Pharmacy Technician

NHS; New Milton; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A healthcare organization in the UK is seeking a Clinical Pharmacy Technician to join their team. In this role, you will support GPs and Clinical Pharmacists in maximizing safe and cost-effective prescribing while collaborating with a multidisciplinary team. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in clinical pharmacy, excellent organizational skills, and a commitment to patient care. This position offers a unique opportunity to impact patient well-being in a beautiful part of England.

Qualifications

• Experience of working as a qualified, registered pharmacy technician in primary care.
• Evidence of continued professional development.
• Demonstrate ability to influence and persuade partners.

Responsibilities

• Support the delivery of clinical pharmacy services across the PCN.
• Liaising with clinicians to answer medicines related queries.
• Participate in quality improvement work and clinical audits.

Skills

Clinical pharmacy knowledge

Excellent attention to detail

Strong organizational skills

Good influencing skills

Education

Professional registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council

BTEC/NVQ level 3 or equivalent in pharmaceutical sciences

Tools

SystmOne

Microsoft Office

Job description

Coastal MedicalPartnershipis an innovative and forward-thinking Partnership that also represents a singlePrimary Care Network (PCN). We are inthe unusual position of being able to work seamlessly across the network withno inter Partnership/Practice boundaries.

ClinicalPharmacy in General Practice is part of an exciting programme of transformationto develop a new model of care which addresses our ambition to deliverperson-centred, coordinated care across the district. The Clinical Pharmacy inGeneral Practice model is supported by the direction of national policyincluding the Five Year Forward View where there is a need to better utilisethe role of pharmacy within primary care to pro-actively help patients staysafe, well and out of hospital as well as assisting to reduce the demands ongeneral practice.

Main duties of the job

Thepurpose of the role is to support the GPs, Clinical Pharmacists and the widerMDT across the PCN, to maximise safe, cost effective prescribing to improve thequality of patient care. The post holder will develop and encourage a positiveculture of medicines optimisation principles to assist the PCN in achievinglocal and national medicines related objectives. Under the supervision of awider team the Pharmacy Technicians will use their expertise toensure effective and efficient use of medicines, including running their own clinics within their area of expertise.

About us

We are excited to work with applicants who are looking for a varied and interesting job, working with a great multidisciplinary team (MDT). This role is an integral part of the Integrated Clinical Pharmacy Team across the PCN. We aim to always provide high quality care to our patients and also to look after each other at work to ensure safe and sustainable Primary Care. We border the spectacular South Coast and beautiful New Forest National Park giving us huge opportunity to empower our patients to improve their health as part of their well-being. This is an excellent part of the UK to be a health care professional.

Job responsibilities

Main Duties

Clinical

Support the delivery of clinical pharmacy services across the PCN, to include:

liaising with clinicians and administrative staff to answer medicines related queries within the Technicians scope of competence or referring them to the most suitable healthcare professional where appropriate;

in accordance with agreed and approved protocols, assisting the Clinical Pharmacists with Structured Medication Reviews (SMR) such as providing background information, arranging necessary monitoring tests before SMR and follow up of patients after review by the Clinical Pharmacist through clinics (telephone and face-to-face), occasional domiciliary and Care Home visits, utilising consultation skills to work in partnership with patients to optimise their use of medicines;

providing medicines reconciliation for patients in a timely and effective manner when they register with the practice or transfer back into primary care, liaising with patients and other providers to ensure patients receive appropriate medication;

Assist with medication safety monitoring systems including managing drug monitoring of medicines prescribed under shared care (e.g. high-risk drugs);

Participate in quality improvement work and clinical audits to maximise safe and cost-effective medicines use. This will include assisting with searches, data collection and medicine safety tasks;

Provide advice to address both the public health and social care needs of patients, including lifestyle advice, signposting and helping to tackle local health inequalities; and

Support initiatives for antimicrobial stewardship to reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing locally.

Technical and administration

Improve and implement efficient ordering and repeat prescribing processes, including:

promoting and implementing aspects of electronic prescribing (ETP) and electronic repeat dispensing (eRD) and online ordering, in particular to minimise clinical risk and waste of medicines;

supporting the PCN with prescription processing and improving the service to patients, including community pharmacy liaison around medication changes and out of stock medications.

Provide advice and support on the legal, safe and secure handling of medicines.

Maintain the practice formulary.

