Job responsibilities
JOB DETAILS
Job Title:PCN Pharmacy Technician
Location:Ixworth Surgery
Accountable to:Senior Management
Reports to:Practice Manager
Working hours: Full Time orPart Time
JOB SUMMARY
The PCN Pharmacy Technician will work as an integral part of a multi-disciplinary team within Ixworth Surgery and the Blackbourne Primary Care Network (PCN).
The PCN Pharmacy Technician will work within the scope of their practice to supports safe and effective medicines management by handling medication reconciliation, managing repeat prescriptions, undertaking medication reviews, assisting with audits, and contributing to medicines optimisation. They will work closely with Pharmacists, GPs, and the extended healthcare team to improve prescribing practices, reduce errors, support patient education, and help ease GP workload through efficient management of medicine-related tasks and queries.
Ixworth Surgery, together with three other practices, Woolpit Health Centre, Botesdale Health Centre and Stanton Surgery, form the Blackbourne Primary Care Network. The practices within Blackbourne PCN are located in West Suffolk, close by to Bury St Edmunds, and provide care for patients in rural communities.
QUALIFICATIONS:
The post holder:
- must have a good level of education, including Maths and English;
- be a registered member of the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC), meeting the specific qualification and training requirements as specified by the GPhC criteria 85 to register as a Pharmacy Technician;
- have at least 2 years of experience as a Pharmacy Technician and experience of supervision/ leadership on projects;
- must have experience of dealing with patients face to face in clinics as well as over the telephone and digitally;
- must have experience of working within a diverse team with multiple disciplinaries and be able to liaise with clinical and admin staff with the Practice;
- is required to have experience of using computer systems including clinical systems, such as SystmOne and EMIS Web;
- is required to have knowledge of law and guidelines around medicines and the Code of Conduct. The post holder must have strong communication skills, both verbally and in writing as well as strong knowledge of a high level of confidentiality;
- should be enrolled in, undertaking or qualified from, an approved training pathway. For example, the Primary Care Pharmacy Educational Pathway (PCPEP).
The successful candidate will work under appropriate clinical supervision to ensure safe, effective and efficient use of medicines.
PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES:
The following are core responsibilities of the PCN Pharmacy Technician. This list in not exhaustive and is subject to change depending on clinical priorities. There may be on occasion, a requirement to carry out other tasks. This will be dependent upon factors such as workload and staffing levels.
Clinical:
- To undertake patient facing and patient supporting roles to ensure effective medicines use, through shared decision-making conversations with patients;
- To carry out medicines optimisation tasks including effective medicine administration (e.g. checking inhaler technique), supporting medication reviews, and medicines reconciliation. Where required, utilise consultation skills to work in partnership with patients to ensure they use their medicines effectively;
- To support, as determined by the PCN, medication reviews and medicines reconciliation for new care home patients and synchronising medicines for patient transfers between care settings and linking with local community pharmacists.
- To 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;
- To take a central role in the clinical aspects of shared care protocols and liaising with specialist pharmacists for more complex patients;
- To support initiatives for antimicrobial stewardship to reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing;
- To assist in the delivery of medicines optimisation and management incentive schemes and patient safety audits;
- To support the delivery of annual vaccination programmes;
- To 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 enhanced services.
Technical and Administrative:
- To work with the PCN multi-disciplinary team to ensure efficient medicines optimisation, including implementing efficient ordering and return processes, and reducing wastage;
- To provide leadership for medicines optimisation systems across PCNs, supporting practices with a range of services to get the best value from medicines by encouraging and implementing Electronic Prescriptions, safe repeat prescribing systems, and timely monitoring and management of high-risk medicines;
- To provide training and support on the legal, safe and secure handling of medicines, including the implementation of the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS); and
- To develop relationships with other pharmacy technicians, pharmacists and members of the multi-disciplinary team to support integration of the pharmacy team across health and social care including primary care, community pharmacy, secondary care, and mental health.
For a full copy of the Job Description, please see the Supporting Documents attached.