Job summary
An exciting opportunity has become available for an enthusiastic, proactive pharmacy technician to join our Medication Safety Team to promote medication safety across the Trust as well as with external partners. The role involves active management of reported safety learning events, working with all levels of the multidisciplinary team, pharmacy staff and medicines management leads to ensure that the investigation of safety learning events is carried out promptly.
Main duties of the job
The role will contribute to the review and continual improvement of pharmacy medication processes to ensure that the quality of the pharmacy service is maintained.
About us
Here at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust, we are proud to provide expert, compassionate care for our local population. We are ranked as the third in the country for research, embedding education and training across the organisation. Our main hub is the Queen Alexandra Hospital, which is one of the largest hospitals on the south coast employing over 8,700 staff.
Our patients come from all walks of life and so do we. We hire great people from a wide variety of backgrounds because it makes our hospital stronger. If you share our values and our enthusiasm for getting it right for patients, colleagues, and our community, you will find a home at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust
Portsmouth is a vibrant city and tourist destination on the south coast with convenient access to the South Downs National Park and the Isle of Wight and just 90 minutes from London Waterloo by train. Whether your passion is the outdoors, with beaches, sailing, kite surfing, horse-riding and hiking on our doorstep, or culture, in the birthplace of Charles Dickens, with two theatres and a major concert venue in the city, Portsmouth has something for everyone. If history is your hobby, Portsmouth Historic Dockyard offers a rich exploration of Britain's naval history, but if retail therapy is more likely to float your boat, discount designer-label shopping at Gunwharf Quays attracts shoppers from far and wide. If you like to travel and explore, Portsmouth ferries sail to the Channel Islands,
Job description
Job responsibilities
The post holder must have a keen interest in medication safety and will be an excellent communicator, with strong attention to detail and presentation/ IT skills, ensuring learning from safety events by providing both individual feedback and group education and training sessions. As such your key duties will involve:
Working as a key member of the Medication Safety Team to lead in the processing and investigation of medication incidents reported on DatiX
Processing, and coding verification and ensure timely approval of Trustwide Medication Incidents (Datix).
Proactively obtaining relevant evidence and information to contribute to Trustwide investigations of medication related incidents and safety learning events, triaging and escalating where necessary.
Supporting learning by designing and providing training to pharmacy and nursing staff.
Completing audits in the Pharmacy Department and Medication Safety Team to provide assurance and highlight concerns.
Managing and supporting the review of pharmacy incidents, providing feedback to staff, identifying common themes, supporting departmental learning, identifying and implementing required remedial actions to prevent repeated errors, complaints and patient harm.
Lead on quality improvement related to medication safety using innovative ways to ensure staff engagement including social media and other IT medium.
Producing monthly safety bulletins to promote learning and share best practice
Job description
Job responsibilities
The post holder must have a keen interest in medication safety and will be an excellent communicator, with strong attention to detail and presentation/ IT skills, ensuring learning from safety events by providing both individual feedback and group education and training sessions. As such your key duties will involve:
Working as a key member of the Medication Safety Team to lead in the processing and investigation of medication incidents reported on DatiX
Processing, and coding verification and ensure timely approval of Trustwide Medication Incidents (Datix).
Proactively obtaining relevant evidence and information to contribute to Trustwide investigations of medication related incidents and safety learning events, triaging and escalating where necessary.
Supporting learning by designing and providing training to pharmacy and nursing staff.
Completing audits in the Pharmacy Department and Medication Safety Team to provide assurance and highlight concerns.
Managing and supporting the review of pharmacy incidents, providing feedback to staff, identifying common themes, supporting departmental learning, identifying and implementing required remedial actions to prevent repeated errors, complaints and patient harm.
Lead on quality improvement related to medication safety using innovative ways to ensure staff engagement including social media and other IT medium.
Producing monthly safety bulletins to promote learning and share best practice
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Possess BTEC (pharmaceutical science) or recognized equivalent and/or NVQ level 3 (pharmaceutical science).
- Registered as a Pharmacy Technician with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).
Desirable
- Recognised Accredited Checking Pharmacy Technician (ACPT) Qualification.
- Further recognised qualifications, e.g. Practice Supervisor, NVQ Assessor (A1 qualification) or Accredited Medicines Reconciliation (formerly Medicines Management).
Experience
Essential
- Minimum 3-4 years post qualification experience.
- Proven experience of working in a UK Hospital Pharmacy.
