Pharmacy IT Support Officer

South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust

This job is now closed

Job summary

We aredelighted to offer this exciting opportunity to progress your career by joining our friendly, dynamic & forward-thinking pharmacy team at SWFT!

We are committed to providing a high-quality, safe & effective pharmacy service that makes a real difference to our patients, and we are looking for highly-motivated individuals to join our well-integrated digital team to achieve this.

In this role, you will support the pharmacy service in providing digital support to the wider pharmacy team, supporting them in the provision of all aspects of clinical and technical hospital pharmacy service.

This posts open to applicants who are qualified Pharmacy Technicians registered with the GPhC or non-pharmacy professionals with an equivalent IT qualification to degree level or above. Prior experience in similar fields is required for this role, however exceptional candidates with less experience will be considered for our band 4 to 5 Structured Training and Education Pathway (STEP). Experience of hospital pharmacy is not essential as you will be well-supported in training and developing into this role.

This role is primarily based between Warwick & George Eliot hospitals, which have excellent transport links to Birmingham, Solihull, Coventry and surrounding areas.

Main duties of the job

Job Purpose:

The post holder will be responsible for supporting the day to day operational management of the various pharmacy computer systems.

The post holder will assist with the smooth running of every aspect of pharmacy IT operation, including the dispensary, stores & distribution, procurement, aseptics and ward-based teams.

The post holder will be required to maintain a variety of pharmacy IT hardware, ranging from computers and printers to various automated dispensing systems across the Trusts.

The post holder will support the introduction, application, training and maintenance of any new pharmacy systems.

The post holder is required to prepare and disseminate a range of routine and other ad-hoc reports from the computer systems.

The post holder will be required to have an in-depth understanding of all departments and processes in Pharmacy in order to maintain pharmacy systems and deliver training to staff.

The post holder may be expected to provide pharmacy IT support to external organisations where deemed appropriate, namely the Trust's subsidiary company and other members of the local STP.

The post holder may be expected to deputise for principal technician and/or Lead pharmacist when necessary and represent pharmacy IT interests to external groups.

About us

Come and join a Trust rated Outstanding by the CQC. South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust have been rated as outstanding following our latest inspection by the CQC and we are recruiting new staff to come and help us improve even further.

We provide services across Warwickshire and beyond ranging from Hospitals in Warwick, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Royal Leamington Spa and Shipston-on Stour to Community Services across the county. We are a progressive, expanding organisation with great ambition around improving quality, integrating pathways and delivering high levels of productivity.

Our values can be summed up in one sentence. We are 'Trusted to provide safe, effective and compassionate care'. Throughout the recruitment process you will be asked to think about how you demonstrate these values and how they impact on your work. It doesn't matter what role you do, whether it is patient facing or not, we are all working in the same way with our values at the core.

Date posted

26 July 2024

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 5

Salary

£28,407 to £34,581 a year per annum

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

203-SS950

Job locations

Warwick Hospital

Lakin Road

Warwick

CV34 5BW

Job description

Job responsibilities

Key Working Relationships

All users of pharmacy IT systems,

Senior finance and general management staff,

Primary Care Trusts,

Third parties such as the Department of Health, Strategic Health Authority,NHS Digital, and other organisations to whom pharmacy provides goods orservices on contract, for the provision of drug usage and cost data.

Key staff in the Information and Communication Technology Department.External providers of computer equipment and systems, software houses,automation developments, helpdesks, etc.

National IT networks for the development of pharmacy software, supplieruser groups, and relevant project leads within and outside the Trust,

IT project teams,

Trust subsidiary companies (Innovate and SWFT Clinical Services Ltd,)

Other members of local STP,

Duties & Responsibilities

To provide day-to-day IT support to the Pharmacy department as a whole,including:

Assisting in the identification and resolution of user issues withspecialised pharmacy IT software,

Maintaining specialised pharmacy software to ensure that thedepartment is able to provide an uninterrupted service to the widerTrusts,

Maintaining specialised pharmacy hardware, including roboticdispensing and storage solutions,

Analyse information to diagnose the cause of complex faults inpharmacy IT systems, and liaising with helpdesks/supportproviders & pharmacy managers to plan and implement solutionsto these,

Commissions work from the Trust ICT Department, to solveproblems with Pharmacy systems which do not relate to specialistapplications or cannot speedily be resolved,

Provide cross-site pharmacy IT support to Trust subsidiary andSTP Pharmacy departments when needed,

Prepares, validates and disseminates routine data reports requiredby finance and contracts managers, lead pharmacists, pharmacymanagers, external customers, procurement specialists, creditorand debtor payment staff, and clinical departments undertakingaudit.

Responding to complex queries or urgent queries on an ad-hocbasis.

Where queries cannot be answered with standard reports,obtaining information from pharmacy systems through the creationof bespoke reports using a variety of data sources and reportingsystems.

Analysing and validating commercially sensitive andconfidential data and other outputs in relation to pharmacyprocesses and key performance indicators for accuracy, legibilityand compliance with legal requirements, prior to dissemination.

Supporting the overall operation and technical competency of thecomputer systems and equipment in Pharmacy, and any systemsoutside of Pharmacy which impact the provision of medicinesmanagement or storage.

Ensuring appropriate records are maintained.

Promoting good communication to ensure efficient workingthroughout the department.

Delivering induction and refresher training to Pharmacy and non Pharmacy staff in the appropriate use of specialised software in theareas of Medicines Management and of Pharmacy.

Supporting and mentor junior colleagues

To assist in the development of pharmacy services by:

Contributing to the planning of IT requirements to fulfil futurePharmacy service needs and Trust information needs in line withstrategy, and participate in the actions needed to implement this,

Contributing to the creation and maintenance of relevant policiesand procedures regarding the appropriate and correct use ofPharmacy IT software and hardware,

Maintaining an awareness of current developments in, and the useof, IT in pharmacy services (robotic storage, procurement systems,electronic prescribing, etc.) by liaising with relevant bodies, outsideagencies, special interest groups and other pharmacydepartments,

Assisting with the development of IT projects for the departmentand being able to advise the Pharmacy Manager and senior Truststaff on the application of such.

Adapting existing processes and systems to improve departmentalworkflow.

Influencing software houses and hardware suppliers to meet theTrusts needs when developing software and systems throughparticipation in national networks and user groups.

Assisting in the installation of approved software upgrades toensure that the most recent release is in place and full benefit isbeing gained from our systems. Normally this will need to be doneoutside normal working hours.

Liaising with wards and external departments to understand theirstockholding needs in relation to automated drug storage cabinets.

Taking part in periodic stocktakes to prove the validity of the stockmanagement function of the systems and satisfy the requirementsof internal and external auditors

Providing audit data to validate Trust processes in line with localand national policy