Pharmacy Technician

Job responsibilities

Primary key responsibilities

The Pharmacy Technician is to undertake the following key responsibilities in delivering health services:

Undertake patient facing and patient supporting roles to ensure effective medicines use, through shared decision-making conversations with patients

Conduct medicines optimisation tasks including effective medicine administration (e.g., checking inhaler technique), support medication reviews and medicines reconciliation. Where required, utilise consultation

skills to work in partnership with patients to ensure they use their medicines effectively

Support, as determined by the PCN, medication reviews and medicines reconciliation for new care home patients and synchronise medicines for patient transfers between care settings and linking with local community pharmacists

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

Maintain a central role in the clinical aspects of shared care protocols and liaise 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;

Attend a formal appraisal with your manager at least every 12 months. Once a performance/training objective has been set, progress will be reviewed on a regular basis so that new objectives can be agreed

Contribute to public health campaigns (e.g., COVID-19 or flu clinics) through advice or direct care

Maintain a clean, tidy, effective working area at all times

Technical and administrative responsibilities

The technical and administrative responsibilities of the Pharmacy Technician:

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 leadership 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 training and support on the legal, safe and secure handling of medicines, including the implementation of the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS)

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

Support delivery of QOF, incentive schemes, QIPP and other quality or cost effectiveness initiatives

Undertake any tasks consistent with the level of the post and the scope of the role, ensuring that work is delivered in a timely and effective manner

Duties may vary from time to time without changing the general character of the post or the level of responsibility.

There may be, on occasion, a requirement to carry out other tasks. This will be dependent upon factors such as workload and staffing levels.

Qualifications

Essential

• Registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC)
• Meets the specific qualification and training requirements as specified by the GPhC criteria to register as a Pharmacy Technician
• Training requirements are currently in transition and further information is available at GPhC
• Enrolled in, undertaking or qualified from, an approved training pathway. For example, the Primary Care Pharmacy Educational Pathway (PCPEP) or Medicines Optimisation in Care Homes (MOCH)

Experience

Essential

• Is working under appropriate clinical supervision to ensure safe, effective and efficient use of medicines

Desirable

• - Experience working in a primary care setting
• - Understanding and knowledge of healthcare provision in GP practices, - QOF and enhanced services
• - An appreciation of the new NHS landscape including the relationships between individual practices, PCNs and the commissioners
• - Good clinical system IT knowledge of EMIS/Vision

Skills

Essential

• - Ability to communicate complex and sensitive information effectively with people at all levels by telephone, email and face to face
• - Knowledge of IT systems, including ability to use word processing skills, emails and the internet to create simple plans and reports
• - Good personal organisational skills
• - Effective time management
• - Demonstrate personal accountability, emotional resilience and work well under pressure

Personal Qualities

Essential

• - Ability to follow legal, ethical, professional and organisational policies/procedures and codes of conduct
• - Ability to use own initiative, discretion and sensitivity
• - Able to get along with people from all backgrounds and communities, respecting lifestyles and diversity
• - Ability to use own initiative, discretion and sensitivity
• - Flexible and cooperative
• - Ability to identify risk and assess/manage risk when working with individuals
• - Sensitive and empathetic in distressing situations
• - Able to finish work tasks
• - Problem solving and analytical skills
• - Ability to maintain confidentiality
• - Knowledge of and ability to work to policies and procedures, including confidentiality, safeguarding, lone working, information governance and health and safety

Other requirements

Essential

• Flexibility to work outside of core office hours
• Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) check
• Access to own transport and ability to travel across the locality on a regular basis, including to visit people in their own home

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).