Job summary
You will work within an established Pharmacist-led team within a GP practice to support effective medicines use. The work may be patient facing and will involve review of patient records. You will carry out medicines optimisation tasks, support appropriate medication use, conduct medication reviews and medicines reconciliation both in the practice and our care homes.
Carry out audit work to act on safety alerts, support medicines management, prescribing quality, patient safety, QoF targets, cost effective prescribing, & other areas as required, taking a central role in management of shared care protocols.
Supervise practice reception/prescription teams in managing general prescription requests, to allow GPs and clinical pharmacists to review the more clinically complex requests.
You will develop relationships with other members of the multi-disciplinary team across health and social care, including primary care, community pharmacy, secondary care and mental health.
Main duties of the job
It is important that you are able to work well as part of a multi-disciplinary team, both clinical & non-clinical. Good communication skills are essential to deal with queries from patients & the wider healthcare team.
You should be competent in using computers, particularly Microsoft Office, to produce quality medication audits & reports. Experience of SystmOne is desirable.
You should be able to be self-directed, to plan & organise your workload, & complete tasks efficiently. You should be able to work independently, referring to supporting pharmacist when needed. You will be expected to supervise & provide training to less experienced technicians& other staff.
You will be expected to support safe prescribing, including developing and maintenance of procedures for the monitoring of prescribing and use of medicines, supporting changes in prescribing, and supporting delivery of high quality prescribing and medicines optimisation in line with local and national guidelines and policy.
About us
We are a forward thinking Primary Care Network in Bedfordshire, consisting of three GP practices in Shefford, Stotfold and Arelsey,and are looking for an enthusiastic Pharmacy Technician to work as an integral part of a Pharmacist-led team.
The role is practice based and the successful applicant will have the opportunity to develop & embed the role in practice. We are looking for a team orientated and motivated individual to develop their role as part of a multi-disciplinary team to support patients and the practice team.
The role is ideally positioned to make a positive difference to patient care, as well as being part of a team committed to developing its staff. The practices set a high value on the expertise of its team, and view this as an expanding & developing role, fundamental to the development of their primary care services.
Experience in general practice is desirable but not essential and you will be provided with appropriate supervision and guidance.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Job Summary / Key responsibilities
Clinical:
- Undertake patient facing and patient supporting roles to ensure effective medicines use, through shared decision-making conversations with patients.
- Carrying 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.
- As determined by the practice, supporting medication reviews and medicines reconciliation for new care home patients and synchronizing medicines for patient transfers between care settings, linking with local community pharmacists, and referring to the pharmacist for structured medication reviews.
- Providing specialist expertise, where competent, to address both the public and health and social care needs to patients, including responding to queries, lifestyle advice, service information, and help in tackling local health inequalities.
- Taking a central role in the clinical aspects of shared care protocols and liaising with specialist pharmacists for more complex patients.
- Supporting initiatives for antimicrobial stewardship to reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing.
- Carrying out audit work as necessary to act on safety alerts, support medicines management, prescribing quality, patient safety, Quality and Outcomes Framework targets, cost effective prescribing, and other areas as required.
Technical and Administrative:
- Working with the PCN multi-disciplinary team to ensure efficient medicines optimisation, including implementing efficient ordering and return processes and reducing wastage
- Providing training and support on the legal, safe and secure handling of medicines, including the implementation of the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS).
- Developing relationships with other pharmacy technicians, pharmacists and members of the multi-disciplinary team to support the integration of the pharmacy team across health and social care, including primary care, community pharmacy, secondary care and mental health.
- Supervising practice reception/dispensary teams in sorting and streaming general prescription requests, so as to allow GPs and clinical pharmacists to review the more clinically complex requests.
Communication and Relationship Skills
- Key working relationships - GP practice staff, patients, CCG medicines optimisation team, community pharmacy staff, other primary care and secondary care healthcare professionals when necessary
- Provide and receive routine information where there may be barriers to understanding, complex or sensitive information.
