Pharmacy Technician

Job summary

Northlands Wood Practice are looking for a Pharmacy Technician to join their established Clinical Team. This post is part of the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme for Primary Care Networks funded by NHS England and includes funded access to the Primary Care Pharmacy Education pathway pilot for Pharmacy Technicians.

The ambition is to better utilise the role of pharmacy within primary care to pro-actively help patients stay safe and well and out of hospital as well as helping to reduce the demands on general practice.

The post holder is a Pharmacy technician, who acts within their professional boundaries, supporting pharmacists in general practice to ensure effective and efficient use of medicines.

The Pharmacy technicians core role responsibilities will cover clinical, and technical and administrative categories.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will work as part of amulti-disciplinary team and this role involves provision of technical supportfor the pharmacy service to ensure professional operational standards andexcellence in pharmaceutical care and safety are maintained.

The role will support the practiceswithin Haywards Heath Central PCN to ensure the delivery of safe, effective andefficient systems for medicines related clinical correspondence; repeatprescribing, medicines optimisation, reducing medicines waste and maximisingpatient outcomes.

The post holder will support trainingand development of administrators to support safe, effective and efficientprocesses involving medicines with a particular focus on repeat prescribingprocesses and will also provide support to general practice staff and patientsregarding prescription and medication queries. They will also help to developand improve repeat prescribing & medicines reconciliation processes andsystems for safer prescribing.

The post holder will ensure that theservice is integrated with community and hospital pharmacy to improve patientoutcomes. The pharmacy technicians will work closely with the CCG MedicinesOptimisation teams, community pharmacists and hospital pharmacy teams tosupport an integrated approach to prescribing and medicines optimisation whichworks towards shared goals.

About us

Alliance for Better Care CIC is a GP Federation that unites 47 NHS GP practices across 12 Primary Care Networks in Sussex and Surrey. We support our Primary Care colleagues as well as their patients, to transform how healthcare is managed within the community.

As a membership organisation, our focus is to work in partnership with our members and help them to improve the provision of General Practices in the local area.

We work with and listen to our GP Practices, PCNs, Hospitals, Community Organisations and the Third Sector. These vital partnerships ensure that, together, we deliver a truly integrated approach that offers the support and expertise needed to effectively serve our communities.

Haywards Heath and Villages PCN is an NHS Collaboration between four GP Practices working together to provide enhanced access services. Our surgery teams work closely, sharing expertise and resources to develop new services. Our vision is to continue to improve the quality of care that we provide in alignment with the needs of our patient population.

Our PCN builds on the existing primary care services and enables a greater provision of proactive, personalised and more integrated health and social care. We are supported by practitioners in additional roles who allow us to create bespoke multi-disciplinary teams based on the needs of our local population. By working together with local community services, this allows us to make support available to people where it is most needed.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Primary duties and areas of responsibility

Clinical

Undertake patient facing and patientsupporting roles to ensure effective medicines use, through shareddecision-making conversations with patients. Carry out medicines optimisation tasksincluding effective medicine administration ( checking inhaler technique),supporting medication reviews and medicines reconciliation. Where required,utilise consultation skills to work in partnership with patients to ensure theyuse their medicines effectively. As determined by the PCN, support medicationreviews and medicines reconciliation for new care home patients andsynchronising medicines for patient transfers between care settings, linkingwith local community pharmacies. Support the Clinical Pharmacist in StructureMedication Reviews (SMR) organise necessary monitoring tests prior to SMR. Provide expertise to address both the publichealth and social care needs of patients, including lifestyle advice, serviceinformation, and help in tackling local health inequalities. Manage shared care protocols and liaise withClinical Pharmacists for more complex patients. Support initiatives for antimicrobialstewardship to reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing locally.

Technical and Administrative

Support the PCN multi-disciplinary team toensure efficient medicines optimisation processes are being followed. Support medications reconciliation forpatients when they are discharged from hospital. Implement efficient ordering and return processesand reducing Provide training and support on the legal,safe and secure handling of medicines, including the implementation of theElectronic Prescription Service (EPS). Promotion of Electronic Repeat Dispensing (eRD)and online ordering. Develop relationships with other pharmacyprofessionals and members of the multidisciplinary team to support integrationacross health and social care including primary care, community pharmacy,secondary care and mental health. Support practice reception teams in streaminggeneral prescription requests, so as to allow GPs and clinical pharmacists toreview the more clinically complex requests. Support the implementation of nationalprescribing policies and guidance within GP practices, care homes and otherprimary care settings. Support the PCN to deliver on QIPP agenda,QOF and locally commissioned enhanced services. Support the PCN in reviewing and developingpractice policies for CQC requirements. Undertake the Centre for PharmacyPostgraduate Education (CPPE) Primary Care Pharmacy Education Pathway.