- Experience of planning and delivering specialist training effectively by one to one teaching, group work and /or course provision.
- Proven experience to assess, mentor junior staff and give feedback.
- Experience of the appropriate handling of sensitive and confidential information.
Desirable
- Experience of using patient safety databases (e.g. Datix).
- Experience of investigating medication errors and giving feedback to staff involved sensitively.
- Experience of managing a section of the service.
- Dealing with HR issues within the training process to support the development of all staff groups.
- Experience of writing / reviewing /auditing of adherence to Trust Policies and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
- Dealing with challenging and emotional behaviour.
- Wide range of experience including dispensary and ward pharmacy services.
Additional criteria
Essential
- Provide or receive complex, sensitive information, requiring tact or persuasive skills.
- Able to demonstrate good organisational skills, and responsibility for information resources.
- Able to analyse, interpret and present data either verbally, via written reports or formal presentation.
- Good communication, interpersonal and counselling skills.
- Excellent presentation skills - both verbal and written.
- Computer literate- fluent in oral and written English with a high degree of numeracy and presentation skills.
- Good Range of IT skills - knowledge of e-learning packages, able to use Word, PowerPoint, and Excel effectively.
- Supervisory skills - able to help a team prioritise and work safely and effectively under pressure.
- Able to demonstrate good organisational skills.
- Ability to work as an integral part of a team or independently with minimum supervision.
- Able to use initiative whilst knowing when to refer.
- Assertive character, approachable, friendly and polite but able to assess and give both positive and negative feedback.
- Evidence of maintaining own Continuing Professional Development (CPD).
Desirable
- Knowledge of current local and national medication safety issues.
- Able to effectively use Safety Learning Event databases/ software (e.g. Datix).
- High level of skills in using IT and social media to present audit data and share learning.
- Skilled in delivering training.
- Able to contribute to writing procedures and training packages.
- Systematic & logical in processes and problem solving.
- Ability to plan and complete tasks to a deadline.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Possess BTEC (pharmaceutical science) or recognized equivalent and/or NVQ level 3 (pharmaceutical science).
- Registered as a Pharmacy Technician with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).
Desirable
- Recognised Accredited Checking Pharmacy Technician (ACPT) Qualification.
- Further recognised qualifications, e.g. Practice Supervisor, NVQ Assessor (A1 qualification) or Accredited Medicines Reconciliation (formerly Medicines Management).
Experience
Essential
- Minimum 3-4 years post qualification experience.
- Proven experience of working in a UK Hospital Pharmacy.
- Experience of planning and delivering specialist training effectively by one to one teaching, group work and /or course provision.
- Proven experience to assess, mentor junior staff and give feedback.
- Experience of the appropriate handling of sensitive and confidential information.
Desirable
- Experience of using patient safety databases (e.g. Datix).
- Experience of investigating medication errors and giving feedback to staff involved sensitively.
- Experience of managing a section of the service.
- Dealing with HR issues within the training process to support the development of all staff groups.
- Experience of writing / reviewing /auditing of adherence to Trust Policies and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
- Dealing with challenging and emotional behaviour.
- Wide range of experience including dispensary and ward pharmacy services.
Additional criteria
Essential
- Provide or receive complex, sensitive information, requiring tact or persuasive skills.
- Able to demonstrate good organisational skills, and responsibility for information resources.
- Able to analyse, interpret and present data either verbally, via written reports or formal presentation.
- Good communication, interpersonal and counselling skills.
- Excellent presentation skills - both verbal and written.
- Computer literate- fluent in oral and written English with a high degree of numeracy and presentation skills.
- Good Range of IT skills - knowledge of e-learning packages, able to use Word, PowerPoint, and Excel effectively.
- Supervisory skills - able to help a team prioritise and work safely and effectively under pressure.
- Able to demonstrate good organisational skills.
- Ability to work as an integral part of a team or independently with minimum supervision.
- Able to use initiative whilst knowing when to refer.
- Assertive character, approachable, friendly and polite but able to assess and give both positive and negative feedback.
- Evidence of maintaining own Continuing Professional Development (CPD).
Desirable
- Knowledge of current local and national medication safety issues.
- Able to effectively use Safety Learning Event databases/ software (e.g. Datix).
- High level of skills in using IT and social media to present audit data and share learning.
- Skilled in delivering training.
- Able to contribute to writing procedures and training packages.
- Systematic & logical in processes and problem solving.
- Ability to plan and complete tasks to a deadline.
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.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Additional information
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.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