- Communicates information to patients / carers regarding prescribed medicines; there may be communication difficulties
- Communicates medicines management or other technical information to GP practice staff or other clinicians.
- Attends and participates in meetings with GP practice / PCN and CCG as required.
- Creates / contributes to a network of pharmacy technicians to ensure knowledge is shared and duplication of work is minimised networking and sharing.
Knowledge Training and Experience
- Expertise within specialism Knowledge of pharmaceutical technical procedures acquired through training, NVQ3, BTEC in pharmaceutical science or equivalent plus other additional training for supervising a technical area within the pharmacy, or, knowledge of medicines management, including relevant legislation and policies acquired through NVQ3 or BTEC equivalent level qualification plus specialist training and experience.
- Fulfil mandatory continual professional development (CPD) requirements.
- Regularly update knowledge, self-direct learning and attend relevant courses where necessary.
Analytical and Judgmental Skills
- Judgements on where there are a range of options; analysis of patient and prescribing activity data
- Audit of patient data and production of reports for practice in a timely manner. Write reports and keep clear records of all activities undertaken in relation to prescribing and medicines optimisation.
- Produce and present reports on work undertaken for a variety of audiences - this will involve use of Microsoft packages such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Competent in the use of Microsoft Outlook.
- Interpret and explain comparative prescribing data and other clinical information from a variety of sources and communicate its meaning to the practice staff.
- Contribute to the development and maintenance of procedures for the monitoring of prescribing and or use of medicines within the practice / PCN
- Promote the appropriate use of prescribing and clinical information to ensure the delivery of high quality prescribing and medicines optimisation in line with local and national guidelines and policy.
- Highlight concerns regarding atypical prescribing practice to the clinical lead / practice manager in a timely manner; highlight areas of concern in relation to the safe, effective and legal use of controlled drugs
- Deal with queries from practice / PCN relating to medication as required.
- To keep up to date with current issues, for example drug alerts and changes in protocols, to enable accurate information to be given.
Planning and Organisation Skills
- Plan and organise straightforward activities, some ongoing. Plan and organise complex activities or programmes requiring formulation and / or adjustment
- Plans implementation of medicines change management programme within practice / PCN
- Meet regularly with the line manager to discuss progress, highlight problems or potential problems and discuss overall performance
- Ensure personal workload is co-ordinated and prioritised according to practice / PCN requirements.
- Work to tight deadlines, managing requests; dealing with frequent interruptions and conflicting priorities.
Physical Skills
- Physical skills obtained through practice; accuracy important
- Skills for standard keyboard use
- Provide support and advice to the practice team / PCN on the following areas:
o Cost effective prescribing of medication
o Repeat prescribing systems
Responsibility for Patient Care
- Provide clinical technical services; provide advice in relation to care
- Provides pharmacy service including providing information on common drug dosage and use; advises patients, carers, GP staff on issues relating to medication regimes and changes to prescribing
Responsibility for Policy/Service Development
- Implement policies and propose changes to practices and procedures for own area and propose policy or service changes beyond own area within the scope of pharmacy.
- Implements SOPs within scope of pharmacy. Implements medicines management policies and contributes to wider policies e.g. Prescribing policies
- Promote the improvement of all aspects of medicines optimisation, including standard operating procedures within practice / PCN
Responsibility for Human Resources
- Day to day supervision; Professional / clinical supervision of prescription administration team; undertake basic workplace assessments
- Supervises and provides training to less experienced technicians, students, other staff
Responsibility for Information Resources
- Enters medication on patient computerised records system from prescriptions, discharge summaries, and letters as authorised.
- Create medication related searches as necessary for work e.g. to identify patients to support MHRA alerts and review.
- Utilises medicines management software e.g. Eclipse Live to identify patients for review, maximises use of change management software e.g. ScriptSwitch.
