Primary Care Network Pharmacy Technician

Integrated Care System; London; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

An integrated care system in London is seeking a Primary Care Network Pharmacy Technician to provide support in a dynamic healthcare setting. The role includes working with a multi-disciplinary team, ensuring safe medication practices, and managing patient queries. Candidates should possess a GPhC registration and relevant qualifications, along with excellent communication skills and the ability to manage their workload effectively.

Benefits

Occupational sickness pay

Counseling services

Electric Vehicle Salary Sacrifice Scheme

Cycle to Work Scheme

Private Healthcare Membership

Qualifications

• Must be registered with GPhC.
• Significant post qualification experience as a technician.
• Ability to dispense prescriptions with high accuracy.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical support to Clinical Pharmacists.
• Liaise with patients and primary care teams.
• Process repeat medication requests and update records.

Skills

Excellent communication skills

Interpersonal skills

IT competency

Ability to prioritize work

Problem-solving skills

Education

GPhC registration

BTEC/NVQ level 3

Primary Care Pharmacy Educational Pathway or equivalent

Job description

Primary Care Network Pharmacy Technician

The post holder will be employed by Greenwich Healththe GP Federation in Greenwich. Greenwich has 6 primary care networks (PCNs)with list sizes of between 30-80,000 patients. The Post holder will work forone of these PCNs, a grouping of 6 practices and will work across the practices within this PCN.

The post holder will work as part of amulti-disciplinary team in a patient-facing role.

The post holder will work under the supervision ofthe Clinical Pharmacist and as an integrated part of the primary care team toensure the safe, accurate and timely supply of prescribed medication topatients. The role will contribute to successful clinical management ofpatients and build capacity and capability in the workforce at the rightlevels.

Main duties of the job

Adhere to organisation policies and procedures andrelevant legislation including the requirements of any professional bodies.

Maintain satisfactory personal performances andprofessional standards and to achieve agreed objectives for their role.

Attend mandatory training as identified by theorganisation.

Participate in a Performance Appraisal Scheme and tocontribute to their own development and the development of any staff they areresponsible for appraising.

Responsible to have professional indemnity suitablefor the range of work undertaking.

Responsible to have authorisation for making changesto prescribing records within the practice. This may be by written agreement orGP signature for specific audits.

About us

Greenwich Health is the GP Federation for the Greenwich Borough and have a not-for-profit ethos. This means we reinvest all of our surplus into developing our staff, our organisation and to support our GP Practices in being sustainable for the future. We are committed to providing quality of care to our patients whilst building resilience for General Practice and providing services and programmes of work to deliver care at scale to the Greenwich Population.

Why work for Greenwich Health?

- We are local organisation owned by our local GP Practices we care what happens in Greenwich and want to make a difference to our patients and our partners.

- We offer competitive remuneration as well as other benefits including:

o Occupational sickness pay entitlement

o Counselling services

o Electric Vehicle Salary Sacrifice Scheme

o Cycle to Work Scheme

o Private Healthcare Membership - Benenden Healthcare

- We have a track record for developing individuals in their careers

- Through our partnerships in our local healthcare environment, we can develop shared posts for example, with the hospital trust and our GP practices.

-You will have ongoing support and mentorship.

- We have developed a working culture which harnesses openness and togetherness which has resulted in high staff retention rates.

Job responsibilities

Job Title: Primary CareNetwork Pharmacy Technician

Hours of work:40 hours

Key Relationships:The GP Federation, The PCN, Local practices, Providers

Greenwich Health is committed to providing qualityof care to our patients whilst building resilience for General Practice anddelivering services and programmes of work to deliver care at scale to theGreenwich Population.

Job Summary

The post holder will be employed by Greenwich Healththe GP Federation in Greenwich. Greenwich has 6 primary care networks (PCNs)with list sizes of between 30-80,000 patients. The Post holder will work forone of these PCN, a grouping of 6 practices. Unusually the post holder will beworking across two member practices with a combined list of 10,000.

The post holder will work as part of amulti-disciplinary team in a patient-facing role.

The post holder will work under the supervision ofthe Clinical Pharmacist and as an integrated part of the primary care team toensure the safe, accurate and timely supply of prescribed medication topatients. The role will contribute to successful clinical management ofpatients and build capacity and capability in the workforce at the rightlevels.

