Job responsibilities
Primary Key Responsibilities
The Pharmacy Technician is to undertake the following key responsibilities in delivering health services.
a.Undertake patient-facing and patient-supporting roles to ensure effective medicines use, through shared decision-making conversations with patients.
b.Conduct medicines optimisation tasks including effective medicine administration (e.g., checking inhaler technique), support medication reviews and medicines reconciliation. Where required, utilise consultation skills to work in partnership with patients and/or their representatives to ensure they use their medicines effectively.
c.Support, as determined by the PCN, medication reviews and medicines reconciliation for new care home patients and synchronise medicines for patient transfers between care settings and linking with local community pharmacy teams.
d.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.
e.Maintain a role in the clinical aspects of shared care protocols and liaise with specialist pharmacists for more complex patients.
f.Support initiatives for antimicrobial stewardship to reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing.
g.Assist in the delivery of medicines optimisation and management incentive schemes and patient safety audits.
h.Support the implementation of local and 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 (QOF) and enhanced services.
i.Attend a formal appraisal with your manager at least every 12 months. Once a performance/training objective has been set, progress will be reviewed on a regular basis so that new objectives can be agreed.
j.Contribute to public health campaigns (e.g., COVID-19 or flu clinics) through advice or direct care.
k.Maintain a clean, tidy, effective working area at all times.
Technical
and Administrative Responsibilities
The technical and administrative responsibilities of the Pharmacy Technician:
a.Work with the PCN and practice-based multi-disciplinary team to ensure efficient medicines optimisation including implementing efficient ordering and return processes and reducing wastage.
b.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.
c.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.
d.Provide training and support on the legal, safe and secure handling of medicines, including the implementation of the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS).
e.Develop relationships with other Pharmacy Technicians, Clinical 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.
f.Support delivery of QOF, IIF, incentive schemes, QIPP and other quality or cost effectiveness initiatives.
g.Build and run EMIS reports to identify/stratify patients for review (e.g. for medication review/SMR, or in response to a medication shortage or recall).
h.Action drug alerts and recalls, within competence, independently or with other members of the team.
i.Work collaboratively with the ICB medicines optimisation team, to promote local best practice guidelines.
j.Record and report any activity undertaken to demonstrate the cost and/or clinical benefit.
k.Undertake any tasks consistent with the level of the post and the scope of the role, ensuring that work is delivered in a timely and effective manner.
l.Duties may vary from time to time without changing the general character of the post or the level of responsibility.
m.There may be, on occasion, a requirement to carry out other tasks. This will be dependent upon factors such as workload and staffing levels.
Leadership & Professional Responsibilities
The Pharmacy Technician must:
a.Work independently within the objectives and organisational priorities that have been agreed with the PCN and GP practice(s).
b.Attend and participate at GP practice meetings, ICB medicines optimisation meetings, pharmacy monthly and quarterly meetings. Deputising for the Clinical Pharmacist(s) as required.
c.Assist the Clinical Pharmacy Service Manager in ensuring medicines-related policies and procedures are up-to-date and appropriately implemented.
d.Plan and organise own workload, including audit and project work, and any training sessions to be delivered.
e.Maintain own GPhC registration as a Pharmacy Technician, ensuring the required continuing professional development (CPD) and revalidation and renewal is completed annually.
f.Act as a professional in their own right, accountable for their own professional actions, and in line with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) standards for pharmacy professionals.
Generic Responsibilities
All staff at Winchester City Primary Care Network have a duty to conform to the following:
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
A good attitude and positive action towards ED&I creates an environment where all individuals are able to achieve their full potential. Creating such an environment is important for three reasons it improves operational effectiveness, it is morally the right thing to do and it is required by law.
Patients and their families have the right to be treated fairly and be routinely involved in decisions about their treatment and care. They can expect to be treated with dignity and respect and will not be discriminated against on any grounds including age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. Patients have a responsibility to treat other patients and our staff with dignity and respect.
Staff have the right to be treated fairly in recruitment and career progression. Staff can expect to work in an environment where diversity is valued and equality of opportunity is promoted. Staff will not be discriminated against on any grounds including age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.
Staff have a responsibility to ensure that they treat our patients and their colleagues with dignity and respect.
Induction
Winchester City PCN will provide a full induction programme.
Whilst across the PCN we aim to standardise this process, inevitably there will be nuances particular to each practice. In any such instance, the practice management team will support you with this.
Learning and development
The effective use of training and development is fundamental in ensuring that all staff are equipped with the appropriate skills, knowledge, attitude and competences to perform their role. All staff will be required to partake in and complete mandatory training as directed by Winchester City PCN. It is an expectation for this post holder to assess their own learning needs and undertake learning as appropriate
The post holder will undertake mentorship for team members and disseminate learning and information gained to other team members in order to share good practice and inform others about current and future developments (e.g. courses and conferences).
The post holder will provide an educational role to patients, carers, families and colleagues in an environment that facilitates learning.
Collaborative working
All staff are to recognise the significance of collaborative working and understand their own role and scope and identify how this may develop over time. Staff are to prioritise their own workload and ensure effective time-management strategies are embedded within the culture of the team.
Teamwork is essential in multidisciplinary environments and the post holder is to work as an effective and responsible team member, supporting others and exploring the mechanisms to develop new ways of working and work effectively with others to clearly define values, direction and policies impacting upon care delivery
Effective communication is essential, and all staff must ensure they communicate in a manner which enables the sharing of information in an appropriate manner.
All staff should delegate clearly and appropriately, adopting the principles of safe practice and assessment of competence.
Plans and outcomes by which to measure success should be agreed.
Service delivery
Staff will be given detailed information during the induction process regarding policy and procedure.
The post holder must adhere to the information contained within PCN and local practice policies and regional directives, ensuring protocols are adhered to at all times.
Leave
All personnel are entitled to take leave. Line managers are to ensure all of their staff are afforded the opportunity to take a minimum of 33 days leave each year (25 days annual leave + 8 bank holidays) an should be encouraged to take all of their leave entitlement.
Annual leave and public holidays will be calculated on a pro-rated basis dependent on the number of hours worked.
