Pharmacy Technician

NHS; Sutton Coldfield; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 34,000; Full time

Job summary

A healthcare organization in Sutton Coldfield is seeking a Pharmacy Technician to enhance patient care through effective medicines optimisation and support clinical teams. The role involves patient interaction, conducting reviews, and ensuring compliance with national prescribing policies. Candidates must be registered with the GPhC and have at least 2 years of relevant experience. Competitive salary ranges from £32,000 to £33,600, depending on qualifications and experience.

Qualifications

• Minimum 2 years post-qualification experience in a hospital, community, or general practice setting.
• Experience with IT systems, particularly Emis knowledge of NHS.
• Commitment to Continuing Professional Development (CPD).

Responsibilities

• Undertake patient facing and support roles to ensure effective medicines use.
• Conduct medicines optimisation tasks, including reviews and reconciliation.
• Support the implementation of national prescribing policies in GP practices.

Skills

Patient communication

Medicines optimisation

Auditing skills

Education

Registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council

Qualified Pharmacy Technician

Enrolled in approved training pathway

Job description

PharmacyTechnicians can help play an important role, complimenting clinical pharmacists, community pharmacists and other members of the PCN multi-disciplinary team. While Pharmacy Technicians do not prescribe nor make clinical decisions, they do work under supervision to ensure the effective and efficient use of medicines. In the PCN, their core responsibilities can cover clinical, technical, and administrative roles.

The purpose of the role is to maximise safe and cost-effective prescribing, to improve the quality of patient care. The post-holder will help patients get the best from their medicines, use existing protocols to maximise cost-effective preparations, improve repeat prescribing processes (including use of electronic repeat dispensing and online ordering), minimising clinical risk and reducing avoidable medicines wastage. The post-holder will also develop and encourage a positive culture of medicines optimisation principles, to assist the PCN in achieving local and national medicines-related objectives.

Main duties of the job

Where a PCN employs or engages one or more Pharmacy Technicians under the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme, the PCN must ensure that each Pharmacy Technician has the key clinical, technical and administrative responsibilities as outlined below for delivering health services.

The post holder is a Pharmacy Technician and is an integral part of the general practice team, working within their professional boundaries in each practice within the Primary Care Network PCN.

This role will work under the supervision of the PCN clinical pharmacist to ensure the safe, accurate and timely supply of prescribed medication to patients.

They will provide technical and administrative support to the PCN clinical pharmacist and clinicians.

The pharmacy technician will support the PCN and practice clinical teams with queries around medication from patients.

The pharmacy technician will complete audits around patient safety in the prescribing of medication and present the information for sharing with the clinical team.

About us

Sutton has a population of approximately 200,000 residents registered to 21 practices and there are currently 4 Primary Care Networks each serving a population of approximately 50,000 patients. Our Sutton PCNs are forward-looking, friendly, and focused on providing a wide range of excellent healthcare services to patients in Sutton and the surrounding area. Our PCNs, between them, are led by 8 PCN Clinical Directors. The PCNs work together as they see the benefits of working together in a larger GP partnership and are delighted to be realizing some of those benefits now. Because of our scale, not only are we more resilient and efficient but we are able to invest in continuous quality improvement, enhanced care, new services, and training and developing our workforce. We value the diversity of our colleagues and actively champion an inclusive culture and are committed to helping our colleagues achieve a work/life balance.

CASS PCN is looking to employ a Pharmacy Technician under the additional roles reimbursement scheme. They will be accountable to the Primary Care Networks, working in Benhill and Belmont GP Practices within CASS PCN.

Job responsibilities

• Undertake patient facing and patient supporting roles to ensure effective medicines use, through shared decision‑making conversations with patients.
• Conduct medicines optimisation tasks including effective medicine reviews and medicines reconciliation. Where required, utilise consultation skills to work in partnership with patients to ensure they use their medicine.
• Support medication reviews and medicines reconciliation for new care home patients and synchronise medicines for patient transfers between care settings and linking with local community.
• Provide 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.
• Maintain a central role in the clinical aspects of shared care protocols and liaise with specialist pharmacists for more complex patients.
• Support initiatives for antimicrobial stewardship to reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing.
• Assist in the delivery of medicines optimisation and management incentive schemes and patient safety audits.
• 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 the Investment and Impact Fund (IIF) objectives.
• Attend a formal appraisal with your manager at least every 12 months. Once a performance/training objective has been set, progress will be reviewed on a regular basis so that new objectives can be agreed.
• Contribute to public health campaigns through advice or direct care.
• Maintain a clean, tidy, effective working area at all times.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council GPhC.
• Meets the specific qualification and training requirements as specified by the GPhC criteria to register as a Pharmacy Technician.
• 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.
• Evidence of commitment to and ability to demonstrate CPD including Management qualification and professional development.

Experience

• Minimum 2 years post‑qualification experience in a hospital, community, or general practice setting.
• Working primary care including Emis knowledge of IT NHS.
• Is working under appropriate clinical supervision to ensure safe, effective and efficient use of medicines.
• Understanding and knowledge of healthcare provision in GP practices, QOF, PCN Network Contract DES and IIF.

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.

£32,000 to £33,600 a year depending on experience and/or CPPE achievement.