referring to the appropriate GP in accordance with practice protocols.

To advise on the sourcing and safe management of medicines as appropriate.

Technical and Administrative

Working with the PCN multi-disciplinary team to ensure efficient medicines optimisation, including implementing efficient ordering and return processes and reducing wastage.

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

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

Supervising practice care navigation teams with prescription request reallocation equitably across all GPs

The role will also require pharmacy technicians to support the implementation of national prescribing policies and guidance within GP practices, care homes and other primary care settings. This will be achieved through undertaking clinical audits (e.g., use of antibiotics), supporting quality improvement measures and contributing to the

Quality and Outcomes Framework and enhanced services. In addition, pharmacy technicians will assist in the delivery of medicines optimisation incentive schemes (e.g., medicines switches) and patient safety audits.

Person Specification

Other

• Flexibility to meet the needs of the business
• Able to travel to all SHP sites
• DBS required
• Immunisation status
• Full driving licence

Experience

• In depth therapeutic and clinical knowledge and understanding of the principles of evidence based healthcare
• An appreciation of the nature of GPs and general practices
• An appreciation of the nature of primary care prescribing, concepts of rational prescribing and strategies for improving prescribing
• Worked within a primary care or general practice
• Management of patients with long term conditions
• Knowledge of EMIS clinical system
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Qualifications

• Mandatory registration with General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC)
• Membership of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society
• Specialist knowledge acquired through post-graduate diploma levels or equivalent training/experience
• CPPE Primary Care Pharmacy Education Pathway

Skills/Knowledge

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Communicates effectively with patients and carers, recognising the need for alternative methods of communication to overcome difficult levels of understanding, cultural background and preferred ways of communicating, whilst ensuring the patient is fully informed
• Demonstrate the ability to communicate complex and sensitive information in an understandable form to a variety of audiences (e.g. patients)
• Excellent interpersonal, influencing and negotiating skills
• Is able to effectively plan, manage, monitor, advise and review general medicine optimisations issues in cored areas for long term conditions
• Recognise priorities when problem solving and identifies deviations from the normal pattern and is able to refer to seniors or GPs when appropriate
• Able to obtain and analyse complex technical information
• Knowledge of health promotion strategies
• Knowledge of clinical governance issues in primary care
• Effective decision making and negotiation skills
• Ability to problem solve and meet deadlines whilst working under pressure
• Excellent organisational skills
• Work effectively independently and as a team member
• Gain acceptance for recommendations and influence/motivate/persuade the audience to comply with the recommendations/agreed course of action where there may be significant barriers
• Demonstrate accountability for delivering professional expertise and direct service provision
• IT skills (MS Office, EMIS and DOCMAN)

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.