General

The postholder will:

Be committed to a culture that promotesequality and values diversity, actively promote Equality and Diversity issuesrelevant to the post and comply with relevant ABC policies. Ensure the principles of openness,transparency and candour are observed and upheld in practices. Acquire through training provided by ABC CIC,the appropriate level of safeguarding knowledge, skills and practice requiredand comply with relevant ABC safeguarding policies. Ensure that any infection prevention andcontrol issues are reported to the line manager in accordance with InfectionPrevention and Control guidelines.

Equality and diversity

The post-holder willsupport the equality, diversity and rights of patients, carers and colleagues,to include:

Acting in a way that recognises theimportance of peoples rights, interpreting them in a way that is consistentwith practice procedures and policies, and current legislation. Respecting the privacy, dignity, needs andbeliefs of all patients, carers and colleagues. Behaving in a manner which is non-judgmentaland respectful of peoples circumstances, feelings, priorities and rights.

Personal/Professional development

The post-holderwill participate in any training programme implemented by the Practices/GPFederation as part of this employment, with such training to include:

Participation in an annual individualperformance review, including taking responsibility for maintaining a record ofown personal and/or professional development. Taking responsibility for own development,learning and performance and demonstrating skills and activities to others whoare undertaking similar work.

Quality

The post-holderwill strive to maintain quality within the practices and will:

Alert other team members to issues of qualityand risk. Assess own performance and takeaccountability for own actions, either directly or under supervision. Contribute to the effectiveness of the teamby reflecting on own and team activities and making suggestions on ways toimprove and enhance the teams performance. Work effectively with individuals in otheragencies to meet patients needs. Effectively manage own time, workload andresources.

Study Leave/Training

There are opportunities for a study leave allowance.

Supervision

Regular supervisions on a one-to-one basis including anannual formal appraisal are held with a line manager. If you are in apatient-facing role, you will also receive regular Clinical Supervisions with aClinical Supervisor.

Benefits

Generous annual leave allowance Access to NHS pension Bespoke training programme Cycle to Work Scheme Employee Assistance Programme Enhanced maternity pay NHS discounts Leadership Development Programme Salary sacrifice schemes technology andelectric vehicle Opportunities for secondments

Induction Programme

You will receive an in depth induction programme and will beinvited to an induction call within your first week to give you relevantinformation about the organisation and your job role.

For further information please see full job description.

Person Specification

Attributes

Essential

Works effectively independently and as a member of a team Flexible approach to meet service needs and ensure a stakeholder focused response Self-motivated and proactive Continued commitment to improve skills and ability in new areas of work Able to undertake the demands of the post with reasonable adjustments if required Independently mobile to be able to work across several sites and travel to meet with stakeholders Adaptability, flexibility and ability to cope with uncertainty and change Demonstrate ability to work in a busy environment; ability to deal with both urgent and important tasks and to prioritise effectively whilst also supporting others Excellent time keeping and prioritisation skills

Qualifications

Essential

Professional registration with GPhC BTEC/NVQ level 3 or equivalent in pharmaceutical sciences Experience of working as a qualified, registered pharmacy technician in primary care, community, or hospital pharmacy

Desirable

Evidence of continued professional development (CPD) Demonstrate ability to influence and persuade partners and stakeholders of the respective merits of different options, innovations, new opportunities, and challenges

Knowledge & Understanding

Essential

Relevant theoretical and practical knowledge of Primary Care Networks, General Practice and evidence-based medicine Awareness of systems to support management of patients in a primary care setting, delivering pharmaceutical input and support in the context of pathways of care and the business of the organisation(s) Good clinical pharmacy knowledge including terminology An appreciation of the nature of primary care prescribing, concepts of rational prescribing and strategies for the improvement of prescribing Knowledge and understanding of pharmacy law, ethics and current legislation

Desirable

Understanding of NHS long term plan and priorities relevant to primary care Awareness of funding systems to enable GP clinical pharmacist services to assist delivery of PCN and NHS priorities and requirements for financial balance and quality

Skills & Competencies

Essential

Computer literate with an ability to use Microsoft office packages Able to analyse and interpret prescribing data Has attention to detail, able to work accurately, identifying errors quickly and easily Able to effectively manage allocated resources Has a planned and organised approach with an ability to prioritise their own workload to meet strict deadlines Able to think analytically; anticipating obstacles and thinking ahead; using analytical techniques to draw logical solutions to problems Excellent verbal and written communication skills with team members, patients, carers, and other healthcare professionals, whilst recognising peoples needs for alternative methods of communication Influencing and negotiating skills An excellent understanding of data protection and confidentiality issues

Desirable

Computer literate with an ability to use the required GP clinical systems

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