Pharmacy Technician

Job responsibilities

Key Responsibilities and Duties:

• 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.
• 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 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, to allow GPs and clinical pharmacists to review the more clinically complex requests.
• 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.
• 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.
• Ensure that all activities are monitored and evaluated.
• Attend 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.
• Be prepared to work flexibly, including evenings and weekends if required.

Governance

• To ensure compliance with Federations policies, procedures and guidelines for self and others, by taking action/alerting senior management team if practice appears to contravene policy, or if concerned about any aspect of patient care
• To ensure compliance at all times and without exception with the organisations Information Governance regulations and Standing Financial Instructions

Behaviours

The post holder will be expected to:

• Support the visions and values of the Federation
• Act with honesty and integrity at all times
• Be a positive ambassador for the Federation
• Demonstrate high standards of personal conduct
• Value and respect colleagues, other members of staff, stakeholders and patients
• Work with others to develop and improve our services
• Uphold the Federations commitment to equality and diversity
• Take personal responsibility for their words, deed and actions and the quality of the service they deliver

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 which is welcoming to and of the individual, is non-judgmental and respects their circumstances, feeling priorities and rights.

Information Governance

• The post-holder must be fully aware of and committed to all Policies, Procedures and Initiatives relating to Information Governance - this will include, but not limited to, Data Quality improvements, Confidentiality and Information Security
• To take personal responsibility for safeguarding and ensuring the quality of information.

Personal/Professional Development:

The post-holder will participate in any training programme implemented by the PCNs as part of this employment, 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 skill and activities to others who are undertaking similar work
• Training may need to be undertaken outside of normal practice hours, and off site. This post involves the use of display screen equipment as a significant part of normal work and the job holder will be a user as defined in the Health & Safety Policy on work with DSE.

Qualifications

Essential

• 1. Mandatory registration with General Pharmaceutical Council
• 2. BTEC/ NVQ level 3 or equivalent in pharmacy services

Desirable

• 1. Membership of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society
• 2. Pharmacy Clinical Services Professional diploma (BTEC level 4) or other relevant qualifications

Attributes and Behaviour

Essential

• 1. Self-motivated, enthusiastic
• 2. Adaptable, innovative and forward looking
• 3. Trustworthy, reliable and shows steadiness in approach to work
• 4. Full driving licence.

Experience

Essential

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

Desirable

• 1. Minimum of 5 years post-qualification experience.

Skills

Essential

• 1. Excellent interpersonal, influencing and negotiating skills
• 2. Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• 3. Demonstrate the ability to communicate complex and sensitive
• information in an understandable form to a variety of audiences (e.g.
• patients)
• 4. Good IT skills
• 5. Able to obtain and analyse technical information
• 6. Recognises priorities when problem solving and identifies deviations from the normal pattern and is able to refer to seniors or GPs when appropriate
• 7. Able to work under pressure and to meet deadlines
• 8. Produce timely and informative reports
• 9. Ability to use own judgement, resourcefulness and common sense
• 10. Work effectively independently and as a team member and determine own workload priorities.
• 11. Demonstrates diplomacy, professionalism and accountability.

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).