Specialist Pharmacy Technician - Homecare Services

North Bristol NHS Trust; Bristol; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A prominent healthcare provider in Bristol is seeking a motivated Pharmacy Technician to join their Homecare Services Team. This role involves managing homecare staff, ensuring compliance with service level agreements, and leading service review meetings. Candidates should have a relevant Pharmacy Technician qualification and experience in homecare management. The position emphasizes problem-solving and data analysis skills, providing opportunities for professional development in a supportive environment.

Benefits

Comprehensive healthcare benefits

Professional development opportunities

Qualifications

• Proven experience in managing pharmacy homecare services.
• Ability to conduct service reviews and manage performance.
• Strong analytical skills for creating and monitoring reports.

Responsibilities

• Manage homecare staff and service levels.
• Conduct regular reviews of homecare service contracts.
• Lead service-level review meetings.
• Investigate patient and staff complaints regarding homecare.
• Produce monthly KPI reports for homecare services.

Skills

Management of homecare staff

Data analysis for KPIs

Communication skills

Problem-solving

Time management

Education

Relevant Pharmacy Technician qualification

Job description

Job Overview

We are seeking a motivated and ambitious Pharmacy Technician to join the Pharmacy Homecare Services Team as a Specialist Pharmacy Technician for a 12‑month secondment for maternity cover. You will work with the Homecare Services Manager (Lead Pharmacy Technician) to continue to grow and optimise our current service, conduct service reviews to ensure external homecare provider compliance with regional contracts.

Responsibilities

• Responsible for the management of homecare staff and day‑to‑day workload management.
• Ensure all homecare services within NBT have in‑date service level agreements with regular review meetings across multiple therapy areas including rheumatology, oncology, multiple sclerosis, HIV, dermatology and renal.
• Lead on service level review meetings and ensure these are held for all therapy areas currently using homecare.
• Manage areas of poor performance and elevate ongoing issues or areas of risk to the Homecare Services Manager and the regional homecare group.
• Collate the required data to ensure third‑party providers for homecare services meet the agreed KPIs.
• Investigate patient‑ or staff‑led complaints involving or relating to homecare services, develop and implement necessary changes in practice to ensure improvement.
• Provide the monthly pharmacy QMM group with a report on relevant aspects of homecare services.
• Lead in the implementation of new homecare services.
• Co‑ordinate the homecare work process in accordance with Standard Operating Procedures, safe working systems and the legal framework for the supply of medicines.
• Manage the building of relevant CMM templates.
• Assist in identifying and managing risks within the homecare area.
• Represent NBT at regional homecare meetings and support the development of collaborative contracting for all homecare services.
• Manage the Homecare team and the operational day‑to‑day purchasing of pharmaceutical homecare products, including authorisation of computer‑ and manually generated orders in line with procurement and homecare contracts and local, regional and national standards.
• Work closely with all staff within the Pharmacy Homecare teams to:
  • Respond to supply problems or queries with stocks purchased accurately and timely to minimise shortages while ensuring quality and value for money.
  • Communicate ongoing supply problems to relevant trust and departmental staff and liaise with Pharmacy Invoicing staff regarding invoicing issues and pricing queries.
  • Deal with urgent medication requests promptly to ensure patient treatment is not compromised.
  • Adhere to all national and regional contracts.
• Effectively manage own time and workload unsupervised.
• Manage unpredictable workload dictated by service needs.
• Coordinate service provision issues such as prioritisation of work according to patient urgency driven by clinical need and service requirements to ensure patient treatment is not delayed.
• Maintain a high level of concentration and accuracy when agreeing prices and quantities for invoicing purposes.
• Produce monthly expenditure/savings reports using the pharmacy computer system for homecare investigations and resolve any discrepancies.
• Work with multidisciplinary healthcare teams to review existing and develop new patient‑centred services.
• Produce monthly KPI reports on quality and financial indicators for all homecare services.
• Investigate and report on patient‑ or staff‑led complaints relating to any aspect of or homecare services by the trust or external service providers.
• Work with multidisciplinary teams to identify, plan and develop new opportunities for homecare services, produce timetables for new service/system implementation and ensure deadlines are met agreed with all key decision makers.
• Co‑ordinate service review meetings for homecare medicines services, working closely with homecare companies, pharmacists, nurses, doctors and other healthcare staff.
• Participate in MDT meetings regarding patient care when required.
• Ensure that NBT NHS Trust homecare services are consistently of high standard for patients, through regular liaison with key individuals involved in the service areas including the pharmaceutical industry and homecare companies.
• Provide an essential audit trail for all homecare services for the trust and detailed monthly KPI data for pharmacy and trust finance departments.
• Induct all new staff to ensure they are properly trained and inducted for their procurement and homecare duties.
• Maintain high professional standards at all times and ensure compliance with statutory regulations concerning pharmaceuticals and Health & Safety at Work Act provisions.
• Participate in clinical screening of homecare prescriptions in line with agreed trust policies and SOPs.
• Ensure all staff are trained in, understand, and implement safe practices, overcoming barriers to understanding for staff with varied abilities, and train pre‑registration pharmacists and student technicians in all aspects of homecare services to enable their completion of training and registration with the GPhC.
• Implement new policies for homecare services in line with regional and national requirements, Carter metrics and National Homecare Medicines Committee approved standards.
• Ensure accurate documentation and records are maintained within the service area for financial and audit purposes.
• Develop a culture that promotes equality and values diversity.
• Carry out procurement activities as part of the supply services weekend rota.
• Any other duties which may be required by the Director of Pharmacy for the benefit of the service.

Working for Our Organisation

North Bristol NHS Trust employs over 12,000 staff providing healthcare to the residents of Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset from our award‑winning hospital building at Southmead. We are the regional Major Trauma Centre and an internationally recognised centre of excellence in a range of services and major specialities. Our vision is that by enabling our teams to be the best that they can be, we will provide exceptional healthcare, personally delivered.

North Bristol NHS Trust values all people as individuals. We aim to be an anti‑discriminatory organisation and are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives and skills. We welcome applicants from all under‑represented groups. If you apply for this vacancy and have not received a communication from North Bristol NHS Trust within three weeks of the closing date, please assume that, on this occasion, your application has been unsuccessful.

Please note that North Bristol NHS Trust does not reimburse travel expenses relating to interview attendance.

If you feel you meet the requirements of the Disability Act/Twos‑Ticks scheme and require further support or advice, please contact us on tel [phone].

North Bristol NHS Trust are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

The successful applicant(s) will normally commence at the minimum of the scale unless they have previous NHS service at the same band. Progression through the scale is by annual increments.

At NBT, we recognise that diverse and inclusive environments lead to happier and healthier teams and improved patient care and outcomes. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong. We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are currently under‑represented in NBT’s workforce at Band 8a and above. These include people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, disabled people and LGBTQIA+ people.

Please note that stringent pre‑employment checks are undertaken on all successful applicants prior to commencement in post.