Pharmacy Technician (Primary Care)

Job description

Job responsibilities

Undertake a patient facing and patient supporting role 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, processing prescription queries and medicines reconciliation. Where required, utilise consultation skills to work in partnership with patients to ensure they use their medicines effectively. Support, as determined by the GP Lead and Clinical Pharmacist, medication reviews and medicines reconciliation for new care home patients and synchronising medicines for patient transfers between care settings, reviewing medication upon discharge / admittance. Provide specialist expertise, where competent, to address both the public health and social care needs of patients, including lifestyle advice, service information and help in tackling local health inequalities by identifying and referring patients to the Care Co-ordination Team. Take a central role in the clinical aspects of complex drugs and shared care protocols and liaising with specialist pharmacists for more complex patients. Support initiatives for antimicrobial stewardship to reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing. Assist in the delivery of medicines optimisation, management incentive schemes and patient safety audits. Support the implementation of national prescribing policies and guidance within GP practices, care homes and other primary care settings. This will be achieved through undertaking clinical audits (e.g. use of antibiotics). Supporting quality improvement measures and contributing to the Quality and Outcomes Framework and locally commissioned enhanced services. Supervise practice reception teams in sorting and streaming general prescription requests, so as to allow GPs and Clinical Pharmacists to review the more clinically complex requests. Provide training and support on the legal, safe and secure handling of medicines, including the implementation of the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) to the administration team. Perform medicines improvement work to maximise safe, cost-effective best practice in prescribing under the supervision of the GP or Clinical Pharmacist. Liaise with clinicians and administrative staff to resolve medicine-related queries. Support the Clinical Pharmacists in Structured Medication Reviews (e.g. organise necessary monitoring tests before SMR). Support medicine reconciliation of patients whose care is transferred back into primary care in a timely and effective manner liaising with patients and other providers to ensure patients receive appropriate medication post discharge. Assist Clinical Pharmacists with any searches, data collection and medicine safety tasks. Implement changes to medication that result from CAS/MHRA alerts, product withdrawal and other local/national guidance. Work collaboratively with the Practice team. Develop relationships and work closely with community, hospital and MMT pharmacy colleagues and the wider health system. Participate in practice meetings, patient participation groups and other local meetings to improve engagement with the role of pharmacy technician.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC)
• BTEC/NVQ level 3 or equivalent in pharmaceutical science/pharmacy services
• Evidence of continued professional development
• Educated to a good standard in English, Science and Maths.

Experience

Essential

• Minimum of 2 years post qualification
• Understanding of clinical knowledge and principles of evidence based healthcare
• Experience of dealing with a range of clinical conditions
• Experience of working within a primary care, community or hospital setting

Desirable

• 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)
• Experience of SystmOne
• Good clinical pharmacy knowledge including terminology

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).

Employer details

Employer name

Carlton Group Practice

Address

Carlton Street

Burton-on-trent

Staffordshire

DE13 0TE

Employer's website

https://www.carltonstreet.nhs.uk (Opens in a new tab)