Pharmacy Technician

Integrated Care System; Wigan; On-site; GBP 25,000 - 36,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare service provider is seeking a skilled Pharmacy Technician to join their team in Wigan. This position involves ensuring the safe supply of medications, supporting medication reviews, and working collaboratively with healthcare professionals to enhance patient care. Strong communication and organizational skills are essential, along with a commitment to professional development and patient safety.

Qualifications

• Experience in primary care settings required.
• Understanding of healthcare provision in GP practices and PCNs is necessary.
• Knowledge of clinical IT systems like EMIS/SystmOne/Vision is beneficial.

Responsibilities

• Conduct medication reviews and manage medication-related queries.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams to optimize medicine use.
• Undertake patient-facing roles and provide lifestyle and service information.

Skills

Communication

Organisational skills

Time management

Emotional resilience

Analytical skills

Patient care

Education

Registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC)

Enrolled in approved training pathway (PCPEP or MOCH)

Job description

We are seeking a dedicated and skilled Pharmacy Technician to join our Wigan North PCN team.

The successful candidate will play a vital role in our PCNteam, working collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams to ensure the bestoutcomes for patients. This position requires an individual who is passionateabout clinical excellence and committed to continuous professional development.

The job will involve being part of a care home teamproviding support to the care homes allocated to the 4 practices within thePCN.

Thisrole will work under the supervision of the Advanced Practitioner orPrescribing Paramedic to ensure the safe, accurate and timely supply ofprescribed medication to patients.

Theywill provide technical and administrative support to the whole PCN team.

ThePharmacy Technician will supportthe PCN and practice clinical teams with queries regarding medication frompatients.

The Pharmacy Technician will completeaudits regarding patient safety in the prescribing of medication and presentthe information for sharing with the clinical team.

The role will be employed under the Additional rolesReimbursement Scheme (ARRS) meeting the requirements outlines in the NetworkContract Agreement DES.

Please note, this advert may be closed early dependant on the amount of applications received

Main duties of the job

• Working with the PCN team to review and completemedication reviews for all patients within the care homes.
• Responsible for all medication relatedqueries and compliance for all patients within the care homes
• Undertake patient facing and patient supportingroles to ensure effective medicines usethrough shared decision-making conversations with patients
• Conduct medicine optimisation tasks includingeffective medicine administration, support medication reviews andmedicines reconciliation. When required, utilise consultation skills to work in with patients to ensure they use their medicineseffectively
• Provide specialist expertise, when competent, toaddress both the public health and socialcare needs of patients including lifestyle advice, service information andhelp in tackling local health inequalities
• Maintain a centralrole in the clinical aspects of shared care protocols and liaise withspecialist pharmacists for more complex patients
• Support initiatives for antimicrobial stewardship toreduce inappropriate antibioticprescribing
• Assist in the delivery of medicines optimisation andmanagement incentive schemes and patientsafety audits
• Support theimplementation of national prescribing policies and guidance within GPpractices, care homes and other primary care settings. This will be achievedthrough undertaking clinical audits, supportingquality improvement measures and contributing to the Quality and OutcomesFramework and enhanced services

About us

We are a PCN of 4 practices in the Wigan North area (AspullSurgery, Beech Hill Medical Practice, Shevington Surgery and Standish MedicalPractice) and work closely together to deliver high-quality patient care.

Job responsibilities

In addition to the main duties outlined the technical and administrativeresponsibilities of the PCN Pharmacy Technician:

a.Workwith the PCN multi-disciplinary team to ensure efficient medicines optimisationincluding implementing efficient ordering and return processes and reducingwastage

b.Provideleadership for medicines optimisation systems across PCNs, supporting practiceswith a range of services to get the best value from medicines by encouragingand implementing electronic prescriptions, safe repeat prescribing systems andtimely monitoring and management of high-risk medicines

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

d.Developrelationships with other Pharmacy Technicians, Pharmacists and members of themulti-disciplinary team to support the integration of the pharmacy team acrosshealth and social care including primary care, community pharmacy, secondarycare and mental health

e.Supportthe delivery of QOF, incentive schemes, QIPP and other quality or costeffectiveness initiatives

f.Undertakeany tasks consistent with the level of the post and the scope of the role,ensuring that work is delivered in a timely and effective manner

g.Dutiesmay vary from time to time without changing the general character of the postor the level of responsibility.

h.Theremay be, on occasion, a requirement to carry out other tasks. This will bedependent upon factors such as workload and staffing levels.

All staff have a duty to conform to the following:

Equality, Diversity andInclusion

A good attitude and positive action towards Equality Diversity& Inclusion (ED&I) createsan environment where all individuals can achieve their full potential.Creating such an environment is important for three reasons it improvesoperational effectiveness, it is morally the right thing to do and it isrequired by law.

Patients and their families have the right to betreated fairly and be routinely involved in decisions about their treatmentand care. They can expect to be treated with dignity and respect and will notbe discriminated against on any grounds including age, disability, genderreassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race,religion, or belief, sex, or sexual orientation.

Patients have a responsibility to treat otherpatients and our staff with dignity and respect.

Staff have the right to be treated fairly inrecruitment and career progression. Staff can expect to work in anenvironment where diversity is valued, and equality of opportunity ispromoted. Staff will not be discriminated against on any grounds includingage, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership,pregnancy and maternity, race, religion, or belief, sex, or sexualorientation. Staff have a responsibility to ensure that they treat ourpatients and their colleagues with dignity and respect.

Safety, Health, Environment andFire (SHEF)

This PCN is committed to supporting and promotingopportunities for staff to maintain their health, wellbeing, and safety.

