Pharmacy Technician

Job description

Job responsibilities

Reports to and Accountable to: Lead Clinical Pharmacist

Job responsibilities:

· Assist in the delivery of the Holderness Health Prescribing and Medicines Management Plan and the delivery of patient services as determined by Holderness Health policy and local and national guidance.

· Recognise and work within own competencies using own judgement, resourcefulness and common sense.

· Assist in the delivery of a robust and safe system for prescribing repeat medications.

· Promotion of electronic repeat dispensing and online ordering.

· Adhere to repeat prescribing policy, ensuring necessary clinical reviews and monitoring are conducted at appropriate intervals.

· Undertake medicine reconciliation to ensure all repeat medications are accurate, maintained up-to-date and are synchronised on the clinical system.

· Effectively communicate with pharmacy colleagues in other sectors to promote best care for patients in relation to medicines management.

· Support the Lead Clinical Pharmacist and the clinical pharmacy team in training student technicians, dispensers, and allied healthcare professionals.

· Support the development and implementation of Standard Operating Procedures

· Discuss medication with patients and counsel patients on the correct use and care of their medicines.

· Identify and report problems in administration of medicines such as medicine interactions and other physical factors that may affect patient compliance.

· Liaise with Clinical Pharmacists, GPs and Non-Medical Prescribers about prescriptions to ensure accuracy and prevent risk.

· Ensure that all errors and near misses are logged in accordance with Holderness Health’s procedures and undertake any activity necessary to rectify or prevent errors.

· Support the work that maximises cost-effective prescribing and improves the quality of patient care.

· Support local care homes in the ordering and management of repeat prescriptions for their residents, ensuring medicines optimisation is provided for vulnerable patients.

· Work with patients either face to face or over the telephone.

· Support the Lead Clinical Pharmacist with the development of technician led, patient facing clinics.

· Promote high quality, cost effective and evidence based use of medicines within Holderness Health.

· Assist in the safe and appropriate storage of medicines.

· Participate in education and training for staff, carers and patients on medicines management issues.

· Keep up-to-date with current pharmacy practice, new drugs and their uses for the purpose of continuing professional development.

· Maintain accurate and complete records in accordance with data protection principles to ensure patient confidentiality.

Other responsibilities:

· Follow agreed protocols, referring to Clinical Pharmacists or GPs as appropriate.

· Follow local and national Infection Control guidelines.

· Contribute to achievement of the highest possible quality standards such as the QOF and other agreed Key Performance Indicator targets.

· Attend in-house educational and staff meetings as appropriate.

· Assist with the training of other staff members and also with the education of doctors and nurses in training as appropriate.

· Positively facilitate change.

· Demonstrate pro-active engagement with the practice population and wider community to promote healthy living and encourage uptake of services. This may include visits to local schools, community centres and other groups as necessary.

· Undertake additional tasks as required within your general role.

Business responsibilities:

· Maintain the ethos and culture of Holderness Health.

· Positively promote Holderness Health.

· Engage in enhanced and extended services.

· Attend in-house governance, educational and staff meetings as appropriate

· Help plan, develop and support the introduction of new working processes to optimise quality

· Build and maintain relationships with other healthcare professionals, including GPs, the wider practice team, Care Home teams, Community Services staff and community pharmacists.

Safeguarding:

· Be responsible for and committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of vulnerable adults, children and young people and for ensuring that they are protected from harm.

· Be aware of your duties and responsibilities regarding current legislation and adhere to Holderness Health policies and procedures on Child Protection and Safeguarding Adults.

· Recognise the types and signs of abuse and neglect.

· Ensure the Safeguarding Lead is alerted to, and kept fully informed of, any concerns you may have in relation to safeguarding adults, children and young people.

Learning and development:

· Participate in any training programme implemented by Holderness Health as part of this employment.

· Participate in individual performance reviews, including maintaining a record of own personal and/or professional development.

· Work with departmental and senior management to assess own learning needs and undertake learning as appropriate.

· Develop and utilise a written Personal Development Plan.

· Make effective use of learning opportunities within and outside the workplace, evaluating their effectiveness and feeding back relevant information.

· Disseminate learning and information gained to other team members in order to share good practice and inform others about current and future developments.

· Undertake mandatory and statutory training as required.

Team working:

· Understand own role and scope in the organisation and identify how this may develop over time.

· Work as an effective and responsible team member, supporting others and exploring the mechanisms to develop new ways of working.

· Accept delegation from senior staff, prioritise own workload and ensure effective time management strategies are embedded in own practice.

· Participate in team activities that create opportunities to improve patient care.

· Contribute to the effectiveness of the team by reflecting on own and team activities and making suggestions on ways to improve and enhance the team’s performance.

· Participate and support local projects as agreed with the management team.

Confidentiality:

· In the performance of the duties outlined in this Job Description, you may have access to confidential information relating to patients and their carers, Holderness Health staff and other healthcare workers. You may also have access to information relating to Holderness Health as a business organisation. All such information from any source is to be regarded as strictly confidential.

· Information relating to customers, carers, colleagues, other healthcare workers or the business of Holderness Health may only be divulged to authorised persons in accordance with Holderness Health policies and procedures relating to confidentiality and the protection of personal and sensitive data.

Health & Safety:

You will assist in promoting and maintaining your own and others’ health, safety and security as defined in Holderness Health policies including:

· Using personal security systems within the workplace according to 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.

· Reporting potential risks identified.

Equality and Diversity:

You will support the equality, diversity and rights of customers, carers and colleagues, including:

· Acting in a way that recognises the importance of people’s rights, interpreting them in a way that is consistent with Holderness Health procedures and policies, and current legislation.

· Respecting the privacy, dignity, needs and beliefs of customers, carers and colleagues.

· Behaving in a manner which is welcoming to and of the individual, is non-judgmental and respects their circumstances, feelings priorities and rights.

Other:

This job description is neither exhaustive nor exclusive and will be reviewed periodically in conjunction with you. You are required to carry out any duties that may reasonably be requested by your departmental manager or a member of the senior management team. You will need to be flexible in developing the role to provide the best possible care to patients.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Qualified pharmacy technician and registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council.

Desirable

• Completion of the Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education Primary Care Pharmacy Education Pathway. (Registration and completion of this course will be provided and is mandatory)

Personal Attributes

Essential

• Excellent interpersonal, influencing and negotiating skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Good IT skills.
• Able to obtain and analyse complex technical information.

Desirable

• Full Driving License.

Experience

Essential

• Minimum of 2 years post qualification experience.
• An appreciation of the nature of GPs and general practices
• Excellent interpersonal, influencing and negotiating skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Demonstrate the ability to communicate complex and sensitive information in an understandable form to a variety of audiences (e.g. patients)
• Recognises priorities when problem solving and identifies deviations from the normal pattern and is able to refer to seniors or GPs when appropriate
• Able to work under pressure and to meet deadlines
• Work effectively independently and as a team member

Desirable

• An appreciation of the nature of primary care prescribing, concepts of rational prescribing and strategies for improving prescribing

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

Holderness Health

Address

Church View Surgery

5 Market Hill House

Hedon

HU12 8JE

Employer's website

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