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

Monitor practice prescribing and adherence to Coastal PCN, local and national prescribing policies.

Assist the practice with the identification and management of patients taking medications that are subject to CAS/MHRA alerts, product withdrawal and other local/national guidance.

Support the PCN to deliver on QIPP agenda, QOF and locally commissioned enhanced services.

Support the PCN in reviewing and developing practice policies for CQC requirements.

Equality and diversity

Develop a culture that promotes equality and values diversity, to include:

acting in a way that recognises the importance of peoples rights, interpreting them in a way that is consistent with practice procedures, policies and current legislation;

respecting the privacy, dignity, needs and beliefs of patients, carers and colleagues; and

behaving in a manner which is welcoming to and of the individual, is non-judgmental and respects their circumstances, feelings priorities and rights.

Participate in mandatory training and any training programme implemented by the practice as part of this employment, to include:

engaging with an annual individual performance review, including taking responsibility for maintaining a record of own personal and/or professional development; and

taking responsibility for own development, learning and performance and demonstrating skills and activities to others who are undertaking similar work.

Quality

Strive to maintain quality within the practice, including:

alerting other team members to issues of quality and risk;

assessing own performance and taking accountability for own actions, directly or under supervision;

contributing to the effectiveness of the team by reflecting on own and team activities and making suggestions on ways to improve and enhance the teams performance;

working effectively with individuals in other agencies to meet patient needs; and

effectively managing own time, workload and resources.

General

Participate in practice meetings, patient participation groups and other local meetings to improve engagement with the role of the Pharmacy Technician.

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

Work in accordance with PCN policies, including the equal opportunities, equality and diversity, safeguarding, health and safety, and infection control policies.

Develop relationships and work closely with community, hospital, MOT pharmacy colleagues and the wider health system.

Undertake any other duties as may reasonably be required from time to time.

Person Specification

Experience

• Experience of working as a qualified, registered pharmacy technician in primary care, community or hospital pharmacy
• Evidence of continued professional development
• Experience working with GP surgeries in this role
• Demonstrate ability to influence and persuade partners and stakeholders of the respective merits of different options, innovations new opportunities and challenges

Knowledge and Understanding

• Good clinical pharmacy knowledge
• Good understanding of the nature of primary care, concepts of rational prescribing and strategies for improvement and medicines optimisation
• Knowledge and understanding of pharmacy law and ethics and current legislation
• Relevant knowledge of Primary Care Networks, General Practice and evidence based medicine
• An appreciation of NHS agenda and Government targets
• Awareness of how Clinical Pharmacy Services assist delivery of NHS priorities including requirements for financial balance and quality

Skills and Competencies

• Good computer literacy with ability to use Microsoft office packages
• Excellent attention to detail, able to work accurately in a fast-paced environment, identifying errors quickly and taking steps to correct
• Able to effectively manage allocated resources
• Strong organisational and time management skills
• Demonstrate a planned and organised approach with the ability to prioritise own workload and meet strict deadlines
• Excellent oral and written communication skills with ability to adapt communication style and content to suit the audience, including patients, carers and other healthcare professionals, recognising the need for alternative methods of communication
• Good understanding of data protection and confidentiality issues
• Ability to think analytically, anticipating obstacles, thinking ahead, using analytical techniques to draw logical solutions to problems
• Good influencing and negotiating skills
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team
• Experience of using GP Clinical system SystmOne and Ardens
• Experience in patient counselling
• Supervisory experience

Attributes

• Ability to multi-task
• Ability to be flexible with hours if required to meet service needs
• Self-motivated and proactive
• Continued commitment to improve skills and ability in new areas of work
• Independently mobile and be able to work across several sites and conduct patient or care home visits
• Demonstrate ability to work in a busy environment, dealing with urgent and important tasks to prioritise effectively whilst also supporting others
• Excellent time keeping and prioritising skills
• Acceptable Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) check
• Adaptability, flexibility and ability to cope with uncertainty and change
• Ability to drive and have own car

Qualifications

• Professional registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council, GPhC.
• BTEC/NVQ level 3 or equivalent in pharmaceutical sciences.
• Is enrolled in, undertaking or qualified from, an approved training pathway, i.e. the Primary Care Pharmacy Educational Pathway (PCPEP); Medicines Optimisation in Care Homes (MOCH), or is prepared to enrol in.
• Experience in a hospital or primary care pharmacy

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.