Pharmacy Technician

Job responsibilities

JOB DESCRIPTION

Post Title:Practice Pharmacy Technician

Location:Fernbank Surgery

Salary:Band 5 equivalent depending on experience

Working Hours:30-37.5 hours Reports to:Pharmacy Team Lead

JOB SUMMARY

To support the delivery of safe, effective, and efficient systems for repeat prescribing, medicines optimisation, reducing medicines waste and maximising patient outcomes. In addition, the post holder will be responsible for encouraging the development of better understanding of the principles of medicines optimisation throughout the practice teams and promoting good practice in line with therapeutic developments.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

Support the role of the Clinical Pharmacist in the delivery of the new Clinical Pharmacy in General Practice model

Medicines reconciliation post discharge and on other transfers of care

Undertake medication use reviews

Support the achievement of the practices prescribing Quality and Outcomes Framework targets

Day to day handling of prescription queries within area of own competence

Delivery of training and development to practice based prescribing clerks and administrators to support improved co-ordination and effective pharmacy administration within General Practice.

Contribute to the review and development of repeat prescribing protocols to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of repeat prescribing and support high-risk drugs monitoring

Participate in practice meetings, patient participation groups, and other meetings as required

Liaise with other pharmacy stakeholders e.g. Medicines Optimisation team, community pharmacy, and hospital pharmacy teams.

Handle function specific information, which may be sensitive, complex or confidential and appropriately recording, transferring and/or coordinating such information in accordance with the Data Protection Act; Caldecott Guidelines and the Confidentiality Code of Conduct

Be responsible for the organisation, planning and of own workload to meet set deadlines

Utilise GP practice clinical systems to conduct prescribing audits and share the outcomes of clinical audits to facilitate improvement and changes in practice

Ensure that all major MHRA drug alerts, where appropriate and within levels of competence, are acted upon over an appropriate time frame and to advise on any medication changes that occur as a result

Undertake training and development, to ensure the required knowledge and skills for practice based work

Carry out other duties which are appropriate to the skills and competencies of the post holder and grade of the post as the priorities of the service change

Establish and maintain effective working relationships with practices staff and other healthcare professionals/stakeholders across the interface

Provide clinical and professional support to GPs and members of the primary healthcare team to promote and implement high quality prescribing to the benefit of patients

General

The postholder will: Develop a culture that promotes equality and values diversity. The postholder must be aware of and committed to the Equality and Diversity policies of the appointing practice and comply with all the requirements of these policies and actively promote Equality and Diversity issues relevant to the post.

Ensure the principles of openness, transparency and candour are observed and upheld in all working practices.

The post holder will have, or acquire through training provided by the organisation, the appropriate level of safeguarding and knowledge, skills and practice required for the post and be aware of and comply with the organisations safeguarding protection policies and procedures.

Ensure that any infection prevention and control issues are reported to the line manager/Infection Prevention and Control

Experience

Essential

• Skills and Competencies -
• Computer literate with an ability to use the required GP clinical systems (desirable) and Microsoft office packages (essential)
• Able to analyse and interpret prescribing data
• Has attention to detail, able to work accurately, identifying errors quickly and easily
• Able to effectively manage allocated resources
• 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
• Influencing and negotiating skills
• An excellent understanding of data protection and confidentiality issues

Knowledge & Understanding

Essential

• Relevant advanced theoretical and practical knowledge of general practice and evidence based medicine
• Knowledge of the principles of medicines optimisation
• An appreciation of the NHS agenda and government targets
• 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 organisation(s)
• Awareness of GP budget-management and funding systems to enable GP clinical pharmacist services to assist delivery of NHS priorities and requirements for financial balance and quality
• Good clinical pharmacy knowledge including terminology
• An appreciation of the nature of primary care prescribing, concepts of rational prescribing and strategies for the improvement of prescribing
• Knowledge and understanding of pharmacy law and ethics and current legislation

Qualifications

Essential

• Current GPhC registration
• BTEC/NVQ level 3 or equivalent in pharmaceutical sciences
• Experience of working as a qualified, registered pharmacy technician in primary care, or in hospital or community pharmacy at a senior level

Desirable

• Experience of working in a primary care environment
• Postgraduate qualifications of a relevant nature. e.g. FdSc in Medicines Management/Pharmacy Services; BTEC Therapeutics

Attributes

Essential

• Works effectively independently and as a member of a team
• Flexible approach to meet service needs and ensure a stakeholder focused response
• Continued commitment to improve skills and ability in new areas of work
• 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
• Self-motivated, able to work both independently and collaboratively and possess excellent communication and clinical skills
• Adaptability, flexibility and ability to cope with uncertainty and change
• Demonstrate ability to work in a busy environment; ability to deal with both urgent and important tasks and to prioritise effectively whilst also supporting others
• Excellent time keeping and prioritisation skills
• Car driver/clean licence.

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.

UK Registration

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