Pharmacy Technician - Patient Services

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; Greater London; On-site; GBP 33,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is seeking an experienced hospital pharmacy technician to join the dispensary team at West Middlesex University Hospital. The post involves working with the Senior Pharmacy Technician team to provide a safe, efficient medicines supply and to support medicines management on wards.

You will perform final accuracy checks, assist in daily operations of inpatient and outpatient pharmacy, and help ensure timely dispensing while complying with SOPs.

Qualifications

• NVQ Level 3 or BTEC Pharmaceutical Sciences and GPHC registration are required.
• Experience working in hospital dispensaries and medicines management.
• Ability to work under pressure in a busy environment.

Responsibilities

• Dispense and check medications for inpatients and outpatients according to SOPs.
• Take part in medicines management on wards and ensure timely supply of medicines.
• Provide patient counselling and information on medicines to staff and patients.
• Assist in discharge planning and coordination of medicines on return to the ward.
• Ensure accurate data input and maintain laboratory labeling standards.

Skills

Communication skills

Teamwork

Patient counselling

Education

NVQ Level 3 / BTEC Pharmaceutical Sciences

GPHC registration

Tools

Wellsky/JAC system

Job description

We are an award winning organisation providing care at two main hospital sites—Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and West Middlesex University Hospital—and a number of community-based services across London, such as sexual health and HIV clinics.

With 6,700 members of staff, we are proud to care for a diverse population of one million people. We are committed to ensuring that our workforce is just as diverse with a strong mix of skills and abilities.

Our staff are at the very heart of our organisation and we recognise the valuable contribution that each and every person working at the Trust makes. One of our Trust priorities is to be an employer of choice—a place where people want to start their career and to grow with us through continued education, professional development and support .

Main area Pharmacy Grade NHS AfC: Band 5 Contract Permanent: Will start as a Band 4, and be uplifted to Band 5 until completion of MMT & ACPT validations Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Required to work 1 in 6 weekends) Job ref 289-CS-541

Site West Middlesex Hospital Town Isleworth Salary £33,262 - £44,900 per annum incl. HCAS Salary period Yearly Closing 30/09/2026 23:59

Job overview

An excellent opportunity has arisen for a experienced hospital technician to apply for this post. The post-holder will work closely with the Senior Pharmacy Technician team— Patient Services to provide a safe, efficient and responsive dispensary service. The post-holder will take part in medicines management service to wards at WMUH. Work to improve the admission/discharge process by facilitating the safe and efficient supply of medicines to patients. You will provide a final accuracy check to dispensed medication. You will assist in the work processes in the inpatient and outpatient pharmacy. This includes managing workflow and working alongside pharmacy staff to ensure that dispensary services are provided according to all relevant up to date procedures and standards.

The post holder will need to be NVQ Level 3 qualified.

Main duties of the job

Although ACPT/MMT qualifications are essential for this role, the department is open to applications from non-ACPT/MMT qualified technicians. Should these applicants be successful, applicant will be paid Band 4 AFC until completion of both the ACPT qualification and In-house MMT validation accreditations. Once both of these courses have been completed and passed, candidates will be placed on the Band 5 pay scale. You must be an experienced technician with good communication skills and have a demonstrated ability to work in a busy dispensary. Please note in order to support 7 day working this post involves working weekends on a regular basis.

Working for our organisation

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is one of England's top-performing and safest trusts. We operate two main acute hospital sites—Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and West Middlesex University Hospital—along with award-winning clinics across North West London.

Our nearly 7,500 staff care for a diverse population of 1.5 million, providing full clinical services, including maternity, A&E, and children’s services, plus specialist HIV and sexual health clinics. The Care Quality Commission rates us 'Good' in safety, effectiveness, care, and responsiveness, and 'Outstanding' in leadership and resource use.

We continually invest in our facilities, including a £30m expansion of critical care at Chelsea and Westminster and an £80m Ambulatory Diagnostic Centre at West Middlesex.

We are committed to equal opportunities and believe that diversity drives innovation and excellence. As part of our dedication to equity, we actively welcome applications from individuals from the global majority, veterans and underrepresented communities. We value the unique perspectives and experiences that diverse teams bring and are committed to creating an environment where all voices are heard, respected, and empowered to succeed.

If you haven’t heard from us within three weeks of the closing date, your application was likely unsuccessful.

Employment is subject to a six-month probationary period.

