Pharmacy Technician - Hyndburn Rural PCN

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

Job summary

A leading healthcare provider in East Lancashire is seeking a dedicated Pharmacy Technician to enhance patient care through effective medication management. The role involves working closely with clinical pharmacists and other healthcare professionals to optimize prescribing practices and ensure patient safety. Candidates should possess strong communication skills, a commitment to continuous professional development, and relevant qualifications. This position offers an opportunity to contribute to innovative healthcare solutions in a supportive environment.

Qualifications

• Experience as a qualified pharmacy technician in primary care or community pharmacy.
• Evidence of continued professional development (CPD).

Responsibilities

• Ensure effective medicines use through shared decision-making with patients.
• Support medication reviews and medicines reconciliation.
• Manage shared care protocols and liaise with Clinical Pharmacists.

Skills

Communication

Analytical Thinking

Attention to Detail

Education

BTEC/NVQ level 3 in Pharmaceutical Sciences

Professional registration with GPhC

Job description

The East Lancashire Alliance is currently looking to recruit a Pharmacy Technician on behalf of the Hyndburn Rural PCN.

This is a permanent position, full time preferred but would consider part time.

Main duties of the job

Pharmacy technicians play an important role, complementing clinical pharmacists, community pharmacists and other members of the PCN multi- disciplinary team. Pharmacy technicians are different to clinical pharmacists as they are not able to prescribe or make clinical decisions. Instead they provide key skills, working within the practice dispensary, to ensure the safe, effective & efficient handling of medicines.

The purpose of the role is to lead improvements to maximise safe, cost effective best practice in prescribing to improve the quality of patient care. The post holder will help patients to get the best from their medicines by switching medications to agreed and approved protocols, improving repeat prescribing processes in General Practice, including promotion of repeat dispensing and online ordering, minimising clinical risk and aiming to reduce wasted medicines.

About us

The East Lancashire Alliance is a network of 9 PCNs covering 48 GP practices covering a population of over 390,000 patients across East Lancashire. Patients are at the heart of everything we do and we pride ourselves in ensuring our patients feel safe, supported, communicated with and respected at a time when they may be feeling vulnerable. The Alliance are proud to represent our member practices and to champion our Primary Care Partners, by working with local general practice and other system partners in the provision of patient centred, local healthcare services. Each practice has a close-knit team of staff who collectively seek to improve the health of their patient populations. East Lancashire is one of the world's most innovative, original and exciting places to live and work. From the beauty of the surrounding countryside, to the heart of the vibrant inner Towns and Villages with great shopping, entertainment and dining options. Wherever you go you will experience a great northern welcome with people famed for their warmth, humour and generosity.

Job responsibilities

Clinical Pharmacy in General Practice is part of an excitingprogramme of transformation to develop a new model of care which addresses ourambition to deliver person-centred, coordinated care across the district. TheClinical Pharmacy in General Practice model is supported by the direction ofnational policy including the Five Year Forward View and GP Forward View wherethere is a need to better utilise the role of pharmacy within primary care topro-actively help patients stay safe and well and out of hospital as well ashelping to reduce the demands on general practice.

Pharmacy technicians play an important role, complementingclinical pharmacists, community pharmacists and other members of the PCN multi- disciplinary team. Pharmacy technicians are differentto clinical pharmacists as they are not able to prescribe or make clinicaldecisions, instead working under supervision to ensure effective and efficientuse of medicines.

Pharmacy technicians core role responsibilities will coverclinical, and technical and administrative categories.

The purpose of the role is to lead improvements to maximisesafe, cost effective best practice in prescribing to improve the quality ofpatient care. The post holder will help patients to get the best from theirmedicines by switching medications to agreed and approved protocols, improvingrepeat prescribing processes in General Practice, including promotion of repeatdispensing and online ordering, minimising clinical risk and aiming to reducewasted medicines.

In addition, the post holder will be responsible forencouraging the development of better understanding of the principles ofmedicines optimisation throughout the practice teams and promoting goodpractice in line with therapeutic developments. This will involve assisting thePCN in achieving national requirements, NICE implementation and utilisation ofmedicines optimisation initiatives.

