Job responsibilities
JOB TITLE: Pharmacy Technician (GP Practice)
REPORTS TO: Senior Partner
HOURS: Full-time Hours Monday-Friday
REVIEW DATE July 2024
Job summary:
The post holder will work within a multi-disciplinary team of healthcare professionals based within the practice and support the delivery of safe, effective and efficient systems for medicines optimisation, repeat prescribing, reducing medicine waste and maximising patient outcomes.
The Pharmacy Technician is a registered healthcare professional who is responsible and accountable for their own accurate and safe practice and will work under the supervision of a pharmacist. As a practice Pharmacy Technician, you will receive ongoing training and development about all aspects of practice based prescribing and affective administration and will support the practice in providing medication reviews and achieving Quality and Outcomes Framework targets.
Job responsibilities:
o Contributing to the provision of safe and effective pharmacy services
o Undertaking medicines reconciliation in line with practice protocols and standard operating procedures to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of prescriptions and repeat proscriptions
o Responding to patients' questions both face to face and over the phone; referring problems or queries to the clinical pharmacist
o Participating in patient reviews and updating of patient records via clinics in the practice, domiciliary visits and in nursing and residential care homes
o Checking the accuracy of medicines for prescriptions
o Participating in medication audits
o Providing advice and information to GPs, staff and patients to support the improvement of prescribing safety, quality, cost-effectiveness and the appropriate use of medicines to get the best outcomes for patients
o Taking responsibility for contributing to all aspects of the day to day working environment including communication, data accuracy and management, keeping practice areas tidy and helping to achieve a supportive, positive culture across the practice team
o To support and promote safe working environment in accordance with Health and Safety and Infection Control Policies
o Keeping up to date with professional responsibilities and CPD requirements
Confidentiality:
- While seeking treatment, patients entrust us with, or allow us to gather, sensitive information in relation to their health and other matters. They do so in confidence and have the right to expect that staff will respect their privacy and act appropriately
- In the performance of the duties outlined in this job description, the post-holder may have access to confidential information relating to patients and their carers, practice staff and other healthcare workers. They may also have access to information relating to the practice as a business organisation. All such information from any source is to be regarded as strictly confidential
- Information relating to patients, carers, colleagues, other healthcare workers or the business of the practice may only be divulged to authorised persons in accordance with the practice policies and procedures relating to confidentiality and the protection of personal and sensitive data
Health & safety:
The post-holder will assist in promoting and maintaining their own and others health, safety and security as defined in the practice health & safety policy, the practice health & safety manual, and the practice infection control policy and published procedures. This will include:
- Using personal security systems within the workplace according to practice guidelines
- Identifying the risks involved in work activities and undertaking such activities in a way that manages those risks
- Making effective use of training to update knowledge and skills
- Using appropriate infection control procedures, maintaining work areas in a tidy and safe way and free from hazards
- Actively reporting of health and safety hazards and infection hazards immediately when recognised
- Keeping own work areas and general/patient areas generally clean, assisting in the maintenance of general standards of cleanliness consistent with the scope of the job holders role
- Undertaking periodic infection control training (minimum annually)
- Reporting potential risks identified
- Demonstrate due regard for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children.
Equality and diversity:
The post-holder will support the equality, diversity and rights of patients, carers and colleagues, to include:
- Acting in a way that recognises the importance of peoples rights, interpreting them in a way that is consistent with practice procedures and policies, and current legislation
- Respecting the privacy, dignity, needs and beliefs of patients, carers and colleagues
- Behaving in a manner that is welcoming to and of the individual, is non-judgmental and respects their circumstances, feelings priorities and rights.
Personal/professional development:
The post-holder will participate in any training programme implemented by the practice as part of this employment, with such training to include:
- Participation in an annual individual performance review, including taking responsibility for maintaining a record of own personal and/or professional development
- Taking responsibility for own development, learning and performance and demonstrating skills and activities to others who are undertaking similar work
Quality:
The post-holder will strive to maintain quality within the practice, and will:
- Alert other team members to issues of quality and risk
- Assess own performance and take accountability for own actions, either directly or under supervision
- Contribute to the effectiveness of the team by reflecting on own and team activities and making suggestions on ways to improve and enhance the teams performance
- Work effectively with individuals in other agencies to meet patients needs
- Effectively manage own time, workload and resources
Communication:
The post-holder should recognize the importance of effective communication within the team and will strive to:
- Communicate effectively with other team members
- Communicate effectively with patients and carers
- Recognise peoples needs for alternative methods of communication and respond accordingly
Contribution to the implementation of services:
The post-holder will:
- Apply practice policies, standards and guidance
- Discuss with other members of the team how the policies, standards and guidelines will affect own work
- Participate in training where appropriate