Some roles may require weekend shifts at multiple sites.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Dispensary Services

• Accurately identify, select, label using JAC, dispense and distribute drugs (including controlled drugs & clinical trials) for in and out patients prescriptions according to Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s) .
• Maintain high quality of data input of patient information into the pharmacy computer system in order to ensure excellent labelling standards for dispensed medications.
• Take part in counselling and in the provision of information on medicines to patients, doctors and other health care staff.
• Carry out reception duties, involving dealing with patients, relatives and handling prescription charges.
• Use the computer systems to track prescriptions. Ensure medication is dispensed to meet agreed delivery times and to minimize waiting times for patients.
• Deal with queries from patients and other hospital staff, referring complex issues to supervisor or line manager.
• Ensure that all medicines are stored according to environmental requirements (e.g. temperature) and to required security standards.
• Ensure stock levels of all products are accurate and support the appropriate ordering of stock through liaison with pharmacy purchasing and procurement office.
• Ensure medication is dispensed to meet agreed turnaround times and to minimise waiting times for patients
• Be a robot super user in order to troubleshoot complex problems and maintain efficient systems within the dispensing process.
• Check of prescriptions within the dispensary for accuracy, in line with departmental procedures.
• Dispense and check of clinical trials.
• Contribute to developing systems for service provision, which enhance the efficiency of the dispensary
• Follow relevant procedures for Medicines Management in order to deliver the service in a safe and effective manner.
• Responsible for the provision of the Medicines Management service to designated ward areas, which involves working in clinical areas unsupervised.
• Obtain accurate medication histories for patients on admission by lasing with the patient and/ or primary care team in order to support decisions about continued care.
• Implement and maintain the Patients own medicines/ drug (PODs) scheme, for the designated areas (and self-administration where introduced) according to trust policies. This involves checking the suitability of patients own medicines, I.e. correct instructions on label, expiry date, re-labelling if necessary and gaining patient consent for using their own medication.
• Initiate supply of non-stock items for one stop dispensing i.e. ordering medication labelled ready for discharge when appropriate and to ensure a full prescription of at least 14 days of medication for inpatients (agreed appropriate quantities for other areas) is available in each patient’s bedside locker.
• Counsel patients in order to provide effective and appropriate advice to patients on medication use in order to ensure their understanding of their medication including benefits of their mediation and possible side effects. These may be patients with certain barriers e.g. hearing problems, language issues.
• Deal with queries and complex issues from patients and other hospital staff.
• Effectively contend with informal/ verbal complaints from wards staff or patients in the first instance before appropriate referral to line manager if necessary.
• Co-ordinate the discharge medication, bringing together Patients own medicines and newly dispensed items in advance of patient discharge and support the planning of patients discharge with respect to medication, including the transcription of requests for dispensing.
• Participate in and contribute to the development of the extension of the medicines management scheme across all wards in the hospital.

Supervisory and training responsibilities

• Training and supervision of new and rotational staff.
• Deputizing for section/team leaders or senior pharmacy technicians in their absence.

Person specification

Education and Qualifications

• NVQ level 3 or BTEC Pharmaceutical Sciences or an equivalent pharmacy technician qualification
• GPHC registration

Experience

• Able to work to standard operating procedures
• Patient Counselling
• Hospital Experience
• Wellsky/ JAC pharmacy computer system experience

Skills and Knowledge

• Good written and oral communication skills
• ability to overcome barriers
• efficient and accurate worker
• ability to work under pressure
• ability to follow procedures and policies
• ability to work under under supervision
• ability to supervise and participate in training of others
• good time management
• good team player and demonstrates reliability

Important

• There may be some occasions when we have to close a vacancy earlier than the advertised closing date, this will be due to a high volume of applications. You are therefore advised to submit your application as early as possible to avoid disappointment.
• Please check your emails regularly (and your junk folder) as this is how we will communicate with you throughout the recruitment process.
• In submitting an application, you authorise the Trust to confirm any previous NHS service details via the Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) process, should you be appointed to the post.
• During the recruitment process your identity documentation (ie passport, driving licence, visa etc) will be scanned using a device which recognises UV, infrared and machine-readable zone security features of the documents provided.
• Employment at the Trust is offered subject to successful completion of a six month probationary period.
• We operate a joint recruitment hub across the North West London Acute Provider Collaborative Group. As part of this, your application and personal data may be shared with partner trusts within the group for recruitment and workforce purposes, in line with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

Right to work

If you need sponsorship to work in the UK, please visit the Home Office website for information on sponsorship and visa status before you fill in your application form. Due to recent changes in the UK immigration rules which affect Skilled Worker Visas, Global Business Mobility, Higher Skill Level and Increased Salary Thresholds, please ensure that you are able to meet the requirements to live and work in the UK before applying. Further information about eligibility is available on UK Visas and Immigration - GOV.UK

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.