- Creates prescribing activity spreadsheets; maintains prescribing activity database
Responsibility for Research & Development
- Undertakes research activities e.g. audit
- Undertake other audit work, in agreement with the line manager in line with the practice / PCN objectives and priorities
Freedom to Act
- Clearly defined occupational policies, work is managed, rather than supervised.
- Follows SOPs and relevant regulations, works independently within Medicines Management Action Plan protocols
Physical Effort
- Combination of sitting, standing walking
- Little physical effort required
Mental Effort
- Frequent concentration; work pattern unpredictable
- Concentration required for amending medication in patients records, audits, report-writing, record-checking, interruptions to give advice
Emotional Effort
- Occasional distressing or emotional circumstances; exposure to verbal aggression
- Prescription advice to distressed patients / carers e.g. terminally ill
Working Conditions
- Office based role: use VDU equipment frequently
- May be required to do home visits to patients in both their own homes & care homes
- May be required to attend other locations for meetings
Job description
Job responsibilities
Job Summary / Key responsibilities
Clinical:
- Undertake patient facing and patient supporting roles to ensure effective medicines use, through shared decision-making conversations with patients.
- Carrying 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.
- As determined by the practice, supporting medication reviews and medicines reconciliation for new care home patients and synchronizing medicines for patient transfers between care settings, linking with local community pharmacists, and referring to the pharmacist for structured medication reviews.
- Providing specialist expertise, where competent, to address both the public and health and social care needs to patients, including responding to queries, lifestyle advice, service information, and help in tackling local health inequalities.
- Taking a central role in the clinical aspects of shared care protocols and liaising with specialist pharmacists for more complex patients.
- Supporting initiatives for antimicrobial stewardship to reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing.
- Carrying out audit work as necessary to act on safety alerts, support medicines management, prescribing quality, patient safety, Quality and Outcomes Framework targets, cost effective prescribing, and other areas as required.
Technical and Administrative:
- Working with the PCN multi-disciplinary team to ensure efficient medicines optimisation, including implementing efficient ordering and return processes and reducing wastage
- Providing training and support on the legal, safe and secure handling of medicines, including the implementation of the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS).
- Developing relationships with other pharmacy technicians, pharmacists and members of the multi-disciplinary team to support the integration of the pharmacy team across health and social care, including primary care, community pharmacy, secondary care and mental health.
- Supervising practice reception/dispensary teams in sorting and streaming general prescription requests, so as to allow GPs and clinical pharmacists to review the more clinically complex requests.
Communication and Relationship Skills
- Key working relationships - GP practice staff, patients, CCG medicines optimisation team, community pharmacy staff, other primary care and secondary care healthcare professionals when necessary
- Provide and receive routine information where there may be barriers to understanding, complex or sensitive information.
- Communicates information to patients / carers regarding prescribed medicines; there may be communication difficulties
- Communicates medicines management or other technical information to GP practice staff or other clinicians.
- Attends and participates in meetings with GP practice / PCN and CCG as required.
- Creates / contributes to a network of pharmacy technicians to ensure knowledge is shared and duplication of work is minimised networking and sharing.
Knowledge Training and Experience
- Expertise within specialism Knowledge of pharmaceutical technical procedures acquired through training, NVQ3, BTEC in pharmaceutical science or equivalent plus other additional training for supervising a technical area within the pharmacy, or, knowledge of medicines management, including relevant legislation and policies acquired through NVQ3 or BTEC equivalent level qualification plus specialist training and experience.
- Fulfil mandatory continual professional development (CPD) requirements.
- Regularly update knowledge, self-direct learning and attend relevant courses where necessary.
Analytical and Judgmental Skills
- Judgements on where there are a range of options; analysis of patient and prescribing activity data
- Audit of patient data and production of reports for practice in a timely manner. Write reports and keep clear records of all activities undertaken in relation to prescribing and medicines optimisation.