The post holder is to manage and assess risk withintheir areas of responsibility, ensuring adequate measures are in place toprotect staff and patients, and monitor work areas and practices to ensurethey are safe and free from hazards and conform to health, safety andsecurity legislation, policies, procedures, and guidelines.

All personnel have a duty to take reasonable care ofhealth and safety at work for themselves, their team, and others and tocooperate with employers to ensure compliance with health and safetyrequirements.

All personnel are to comply with the:

Health and Safety atWork Act 1974

Fire Precautions(workplace) Regulations 1999

Other statutorylegislation which may be brought to the post holders attention

Confidentiality

The PCN is committed to maintaining an outstandingconfidential service. Patients entrust and permit us to collect and retainsensitive information relating to their health and other matters pertainingto their care. They do so in confidence and have a right to expect that allstaff will always respect their privacy and maintain confidentiality.

It is essential that, if the legal requirements areto be met and the trust of our patients is to be retained, all staff mustprotect patient information and provide a confidential service.

Quality and ContinuousImprovement (CI)

To preserve and improve the quality of the PCNsoutput, all personnel are required to think not only of what they do, but howthey achieve it. By continually re-examining our processes, we will be ableto develop and improve the overall effectiveness of the way we work.

The responsibility for this rests with everyoneworking within the PCN, to look for opportunities to improve quality andshare good practice, and to discuss, highlight and work with the team tocreate opportunities to improve patient care.

Our PCN continually strive to improve work processesthat deliver healthcare with improved results across all areas of our serviceprovision. We promote a culture of continuous improvement where everyonecounts, and staff are permitted to make suggestions and contributions toimprove our service delivery and enhance patient care.

Staff should interpret national strategies andpolicies into local implementation strategies that are aligned to the valuesand culture of general practice.

All staff are to contribute to investigations androot cause analyses whilst participating in serious incident investigationsand multidisciplinary case reviews.

Induction

We will provide a full induction programme andmanagement will support you throughout the process.

Learning and development

The effective use of training and development isfundamental to ensuring that all staff are equipped with the appropriateskills, knowledge, attitude, and competences to perform their role. All staffwill be required to partake in and complete mandatory training as directed.It is an expectation for this post holder to assess their own learning needsand undertake learning as appropriate

The post holder will undertake mentorship for teammembers, and disseminate learning and information gained to other teammembers, to share good practice and inform others about current and futuredevelopments (e.g., courses and conferences).

Collaborative working

All staff are to recognise the significance ofcollaborative working, understand their own role and scope, and identify howthis may develop over time. Staff are to prioritise their own workload andensure effective time-management strategies are embedded within the cultureof the team.

Teamwork is essential in multidisciplinaryenvironments, and the post holder is to work as an effective and responsibleteam member, supporting others and exploring the mechanisms to develop newways of working, while working effectively with others to clearly definevalues, direction and policies impacting upon care delivery

Effective communication is essential and all staffmust ensure they communicate in a way which enables the sharing ofinformation in an appropriate manner.

All staff should delegate clearly and appropriately,adopting the principles of safe practice and assessment of competence.

Plans and outcomes by which to measure successshould be agreed.

Managing information

All staff should use technology and appropriatesoftware as an aid to management in the planning, implementation andmonitoring of care, and presenting and communicating information.

Data should be reviewed and processed using accurateSNOMED/read codes to ensure easy and accurate information retrieval formonitoring and audit processes.

Staff will be given detailed information during theinduction process regarding policy and procedure.

The post holder must adhere to the informationcontained within the PCN/practice directives, ensuring protocols are alwaysadhered to.

Security

The security of the PCN is the responsibility of allpersonnel. The post holder must ensure they always remain vigilant and reportany suspicious activity immediately to their line manager.

Under no circumstances are staff to share the codesfor the door locks with anyone, and they are to ensure that restricted areasremain effectively secured. Likewise, password controls are to be maintainedand passwords are not to be shared.

Professional conduct

All staff are required to dress appropriately fortheir role.

Person Specification

Skills

• Ability to communicate complex and sensitive information effectively with people at all levels by telephone, email and face to face
• Knowledge of IT systems, including the ability to use word processing skills, emails and the internet to create simple plans and reports
• Good personal organisational skills
• Effective time management
• Demonstrate personal accountability, emotional resilience and work well under pressure

Experience

• Is working under appropriate clinical supervision to ensure safe, effective and efficient use of medicines
• Experience working in a primary care setting
• Understanding and knowledge of healthcare provision in GP practices, QOF and enhanced services
• An appreciation of the new NHS landscape including the relationships between individual practices, PCNs and the commissioners
• Good clinical system IT knowledge of EMIS/SystmOne/Vision

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
• Training requirements are currently in transition and further information is available at GPhC
• 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)

Other Requirements

• Ability to follow legal, ethical, professional and organisational policies/procedures and codes of conduct
• Ability to use own initiative, discretion and sensitivity
• Able to get along with people from all backgrounds and communities, respecting lifestyles and diversity
• Ability to use own initiative, discretion and sensitivity
• Flexible and cooperative
• Ability to identify risk and assess/manage risk when working with individuals
• Sensitive and empathetic in distressing situations
• Able to finish work tasks
• Problem solving and analytical skills
• Ability to maintain confidentiality
• Knowledge of and ability to work to policies and procedures, including confidentiality, safeguarding, lone working, information governance and health and safety
• Flexibility to work outside of core office hours
• Access to own transport and ability to travel across the locality on a regular basis, including to visit people in their own home

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.