Job responsibilities
JOB
DESCRIPTION
PCN Senior
Pharmacy Technician
Job Purpose
The role will support GP practices and the wider Primary
Care Network to ensure the delivery of safe, effective and efficient systems
for medicines related clinical correspondence; repeat prescribing, medicines
optimisation, reducing medicines waste and maximising patient outcomes.
Key Responsibilities
Undertake patient facing and patient
supporting roles to ensure effective medicines use, through shared-decision
making conversations with patients.
Carry out medicines optimisation tasks
including effective medicine administration (e.g. checking inhaler technique),
supporting medication reviews, and medicines reconciliation. Utilise
consultation skills to work in partnership with patients to ensure they use
their medicines effectively. This is not limited to face-to-face contact, but
includes letter communication, telephone and video consultations.
Support, as determined by the PCN, medication
reviews and medicines reconciliation for new care home patients and
synchronising medicines for patient transfers between care settings and linking
with local community pharmacists.
Provide specialist training and support for
practice staff on technical matters.
Develop Standard Operating Procedures and
propose policy changes.
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.
Take a central role in the clinical aspects
of shared care protocols and liaising with specialist pharmacists for more
complex patients.
Support initiatives for antimicrobial
stewardship to reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing.
Assist in the delivery of medicines
optimisation and management incentive schemes and patient safety audits.
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.
Work with the PCN multi-disciplinary team to
ensure efficient medicines optimisation, including implementing efficient
ordering and return processes, and reducing wastage.
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.
Provide support 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.
Provide support on the legal, safe and secure
handling of medicines, including the implementation of the Electronic Prescription
Service (EPS).
Support training and development of administrators
to support safe, effective and efficient processes involving medicines with a
particular focus on repeat prescribing processes.
Provide support to general practice staff and
patients with regards to prescription and medication queries. Assist in the
development and improvement of repeat prescribing & medicines
reconciliation processes and systems for safer prescribing, providing expertise
in clinical medicines advice while addressing both public and social care needs
of patient.
Develop 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.
Undertake visits into the homes of patients
(including care homes) to carry out medicine optimisation reviews
Key Working Relationships
Teamwork is essential in multi-disciplinary environments. 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 will understand the significance of collaborative working. Local
practices, PCNs and Yorkshire Health Network are working closely together and
with the CCG and others to improve the quality of care for patients and to develop
primary care locally. As a PCN Pharmacy
Technician you will be employed by YHN but will work day to day within the
practices within Mowbray Square PCN. In order to
fulfil your role and for the collective benefit of patients, you will be
expected to develop positive working relationships with a wide range of
colleagues and stakeholders.
Professional Conduct
All pharmacy professionals must comply
with the code of professional conduct set by the General Pharmaceutical Council.
Professional development
Post-holder will:
Undertake continual personal and professional development, taking an
active part in reviewing and developing the role and responsibilities.
Adhere to organisational policies and procedures, including
confidentiality, safeguarding, lone working, information governance, and health
and safety.
Access regular clinical supervision, to enable the post-holder to deal
effectively with the difficult issues that people present.
Review yearly progress and develop clear plans to achieve results within
priorities set by others.
Participate in the delivery of formal education programmes.
Demonstrate an understanding of current educational policies relevant to
working areas of practice and keep up to date with relevant clinical practice.
Learning and Development
All pharmacy technicians are required to maintain their CPD as part of
annual re-validation.
Special working conditions
The post holder is required to
travel independently between work sites and to attend meetings etc hosted by
other agencies.
The post-holder will have contact
with body fluids, i.e. wound exudates, urine etc while in clinical practice.
Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
We are committed to
eliminating the unlawful discrimination and promoting equal opportunities. All
staff have a personal responsibility to contribute towards an inclusive and
supportive environment for patients, carers, visitors and other colleagues from
all the equality strands (race, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion and
disability).
Staff have a personal
responsibility to:
- ensure that their behaviour does not cause offence
- ensure their behaviour is not discriminatory
- challenge the inappropriate behaviour of others
- adhere to practice values, including respecting everyone
- comply with staff conduct policy and equal opportunities policy
Health and Safety
All personnel are to
comply with the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, Environmental Protection
Act 1990, Environment Act 1995, Fire Precautions (workplace) Regulations 1999
and other statutory legislation.
You have a duty to take reasonable care of health and safety at work for
you, your team and others, and to cooperate with employers to ensure compliance
with health and safety procedures. E.g. lone working and reporting incidents.
Information Governance
It is the responsibility
of all staff to respect the confidentiality of patients and staff, as specified
in the Caldicott Principles, Data Protection Act and Human Rights Act. It is
the duty of every employee to:
- Only access person identifiable information, as required, in the execution of their duties.
- Disclose information appropriately, in line with the Data Protection Act 2018
- To ensure good quality data by recording, promptly and accurately, clinical and non-clinical information within agreed time scales to the appropriate clinical or non-clinical information system.
- Maintain the confidentiality of their password/username and if in possession of a Smartcard abiding by the terms and conditions of its use.
Quality
& Clinical Governance
Quality in health care delivery
has three core dimensions; patient safety, patient experience and clinical
effectiveness.
Clinical governance is about the systems, processes and behaviours to
ensure that high quality services are provided to patients. Every member of
staff has a role to play in striving for excellence. YHN continually strives to improve work
processes which deliver health care with improved results across all areas of
our service provision. We promote a culture of continuous improvement, where
everyone counts and staff are permitted to make suggestions and contributions
to improve our service delivery and enhance patient care.
It is important that everyone is aware of and follows policies and
procedures that govern their work; and if something goes wrong, everyone has an
obligation to report it so lessons can be learned from mistakes, incidents and
complaints.
