Pharmacy Technician

Job summary

We are looking to recruit to thepost of Pharmacy Technician, to work within our Medicines Management team. The role is part of our Primary Care Networkmultidisciplinary healthcare team (Yeovil Primary Care Network).

The purpose of the role is to lead improvements to maximise safe, cost effective best practice in prescribing to improve the quality of patient care. The post holder will help patients to get the best from their medicines by switching medications to agreed and approved protocols, improving repeat prescribing processes in General Practice, including promotion of repeat dispensing and online ordering, minimising clinical risk and aiming to reduce wasted ability to work confidently and effectively in a varied, andsometimes challenging environment is essential.

The successful candidate willhave excellent interpersonal and communication skills, and be organised,patient and empathetic. They will have experience of working in health, socialcare or other support roles including direct contact with people, families orcarers.

Main duties of the job

The post holder willbe responsible for encouraging the development of better understanding of theprinciples of medicines optimisation throughout the practice teams andpromoting good practice in line with therapeutic developments. This willinvolve assisting the practice in achieving national requirements, NICEimplementation and utilisation of medicines optimisation initiatives.

The post holder is required tocomplete a CPPE (Primary Care Pharmacy Education) 15 month course.

Key dutiesand responsibilities

Clinical

Undertake patient facing and patient supporting rolesto ensure effective medicines use, through shared decision-making conversationswith patients.

Carry out medicines optimisation tasks includingeffective medicine administration ( checking inhaler technique), supportingmedication reviews and medicines reconciliation. Where required, utiliseconsultation skills to work in partnership with patients to ensure they usetheir medicines effectively.

Support the Clinical Pharmacist in Structured Medication Reviews (SMR)

About us

We are a busy, hard working and friendly practice with approx 10,000 registered patients. We have 4 GP partners and a multi-disciplinary clinical team. This additional role will support and enhance our Medicines Management team, currently consisting of a Clinical Pharmacist and 3 prescription clerks.

We are situated just a short distance from Yeovil town centre, which although in Somerset is a very short distance to the Dorset border also.

Staff car parking is on site.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Job Scope

Clinical Pharmacy in GeneralPractice is part of an exciting programme of transformation to develop a newmodel of care which addresses our ambition to deliver person-centred,coordinated care across the district. The Clinical Pharmacy in General Practicemodel is supported by the direction of national policy including the Five YearForward View and GP Forward View where there is a need to better utilise therole of pharmacy within primary care to pro-actively help patients stay safeand well and out of hospital as well as helping to reduce the demands ongeneral practice.

Pharmacy technicians play animportant role, complementing clinical pharmacists, community pharmacists andother members of the PCN multi- disciplinary team. Pharmacy technicians aredifferent to clinical pharmacists as they are not able to prescribe or makeclinical decisions, instead working under supervision to ensure effective andefficient use of medicines.

Pharmacy technicians core roleresponsibilities will cover clinical, and technical and administrativecategories.

The purpose of the role is tolead improvements to maximise safe, cost effective best practice in prescribingto improve the quality of patient care. The post holder will help patients toget the best from their medicines by switching medications to agreed andapproved protocols, improving repeat prescribing processes in General Practice,including promotion of repeat dispensing and online ordering, minimisingclinical risk and aiming to reduce wasted medicines.

In addition, the post holder willbe responsible for encouraging the development of better understanding of theprinciples of medicines optimisation throughout the practice teams andpromoting good practice in line with therapeutic developments. This willinvolve assisting the PCN in achieving national requirements, NICEimplementation and utilisation of medicines optimisation initiatives.

The post holder is required tocomplete a CPPE (Primary Care Pharmacy Education) 15 month course.

Key duties and responsibilities Clinical

Key dutiesand responsibilities

Clinical

Undertake patient facing and patient supporting rolesto ensure effective medicines use, through shared decision-making conversationswith patients.

Carry out medicines optimisation tasks includingeffective medicine administration ( checking inhaler technique), supportingmedication reviews and medicines reconciliation. Where required, utiliseconsultation skills to work in partnership with patients to ensure they usetheir medicines effectively.

Support medication reviewsand medicines reconciliation for new care home patients and synchronisingmedicines for patient transfers between care settings, linking with localcommunity pharmacies

Support the Clinical Pharmacist in Structured Medication Reviews (SMR)

organise necessarymonitoring tests prior to SMR

Provide expertise to address both the public healthand social care needs of patients,including lifestyle advice, service information, and help in tackling local health inequalities.

