Pharmacy Technician

Job responsibilities

Clinical responsibilities

Undertake patient facing and patient supporting roles to ensure effective medicines use, through shared decision-making conversations with patients.

Carry out medicines optimisation tasks including effective medicine administration (e.g. checking inhaler technique), supporting medication reviews and medicines reconciliation.

Utilise consultation skills to work in partnership with patients to ensure they use their medicines effectively

Work as part of the wider multi-disciplinary team to improve quality and safety of all aspects of prescribing and medicine optimisation.

Reconcile medicines for newly registered patients and following hospital discharge or out-patient consultation.

Supporting medication reviews and medicines reconciliation for care home patients and synchronising medicines for patient transfers between care settings, linking with local community pharmacists, and referring to the practice clinical pharmacist for structured medication reviews.

Where competent, address public health & social needs of patients, including lifestyle advice, service information, and help in tackling health inequalities.

Support repeat prescribing systems and processes within the practice, with particular emphasis on wider implementation and uptake of the Electronic Repeat Prescribing Service.

Take a central role in the clinical aspects of shared care protocols and liaising with specialist pharmacists for more complex patients.

Support initiatives to reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing.

Assist in the delivery of medicine optimisation and management incentive schemes and patient safety audits.

Support the implementation of national prescribing policies and guidance within the practice, care homes and other primary care settings. This will include clinical audits, supporting quality improvement measures and contributing to the Quality & Outcomes Framework and Enhanced Services.

Technical and Administrative

Working with the practice multi-disciplinary team to ensure efficient medicines optimisation, including implementing efficient ordering and return processes and reducing wastage.

Supervise the practice reception team in sorting and streamlining general prescription requests

Provide leadership for medicine optimisation systems enabling the practice to get the baes value from medicines by encouraging and implementing electronic prescriptions, safe repeat prescribing systems and timely monitoring and management of high-risk medicines.

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

Develop relationships with other pharmacy professionals and members of the multi-disciplinary team to support integration across health and social care including primary care, community pharmacy, secondary care, and mental health.

Review medicine safety alerts and recommend/ implement necessary actions arising.

Experience

Essential

• Up to date clinical pharmacy therapeutic knowledge and practical knowledge of medicines optimisation principles and evidence-based medicine.
• Knowledge of pharmacy law and ethics, medicines optimisation, including legislation and policy.
• Awareness of systems to support management of patients in a primary care setting, delivering pharmaceutical input and support in the context of pathways of care and the business of the practice.
• Understanding of the NHS agenda and the issues affecting primary care.
• Experience of change management and putting ideas into practice.
• Experience of completing clinical audits

Desirable

• Experience as a primary care pharmacy technician or part of a primary care medicines optimisation team.
• An appreciation of the nature of primary care prescribing, concepts of rational prescribing and strategies for the improvement of prescribing.
• Experience of analysing prescribing data.
• Knowledge of SystmOne.

Knowledge and Skills

Essential

• Ability to communicate routine, complex or sensitive information to patients/carers regarding prescribed medicines including where there may be communication difficulties and/or barriers to understanding.
• Excellent communication skills, verbal and written, with the ability to adjust communication style and content to suit the audience.
• Good time management skills and ability to work to a deadline.
• Ability to manage competing demands on time and prioritise/re-prioritise effectively as necessary to meet the needs of the team and patients.
• Excellent interpersonal skill. A team player with the ability to work independently.
• High level of computer literacy.
• Awareness of data protection, GDPR and Patient confidentiality.

Desirable

• Understanding of practice prescribing budgets and NHS BSA activities and prescription remuneration.
• Experience of leading change.
• Ability to motivate others, especially related to implantation of changes where these may not be welcome.
• Evidence of patient-facing experience.

Qualifications

Essential

• Current registration as a pharmacy technician 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.
• BTEC Level 3 Diploma in Pharmaceutical science or NVQ Level 3 Diploma in pharmacy service skills or equivalent with underpinning knowledge.
• Must be qualified from, enrolled in, undertaking or be prepared to start an approved training pathway. For example, the Primary Care Pharmacy Educational Pathway (PCPEP or Medicines Optimisation in Care Homes (MOCH).

Desirable

• BTEC Level 4 in pharmaceutical science.

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).