Key duties and responsibilities

Clinical

• Undertake patient facing and patient supporting roles toensure effective medicines use, through shared decision-making conversationswith patients.
• Carry out medicines optimisation tasks including effectivemedicine administration (e.g. checking inhaler technique), supportingmedication reviews and medicines reconciliation. Where required, utiliseconsultation skills to work in partnership with patients to ensure they usetheir medicines effectively.
• As determined by the PCN, support medication reviews andmedicines reconciliation for new care home patients and synchronising medicinesfor patient transfers between care settings, linking with local communitypharmacies.
• Support the Clinical Pharmacist in Structured MedicationReviews (SMR) i.e. organise necessary monitoring tests prior to SMR.
• Provide expertise to address both the public health andsocial care needs of patients, including lifestyle advice, service information,and help in tackling local health inequalities.
• Manage shared care protocols and liaise with ClinicalPharmacists for more complex patients.
• Support initiatives for antimicrobial stewardship toreduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing locally.
• Technical and Administrative
• Support the PCN multi-disciplinary team to ensureefficient medicines optimisation processes are being followed.
• Implement efficient ordering and return processes andreducing medication wastage.
• Provide training and support on the legal, safe and securehandling of medicines, including the implementation of the ElectronicPrescription Service (EPS).
• Promotion of Electronic Repeat Dispensing (eRD) and onlineordering.
• Develop relationships with other pharmacy professionalsand members of the multi-disciplinary team to support integration across healthand social care including primary care, community pharmacy, secondary care andmental health.
• Support practice reception teams in streaming generalprescription requests, so as to allow GPs and clinical pharmacists to reviewthe more clinically complex requests.
• Support the implementation of national prescribingpolicies and guidance within GP practices, care homes and other primary caresettings.
• Support the PCN to deliver on QIPP agenda, QOF and locallycommissioned enhanced services.
• Supporting quality improvement measures and contributingto the Quality and Outcomes Framework and enhanced services.
• Support the PCN in reviewing and developing practicepolicies for CQC requirements.

General

The postholder will:

• Develop a culture that promotes equality and valuesdiversity. The postholder must be aware of and committed to the Equality andDiversity policies of the appointing GP Federation and comply with all therequirements of these policies and actively promote Equality and Diversityissues relevant to the post.
• Ensure the principles of openness, transparency and candorare observed and upheld in all working practices.
• The post holder will have, or acquire through trainingprovided by the organisation, the appropriate level of safeguarding andknowledge, 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 issuesare reported to the line manager/Infection Prevention and Control.

Equality and diversity:

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

• Acting in a way that recognises the importance of peoplesrights, interpreting them in a way that is consistent with practice proceduresand policies, and current legislation.
• Respecting the privacy, dignity, needs and beliefs ofpatients, carers and colleagues.
• Behaving in a manner which is welcoming to and of theindividual, is non- judgmental and respects their circumstances, feelingspriorities and rights.

The post-holder will participate in any training programmeimplemented by the practice as part of this employment, with such training toinclude:

• Participation in an annual individual performance review,including taking responsibility for maintaining a record of own personal and/orprofessional development.
• Taking responsibility for own development, learning andperformance and demonstrating skills and activities to others who areundertaking similar work.

Quality:

The post-holder will strive to maintain quality within thepractice, and will:

• Alert other team members to issues of quality and risk.
• Assess own performance and take accountability for ownactions, either directly or under supervision.
• Contribute to the effectiveness of the team by reflectingon own and team activities and making suggestions on ways to improve andenhance the teams performance.
• Work effectively with individuals in other agencies tomeet patients needs.
• Effectively manage own time, workload and resources.

Supervision

The postholder will have access to appropriate clinicalsupervision and an appropriate named individual in the PCN to provide generaladvice and support on a day to day basis.

Person Specification

Experience

• Experience of working as a qualified, registered pharmacy technician in primary care, community or hospital pharmacy
• Demonstrate ability to influence and persuade partners and stakeholders of the respective merits of different options, innovations, new opportunities and challenges

Attributes

• Works effectively independently and as a member of a team
• Flexible approach to meet service needs and ensure a stakeholder focused response
• Self-motivated and proactive
• Able to undertake the demands of the post with reasonable adjustments if required
• Independently mobile to be able to work across several sites and travel to meet with stakeholders
• Adaptability, flexibility and ability to cope with uncertainty and change

Qualifications

• Professional registration with GPhC
• Meets the specific qualification and training requirements as specified by the GPhC criteria to register as a Pharmacy Technician
• Meets the specific qualification and training requirements as specified by the GPhC criteria to register as a Pharmacy Technician; c. 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 continued professional development (CPD)
• BTEC/NVQ level 3 or equivalent in pharmaceutical sciences

Skills

• Computer literate with an ability to use the Microsoft office packages
• Able to analyse and interpret prescribing data
• Has attention to detail, able to work accurately, identifying errors quickly and easily
• Has a planned and organised approach with an ability to prioritise their own workload to meet strict deadlines
• Able to think analytically; anticipating obstacles and thinking ahead; using analytical techniques to draw logical solutions to problems
• Excellent communication skills, verbal and written, with the ability to adjust communication style and content to suit the audience
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with team members, patients, carers, and other healthcare professionals. Whilst recognising peoples needs for alternative methods of communication
• Computer literate with an ability to use the required GP clinical systems
• Understand the aims of current healthcare policy within the PCN

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.