Senior Dispensing Assistant

Have you got the enthusiasm to take up the challenge of this newly vacated post?

We are looking for a Senior Dispensing Assistant to join our Pharmacy team. You will work within most areas of the ESNEFT Pharmaceutical Service based at Colchester Hospital, providing dispensing support to qualified staff.

Duties will include dispensing for in-patients, outpatients and controlled drugs following standard procedures; a re-stocking service of pharmaceutical products to wards and departments.

Pharmacy experience is essential and a formal qualification is desirable, e.g. NVQ Level 2 or equivalent.

Formal Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holiday commitments are mandatory and will be on a rostered basis.

1. To dispense for inpatients and outpatients by calculating appropriate dosage and quantities required against prescriptions/requisitions, following departmental Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
2. To ensure that all customers receive the appropriate medicine in the correct form and in a timely manner.
3. To ensure that all medicines are labelled and packaged appropriately, and all relevant patient information and compliance aids/sundries are supplied.
4. To dispense controlled drugs for ward stock and named patients, following all relevant Pharmacy procedures and legal requirements.
5. To perform a self-check on all dispensed items to ensure accuracy and quality prior to placing the item in the designated area for final checking.
6. To receive in prescriptions from a wide range of outpatient clients and use listening and questioning skills to obtain appropriate information to enable effective service provision.
7. To operate the cash till and debit/credit card machine to take payment for prescriptions.
8. To ensure that the declaration of payment/exemption on outpatient prescriptions has been correctly filled in and clearly endorsed with grounds for exemption if a fee is not paid.
9. To sell over the counter products under the supervision of a pharmacist.

One of the largest Trust’s in East Anglia, East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT) provide hospital and community health services to people living across a wide geographical area. We deliver care from two main hospitals in Colchester and Ipswich, six community hospitals and in patients’ own homes. You will be joining a team of over 11,000 amazing colleagues providing care to 800,000 residents.

Along with supporting you to achieve your career goals we offer a generous pension scheme, 27 days annual leave on commencement (pro rata) and access to a range of NHS discounts. Our Staff Health & Wellbeing programme offer a range of services including mental health support. We offer a range of flexible working opportunities.

Our philosophy is thatTime Mattersto everyone. Across the Trust, we concentrate on improving the things we do and removing those which do not work or cause time delays for our staff and patients.

To support our employees to achieve their career aspirations you may be eligible to obtain a qualification via an apprenticeship. All successful applicants will be required to undertake a skills review to facilitate this. For full details please see the attached Apprenticeship Handbook

If you are passionate about patient care and want to develop your skills and knowledge then we are keen to hear from you.

To answer telephone queries from customers and action appropriately.
To carry out a re-stocking service to wards and departments for all stock pharmaceuticals.

For full details of the responsibilities and duties of this role please see the attached job description.