Manage shared care protocols and liaise with ClinicalPharmacists for more complex patients.

Support initiatives for antimicrobial stewardship toreduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing locally.

Technical and Administrative

Support the PCN multi-disciplinary team to ensureefficient medicines optimisation processes are being followed.

Implement efficient ordering and return processes andreducing medication wastage.

Provide training and support on the legal, safe andsecure handling of medicines, including the implementation of the ElectronicPrescription Service (EPS).

Promotion of Electronic Repeat Dispensing (eRD) and online ordering

Develop relationships with other pharmacy professionalsand members of the multi-disciplinary team to support integration across healthand social care including primary care, community pharmacy, secondary care andmental health.

Support practice reception teams in streaming generalprescription requests, so as toallow GPs and clinical pharmacists to review the more clinically complex requests.

Support the implementation of national prescribingpolicies and guidance within GP practices, care homes and other primary care settings.

Support the PCN to deliver on QIPP agenda, QOF andlocally commissioned enhanced services

Supporting quality improvement measures andcontributing to the Quality andOutcomes Framework and enhanced services;

Support the PCN in reviewing and developing practicepolicies for CQC requirements

GeneralThe postholder will:

Develop a culture that promotes equality and valuesdiversity. The postholder must be aware of and committed to the Equality and Diversitypolicies of the appointing GP Federation and comply with all the requirementsof these policies and actively promote Equality and Diversity issues relevantto the post.

Ensure the principles of openness, transparency andcandour are observed and upheld inall working practices.

The post holder will have, or acquire through trainingprovided by the organisation, the appropriate level of safeguarding andknowledge, skills and practicerequired for the post and be aware of and comply with the organisation's safeguarding protection policies and procedures.

Ensure that any infection prevention and controlissues are reported to the line manager/Infection Prevention and Control

Equality anddiversity:

The post-holder will support the equality, diversityand rights of patients, carers and colleagues, to include:

Acting in a way that recognises the importance ofpeoples rights, interpreting them in a way that is consistent with practiceprocedures and policies, and current legislation

Respecting the privacy, dignity, needs and beliefs of patients, carersand colleagues

Behaving in a manner which is welcoming to and of theindividual, is non- judgmental and respects their circumstances, feelingspriorities and rights.

Personal/Professionaldevelopment:

The post-holder will participate in any trainingprogramme implemented by the practice as part of this employment, with suchtraining to include:

Participation in an annual individual performance review, including taking responsibilityfor maintaining a record of own personal and/or professional development. Taking responsibility for own development, learningand performance and demonstrating skills and activities to others who areundertaking similar work Quality:

The post-holder will strive tomaintain quality within the practice, and will:

Alert other team members to issues of quality and risk

Assess own performance and take accountability for ownactions, either directly or under supervision

Contribute to the effectiveness of the team byreflecting on own and team activities and making suggestions on ways to improveand enhance the team's performance.

Work effectively with individuals in other agencies to meet patients needs

Effectively manage own time, workload and resources

Supervision

The postholder will have accessto appropriate clinical supervision and the Clinical Pharmacist will provide general advice and support on a day to day basis.

Changes to the job

This job description is intendedto provide an outline of the key tasks and responsibilities only. There may be other duties required of thepost holder commensurate with the position. Nor is it definitive or exhaustiveand may be reviewed in light of changing circumstances at a personal ororganisational level. Any changes will be made following consultation with theindividual before changes are made

This description will be open toregular review and may be amended to take account of developments within thepractice. All members of staff should beprepared to take on additional duties or relinquish existing duties to maintainthe efficient running of the practice.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

Element / CriteriaEssentialDesirable Qualifications and Experience Professional registration with GPhC Meets the specific qualification and training requirements as specified by the GPhC criteria to register as a Pharmacy Technician- Meets the specific qualification and training requirements as specified by the GPhC criteria to register as a Pharmacy Technician; c. 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); BTEC/NVQ level 3 or equivalent in pharmaceutical sciences Evidence of continued professional development (CPD) Experience of working as a qualified, registered pharmacy technician in primary care, community or hospital pharmacy Demonstrate ability to influence and persuade partners and stakeholders of the respective merits of different options, innovations, new opportunities and challenges Skills and Competencies Computer literate with an ability to use the required GP clinical systems (desirable) and Microsoft office packages (essential) Understand the aims of current healthcare policy within the PCN 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 communication skills, verbal and written, with the ability to adjust communication style and content to suit the audience 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 Attributes 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 Self-motivated and proactive 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;

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