Individual Responsibilities

The post holder is expected to:

Adhere to organisation policies and procedures andrelevant legislation including the requirements of any professional bodies.

Maintain satisfactory personal performances andprofessional standards and to achieve agreed objectives for their role.

Attend mandatory training as identified by theorganisation.

Participate in a Performance Appraisal Scheme and tocontribute to their own development and the development of any staff they areresponsible for appraising.

Responsible to have professional indemnity suitablefor the range of work undertaking.

Responsible to have authorisation for making changesto prescribing records within the practice. This may be by written agreement orGP signature for specific audits.

Working Relationships:

Patients and carers where appropriate

GPs, nurses and other practice staff includingpractice pharmacists

GP prescribing leads

CCG pharmacists and medicines management team

Secondary Care and interface Pharmacists

Community Nurses and other allied healthprofessionals

Community Pharmacists and support staff

The post holder is expected to work as a flexiblemember of the PCN providing support to other team members when necessary and totake an active role in the development and embedding of the PCNs culture,values and reputation as providers of high quality services.

Health & Safety

The post-holder will assist in promoting andmaintaining their own and others health, safety and security as defined in thepractice Health & Safety Policy, to include:

Using personal security systems within the workplaceaccording to practice guidelines

Identifying the risks involved in work activitiesand undertaking such activities in a way that manages those risks

Making effective use of training to update knowledgeand skills

Using appropriate infection control procedures, maintainingwork areas in a tidy and safe way and free from hazards Reporting potentialrisks identified

Equality and Diversity:

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

Acting in a way that recognises the importance ofpeoples rights, interpreting them in a way that is consistent with Practiceprocedures and policies, and current legislation

Respecting the privacy, dignity, needs and beliefsof patients, carers and colleagues

Behaving in a manner which is welcoming to and ofthe individual, is non-judgmental and respects their circumstances, feelingpriorities and rights.

Personal/Professional Development:

The post-holder will participate in any trainingprogramme implemented by the PCN as part of this employment, such training toinclude:

Participation in an annual individual performancereview, including taking responsibility for maintaining a record of ownpersonal and/or professional development

Taking responsibility for own development, learningand performance and demonstrating skill and activities to others who areundertaking similar work

Training may need to be undertaken outside of normalpractice hours, and off site.

Quality and Governance:

The post-holder will strive to maintain qualitywithin the PCN, and will:

Alert other team members to issues of quality andrisk

Assess own performance and take accountability forown actions, either directly or under supervision.

Work effectively with individuals in other agencies

Effectively manage own time, workload and resources

Confidentiality:

In the course of seeking treatment, patients entrustus with, or allow us to gather, sensitive information in relation to theirhealth and other matters. They do so in confidence and have the right to expectthat staff will respect their privacy and act appropriately.

In the performance of the duties outlined in thisJob Description, the post-holder may have access to confidential informationrelating to patients and their carers, practice staff and other healthcareworkers. They may also have access to information relating to the practice as abusiness organisation. All such information from any source is to be regardedas strictly confidential.

Information relating to patients, carers, colleagues,other healthcare workers or the business of the practice may only be divulgedto authorised persons in accordance with the practice policies and proceduresrelating to confidentiality and the protection of personal and sensitive data.

Key Responsibilities:

Provide technical and administrative support to the ClinicalPharmacists and Clinicians.

Support the primary care teams with queries aroundmedication from patients; including face to face and telephone support topatients, primary and community staff.

Demonstrate the drive, enthusiasm and flexibility to respondto the developing needs of the role and the needs and priorities of individualsrequiring support.

Under the direction of the clinical pharmacist, workindependently and manage own workload.

Use excellent communication skills to liaise with patients,primary care staff, community pharmacists and other partners.

Duties and Responsibilities:

General:

Work with the PCN Clinical Pharmacist in accordance withagreed prescribing standard operating procedures.

Support specific work on prescribing initiatives under thesupervision of the Clinical Pharmacist.

Promote cost effective, safe, evidence-based prescribing inaccordance with local formulary, medication optimisation strategy and nationalguidance.

