Lead Pharmacy Assistant, Homecare

Job summary

Do you enjoy being part of a well-motivated, patient focusedteam?

Are you well organised, with excellent communication skills?

Do you feel as an experienced pharmacy assistant you havemore to offer?

Are you interested in being part of a growing service withinPharmacy, providing medicines delivery to patients?

If your answer is yes to any of the above, then we have anexciting opportunity to work cross county in our pharmacy departments at the Alexandra Hospital and Worcester Royal Hospital joining the expanding homecare team. For these brand new Band 4pharmacy assistant posts we are seeking motivated, experienced, highly skilledpharmacy assistants, with effective administration skills to enable our serviceto grow.

As part of the pharmacy homecare team, you will help providecost-effective, efficient procurement services for the Trust with respect tohomecare medicines for patients in Redditch, Worcester and the surroundingareas. You will be part of a well-motivated team, ensuring patients receivetheir medication deliveries to the place they want them at the time they wantit

You will be committed to providing a high quality service,have a professional attitude and work effectively in a team. You will bewilling and prepared to be trained, learn and attend training coursesappropriate for the post.

We can offer a supportive environment within a smallfriendly team with full training.

We are passionate about the service we provide and want youto be part of something special

Main duties of the job

Under the direction of the Lead Technician you will supportthe pharmacy team providing the county-wide homecare service to all acutepatients as appropriate.

You will provide efficient and effective administrativesupport for the homecare team and be responsible for organising and forwardingprescriptions to the correct companies, liaising with clinicians, patients and commercial providers ensuring effective and safedelivery of medicines to patients.

Requiring an aptitude for accuracy and attention to detail,you will participate in order processing, matching invoices and credit notes,ensuring prices charged are correct, receiving goods electronically, ensurediscrepancies/non-compliance with homecare deliveries are investigated anderrors recorded and dealt with appropriately. You will maintain up to daterecords of invoices passed and forwarding them to the pharmacy finance teamfor payment. For orders you have not had any involvement in, you will passinvoices for payment accurately and in a timely manner.

The ability to use a range of data sources and officesoftware is required to enable you to maintain records of all prescriptionsfrom start to finish providing a full audit trail, ensure outstanding invoicesare chased and escalated if needed, produce workload statistics and generatefinancial reports as well as maintaining contract pricing.

You will act as an ambassador for the pharmacy homecareservice and help to develop it.

About us

Our purpose is simple - Putting Patients First. We are looking for exceptional colleagues who can help us achieve this.

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust is a large acute and specialised hospital trust that provides a range of local acute services to the residents of Worcestershire and more specialised services to a larger population in Herefordshire and beyond.

The Trust operates hospital-based services from three sites in Kidderminster, Redditch and Worcester

Our workforce is over 7,000 strong, and our caring staff are recognised as providing good and outstanding patient-centred care. You could be one of them.

We are committed to recruiting the best people to work with us to achieve our Vision - working in partnership to provide the best healthcare for our communities, leading and supporting our teams to move 4ward. Our 4ward behaviours, which we ask all staff to demonstrate, underpin our everyday work and remain firmly at the heart of all we do.

Our objectives are simple:

Best services for local people Best experience of care and best outcomes for our patients Best use of resources Best people

Better never stops, and our Clinical Services Strategy provides a clear future vision for our Trust, our hospitals, our services and our role in the wider health and care system.

We are proud to have achieved Timewise accreditation - this means we are committed to embedding flexible working within our organisation as a flex positive employer.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Homecare - Responsible for:

Proposing, assisting in developing and, implementing agreedchanges to pharmacy homecare and, pharmacy procurement services.

Contributing to the development of homecare and procurementstandard operating procedures (SOPs).

Implementing and managing compliance with SOPs as assigned.

Producing workload statistics and key performance indicator(KPI) reports on homecare as directed.

Providing efficient and effective administration support andcommunication management to the homecare team.

Working to tight deadlines to produce the required outcomesin the required timescales whilst maintaining the exceptionally high standardsrequired.

Receiving prescriptions, recording and forwarding them tothe appropriate team member for processing. Once professionally checked,prescriptions must be scanned and forwarded to the correct Homecare companyensuring records are kept, receipts are received and a full audit trail is inplace.

Receiving paper copies and, accessing invoices and proof ofdeliveries (PODs) electronically, from various homecare supplier databases.Checking and ensuring invoices and PODs match exactly the previously ordereddrug line for that patient on the pharmacy computer system and that the pricestated on the invoice matches. Once all accuracy checks completed, receivingthe drug and accessories onto the system or escalating discrepancies and errorsimmediately.

Forwarding invoices to the pharmacy finance team for paymentand, maintaining up to date records of invoices processed recording informationon homecare company's statements.

Paying homecare invoices if no involvement with ordering orreceipt of the drugs.

Analysing supplier statements received monthly ensuring alloutstanding invoices are investigated and records kept of issues/problems plusactions taken. Liaising with providers, negotiate complex issues and resolveall invoicing queries ensuring follow through communications are made. Whenissues cannot be resolved they must be escalated immediately.

Supporting medicine supply issues including MSNs, SDAs anddrug alerts etc.

Effectively dealing with staff and patient queries orcomplaints in the first instance, referring them appropriately as required.