- Produce and present reports on work undertaken for a variety of audiences - this will involve use of Microsoft packages such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Competent in the use of Microsoft Outlook.
- Interpret and explain comparative prescribing data and other clinical information from a variety of sources and communicate its meaning to the practice staff.
- Contribute to the development and maintenance of procedures for the monitoring of prescribing and or use of medicines within the practice / PCN
- Promote the appropriate use of prescribing and clinical information to ensure the delivery of high quality prescribing and medicines optimisation in line with local and national guidelines and policy.
- Highlight concerns regarding atypical prescribing practice to the clinical lead / practice manager in a timely manner; highlight areas of concern in relation to the safe, effective and legal use of controlled drugs
- Deal with queries from practice / PCN relating to medication as required.
- To keep up to date with current issues, for example drug alerts and changes in protocols, to enable accurate information to be given.
Planning and Organisation Skills
- Plan and organise straightforward activities, some ongoing. Plan and organise complex activities or programmes requiring formulation and / or adjustment
- Plans implementation of medicines change management programme within practice / PCN
- Meet regularly with the line manager to discuss progress, highlight problems or potential problems and discuss overall performance
- Ensure personal workload is co-ordinated and prioritised according to practice / PCN requirements.
- Work to tight deadlines, managing requests; dealing with frequent interruptions and conflicting priorities.
Physical Skills
- Physical skills obtained through practice; accuracy important
- Skills for standard keyboard use
- Provide support and advice to the practice team / PCN on the following areas:
o Cost effective prescribing of medication
o Repeat prescribing systems
Responsibility for Patient Care
- Provide clinical technical services; provide advice in relation to care
- Provides pharmacy service including providing information on common drug dosage and use; advises patients, carers, GP staff on issues relating to medication regimes and changes to prescribing
Responsibility for Policy/Service Development
- Implement policies and propose changes to practices and procedures for own area and propose policy or service changes beyond own area within the scope of pharmacy.
- Implements SOPs within scope of pharmacy. Implements medicines management policies and contributes to wider policies e.g. Prescribing policies
- Promote the improvement of all aspects of medicines optimisation, including standard operating procedures within practice / PCN
Responsibility for Human Resources
- Day to day supervision; Professional / clinical supervision of prescription administration team; undertake basic workplace assessments
- Supervises and provides training to less experienced technicians, students, other staff
Responsibility for Information Resources
- Enters medication on patient computerised records system from prescriptions, discharge summaries, and letters as authorised.
- Create medication related searches as necessary for work e.g. to identify patients to support MHRA alerts and review.
- Utilises medicines management software e.g. Eclipse Live to identify patients for review, maximises use of change management software e.g. ScriptSwitch.
- Creates prescribing activity spreadsheets; maintains prescribing activity database
Responsibility for Research & Development
- Undertakes research activities e.g. audit
- Undertake other audit work, in agreement with the line manager in line with the practice / PCN objectives and priorities
Freedom to Act
- Clearly defined occupational policies, work is managed, rather than supervised.
- Follows SOPs and relevant regulations, works independently within Medicines Management Action Plan protocols
Physical Effort
- Combination of sitting, standing walking
- Little physical effort required
Mental Effort
- Frequent concentration; work pattern unpredictable
- Concentration required for amending medication in patients records, audits, report-writing, record-checking, interruptions to give advice
Emotional Effort
- Occasional distressing or emotional circumstances; exposure to verbal aggression
- Prescription advice to distressed patients / carers e.g. terminally ill
Working Conditions
- Office based role: use VDU equipment frequently
- May be required to do home visits to patients in both their own homes & care homes
- May be required to attend other locations for meetings
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- BTEC in Pharmaceutical Sciences, or NVQ level 3, or equivalent experience
Desirable
- Experience of working in primary care
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- BTEC in Pharmaceutical Sciences, or NVQ level 3, or equivalent experience
Desirable
- Experience of working in primary care