Awareness of, and compliance with, all relevantlocal/clinical policies and guidelines.

Participate in and be responsible for monitoring progressagainst key performance targets.

Contribute to the development of the role.

Process repeat medication requests, including the conversionof acute requests to repeat medicines, changing quantities of medicines,syncing patient medications, e- RD, arranging compliance aids etc.

Issuing prescriptions in line with agreed clinical protocolsand within your competency and directing queries to appropriate clinician.

Dealing with medication queries from patients as well asqueries from clinicians in line with agreed protocols.

Provide medication review services to patients via clinicsin practices, domiciliary visits and in residential and nursing homes and todeliver pharmaceutical care plans that maximise cost-effective prescribing andimprove the quality of patient care.

Update and maintain accurate patient medication records on thepractice clinical computer system, including patient contact, advice given andaction taken.

Provide advice and guidance to patients regarding medicationoptimisation and lifestyle e.g. inhaler techniques.

Support the safe and effective repeat prescribing ofhigh-risk medicines ensuring that regular monitoring as per local/shared careguidance is taking place.

Conduct medication reconciliation following discharge fromhospital, clinic visits and other transfers of care (e.g. new patients, carehome residents), to ensure that medication changes are safely implemented in atimely fashion with the support of the pharmacist.

Utilise and demonstrate sensitive communication styles toensure patients are fully informed and consent to treatment.

Use highly developed knowledge and skills to provide highstandards of patient centred care.

Improving outcomes:

Assist the Clinical Pharmacist with data analysis ofprescribing behaviour in line with NICE guidance and local clinicalcommissioning directives.

Support the development and review of medicines audits.

Support the achievement of the practices prescribingtargets, e.g. QOF, IIF.

Engagement with partner organisations:

Liaise with secondary, community and primary care colleaguesto ensure correct medicines are continued following the transfer of care.

Liaise with the wider health care team including primarycare staff, community nurses and care home staff with medication queries.

Link with hospital and community pharmacy colleagues toaddress discrepancies, supply issues and queries within competency.

Attend relevant meetings in relation to prescribing ormedicines-related initiatives.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Registered with GPhC
• BTEC/NVQ level 3 or equivalent in pharmacy services
• Alternative approved training pathway, e.g. Primary Care Pharmacy Educational Pathway (PCPEP) or Medicines Optimisation in Care Homes (MOCH)

Experience

• Evidence of Continuing Professional Development and ongoing commitment.
• Demonstrable and significant post qualification experience as a technician in primary care, hospital or community pharmacy.
• Ability to dispense prescriptions, to the highest standard in a pharmacy dispensary situation if required, which will include pharmaceutical technical procedures requiring use of manipulation of tools and a high level of accuracy. E.g. preparation of extemporaneous pharmaceutical preparation.
• Excellent communication skills both verbally and written
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Competency in use of IT and commonly used software packages (e.g. MSOffice)
• Ability to work independently, and plan and organise own movements to deliver agreed work within an agreed time frame.
• Ability to prioritise work and work to deadlines
• Able to cope and function effectively when working in a pressurised environment.
• Ability to travel to locations across the PCN
• Experience of working within primary care
• Experience of project management
• Working knowledge of prescribing data and general GP practice computer systems

Knowledge and skills

• An appreciation of the nature of GPs and general practices.
• Broad knowledge of clinical governance
• Ability to record accurate clinical notes
• Excellent communication skills (written and oral)
• Clear, polite telephone manner
• Able to obtain and analyse complex technical information.
• Competent in the use of Office and Outlook
• Effective time management (planning and organising)
• Ability to work as a team member and autonomously
• Good interpersonal skills
• Problem solving and analytical skills
• Ability to follow clinical policy and procedure
• Ability to communicate complex and sensitive information in an understandable form to a variety of audiences
• Knowledge of the principles of medicines optimisation
• Good pharmacy knowledge including terminology
• An appreciation of the nature of primary care prescribing, concepts of rational prescribing and strategies for improvement of prescribing
• Knowledge and understanding of pharmacy law and ethics and current legislation
• Understanding of current national policies, in particular those that impact on medicines management services
• Experience with audits and audit programmes
• Experience with clinical risk management

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.