Pharmacy Technician

Job description

Job responsibilities

• Undertaking 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.
• Supporting medication reviews and medicines reconciliation for new care home patients and synchronising medicines for patient transfers between care settings linking with local community pharmacists, and referring to the pharmacist for structured medication reviews, as required.
• Providing 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.
• Taking a central role in the clinical aspects of shared care protocols and liaising with the PCN pharmacists for more complex patients.
• Supporting initiatives for antimicrobial stewardship to reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing.
• 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 integration of the pharmacy team across health and social care including primary care, community pharmacy, secondary care and mental health.
• Working with practice teams in sorting and streaming general prescription requests, so as to allow GPs and clinical pharmacists to review the more clinically complex requests.
• The role will also require pharmacy technicians 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. In addition, pharmacy technicians will assist in the delivery of medicines optimisation incentive schemes (e.g. medicines switches) and patient safety audits.
• Pharmacy technicians will provide leadership for medicines management 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).

General:

• Ensure that all activities are monitored and evaluated.
• Attend internal meetings as required.
• Work in accordance with PCN policies, including the equal opportunities policy and practice.
• Attend any training courses and supervision sessions as required.
• Work with due regard to the Health and Safety Policy, ensuring that all practices and procedures are undertaken in accordance with issued guidelines.
• Undertake any other duties as may reasonably be required from time to time.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• BTEC/ NVQ level 3 or equivalent in pharmacy services
• Registration with General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).
• Have completed, be enrolled in, be undertaking or prepared to undertake an approved primary care pharmacy educational pathway (PCPEP) or Medicines Optimisation in Care Homes (MOCH)

Desirable

• Pharmacy Clinical Services Professional diploma (BTEC level 4) or other relevant qualifications

Experience

Essential

• Good clinical pharmacy knowledge including terminology.
• Knowledge and understanding of pharmacy law and ethics and current legislation.
• An appreciation of the nature of GPs and general practices.
• An appreciation of the nature of primary care prescribing, concepts of rational prescribing and strategies for improving prescribing.
• Knowledge of the principles of medicines optimisation.

Desirable

• Minimum of 5 years post-qualification experience.

Skills

Essential

• 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).
• Good IT skills.
• Able to obtain and analyse technical information.
• 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.
• Produce timely and informative reports.
• Ability to use own judgement, resourcefulness and common sense.
• Work effectively independently and as a team member and determine own workload priorities.
• Demonstrates diplomacy, professionalism and accountability.

Attributes and Behaviour

Essential

• Self-motivated, enthusiastic.
• Adaptable, innovative and forward looking.
• Trustworthy, reliable and shows steadiness in approach to work.
• Full driving license.

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

Surrey Heath Community Provider Ltd

Address

1 Beech Road

Frimley Green

Camberley

Surrey

GU16 6QQ

Employer's website

https://www.surreyheathcommunityproviders.co.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)