Ensuring all computerised and hard-copy documentation ofordering, goods received and invoice payments etc. are correct in accordancewith the trusts standing financial instructions and stored and archivedappropriately.

Supporting the auditing of the service.

Assisting with any patient or staff satisfaction surveys.

Finance Responsibilities:

Contribute to the development of the pharmacy financeservice.

Ensure systems are in place and followed for managingoutstanding invoices and outstanding credits for Homecare.

Obtain reimbursement of money when appropriate.

Ensure invoices are reconciled with orders placed on thepharmacy computer system and payment runs are made on a regular agreed basis ontime.

Ensure all actions taken are within the framework set by thetrusts standing financial instructions, financial policies and procedures, andpharmacy's policies and procedures.

Organise invoices as they are received, keeping track ofthose with queries, ensuring payment is made within the financial timescalerequired.

Check suppliers invoices, PODs and credit notes, prior topayment, to ensure they reconcile correctly and all prices are correct.

Maintain confidentiality of pricing agreements.

Batch invoices and send them for payment using the interfacebetween pharmacy and finance ensuring all fields are completed and allinputting errors are identified and corrected.

Manually send invoices for payment that must be excludedfrom the interface to finance.

Configure the pharmacy accounts payable Interface and updatethe pharmacy system database when required.

Contact wholesalers, manufacturers, homecare companies, andexternal agencies as well as pharmacy staff to resolve discrepancies andproblems with invoices, credit notes, statements, payments due, payments madeand pharmacy orders etc.

Refer problems that cannot be resolved satisfactorily to theappropriate manager.

Analyse and interpret financial data as appropriate.

Input and manipulate financial data into computer databasesand spreadsheets, where speed and accuracy are of the utmost importance.

Assist in processing invoices within the main pharmacyinvoicing office as required.

Managerial Responsibilities:

Day to day management of receiving prescriptions, onwardforwarding to homecare providers, and the receiving orders against an invoiceand POD on the system.

Assisting with problem solving of staffing and resourceissues.

Participating in interviews when required.

Assisting when required in staff development reviews.

Managing own and any assigned staffs time, day to dayprioritising workload to ensure tasks are completed on time.

Providing induction and detailed training for trainees andnew members of staff when required.

Participating in regular reviews (through audit andevaluation) of homecare contributing to the improvement and development of theservice.

Other Responsibilities:

Follow all departmental SOPs at all times, identifying anyaspect which could be improved.

Use the pharmacy computer system, finance systems, MS Officeand other computer software to receive drugs and process invoices, develop andmaintain databases, produce reports, record data etc. as required.

Work within set routines with little direct supervision butwith support and advice available when required.

Undertake a range of technical duties when required in thedepartment, meeting the required standards at all times, gained by completionof the appropriate competency based training program.

Carry out any other duties requested.

Participate in the trusts Staff development process on atleast an annual basis.

Be responsible for keeping up-to-date with all relevantSOPs, COSHH and health and safety requirements, policies and communiqués whereappropriate.

Expected to work at weekends and bank holidays.

Expected to travel and work on the Alexandra Hospital site.

Maintain confidentiality as per trust and commercial SOPs.

Communicate promptly and appropriately any concerns ordoubts of the accuracy of another member of staff are identified.

Act in a professional, caring and responsible manner at alltimes.

Maintain all work and desk space in a tidy and organizedmanner.

Person Specification

Experience

Essential

Recent and relevant experience of successfully delivering technical pharmacy services or pharmacy procurement services as a pharmacy assistant in a hospital or community setting. Experience and knowledge of medicines and pharmacy policies including naming, handling and storage practices. Experience of how to deal with a range of routine and non-routine activities, work allocation, problem solving for a team or area of work, answering queries, progress chasing, and task related problem solving. Experience of successfully working under pressure and with pressurised deadlines dealing with prescriptions for medicines required very urgently or in an emergency.

Desirable

Proven recent experience of successfully delivering technical pharmacy services as a Senior Pharmacy Assistant in a hospital/retail setting. Ordering medicine stock where accuracy is of the utmost importance

Knowledge and skills

Essential

Work to a high level of accuracy, giving attention to detail. Excellent communication skills. Able to communicate clearly and effectively both verbally and in writing and have the ability to record details accurately and neatly. Extensive experience and skilled at using Microsoft Office packages Word, Excel, Teams and Outlook. Possess analytical and judgement skills for solving complex issues such as supply and invoicing problems. Ability to cope with pressure, multi task and prioritise own work to meet set deadlines. Up to date knowledge of medicines and procurement practices. Current understanding of the issues facing pharmacy purchasing services within the NHS.

Desirable

Knowledge of quality assurance. Knowledge and experience of developing, managing or improving Standard Operational Procedures. Knowledge and experience of using the Pharmacy system EMIS

Personal Qualities

Essential

Able to work effectively in a team whilst working as a role model for colleagues. Be honest and trustworthy and able to maintain strict confidentiality at all times. Willing to be trained and to learn and, must be prepared to attend training courses appropriate for the post. Able to work at weekends and bank holidays and work flexibly when needed depending on the service requirements.

Qualifications

Essential

GCSE Grade C or above in English, Maths and Science (or equivalent) AND NVQ Level 2 in pharmacy technical services or working towards it

Desirable

Supervisory or team leadership course

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