Primary Care Network Pharmacy Technician

Job summary

To work with our team of ClinicalPharmacists to ensure patients are managing their medication safely and supportthe safe, accurate and timely prescribing of medication in our Primary CareNetworks. Provide technical and administrative support to the ClinicalPharmacists and Clinicians. Support the Primary care team with audits, guidanceand respond to queries around medication from patients, their carers, and otherhealth professionals. This will include face to face and telephone support topatients, carers and primary care and community staff.

Main duties of the job

JobResponsibilities

The post holderwill be involved in many aspects of medicines management and be supported anddeveloped in this role by the PCN Clinical Pharmacy team.

About us

Bury GP Federation was created to enhance the delivery of health and care services to our local population. We believe that community-based services which are high quality, consistent and joined up must be the solution to many of the pressures on todays NHS and that General Practice is ideally placed to lead this community-based provision.

We also believe that by coming together in our Federation we can better develop skills and consistency not traditionally available in General Practice to deliver wide range of services to our community

Job description

Job responsibilities

Job Purpose

Pharmacytechnicians play an important role, complementing Clinical Pharmacists,Community Pharmacists and other members of the PCN multi-disciplinary team. ThePharmacy technician will provide support to the network as a whole and eachmember practice as needed. The aim is toimprove the quality of prescribing and patient outcomes across the networkthrough high quality medicines review and optimisation.

JobResponsibilities

The post holderwill be involved in many aspects of medicines management and be supported anddeveloped in this role by the PCN Clinical Pharmacy team.

ImprovingPatient Safety, Audits, and Supporting Reviews

Work with the pharmacyteam and Clinicians to deliver QIPP and other local commissioned enhancedservices to improve medicines optimisation

Work alongside theextended Pharmacy team to monitor and action safety and drug alerts in a timelyand appropriate manner, including liaising with patients when necessary

Work with Clinicians andpharmacy team to undertake medicine audits and other quality improvement/project work as required

Work alongside the adminteam to promote and develop high quality prescribing processes includingidentifying quality improvement opportunities

Contribute to thedevelopment of the service, , developing service pathways, paperwork andsharing good practice across network practices

To promote cost effective,safe, evidence-based prescribing in accordance with local formulary, medicationreview services to patients via clinics in PCN practices and care homes and todeliver plans that maximise cost-effective prescribing and improve the qualityof patient care

Work with the ClinicalPharmacists and the Practice teams to identify patients suitable for Structuredmedication review, and help prioritise workload

Carrying out medicinesoptimisation tasks including effective medicine administration ( checkinginhaler technique), supporting medication reviews and medicines reconciliation.Where required, utilise consultation skills to work in partnership withpatients to ensure they use their medicines effectively

Support initiatives forantimicrobial stewardship

Contribute to theachievement of KPIs and objectives, monitor against overall objectives of therole

Prescription Queriesand Medication Reconciliation

To respond to medication queries or requests formedicines information from patients and staff in a professional and timelymanner including escalating to clinicians or senior pharmacy colleagues when necessary

Promote best practice for medicines useincluding supporting training of practice teams on medicines processes andpolicies

Work closely with the practice teams, pharmacycolleagues and patients to ensure coordinated and efficient processing of prescriptionrequests synchronising medication, setting up electronic repeatdispensing, monitoring medicines use to prevent waste or over usage

Work with clinicians and the pharmacy team todevelop and implement robust systems for shared care prescribing and high-riskdrug monitoring and other drug monitoring for optimisation of long-termconditions

Supporting medication reviewsand medicines reconciliation for new care home patients and synchronisingmedicines for patient transfers between care settings linking with localcommunity pharmacists, and referring to the pharmacist for structuredmedication reviews, as required

Update and maintain accurate and comprehensivepatient medication records

Working in a wider team

Develop positive and professional workingrelationships with colleagues to ensure excellent patient care

Work with practice teams to support theachievement of prescribing outcomes for Quality Outcomes Framework and otherprescribing initiatives

To attend and participate in practice clinicalmeetings and other multi-disciplinary meetings where necessary

Establish positive working relationships andeffective communication with network practices, integrated care health and careteams, and a range of local voluntary sector and community organisations

Developing relationships withother pharmacy technicians, pharmacists and members of the multi-disciplinaryteam to support integration of the pharmacy team across health and social careincluding primary care, community pharmacy, secondary care and mental health

Undertake any other additional dutiesappropriate to the post as requested by the PCN Clinical Directors, networkpractices or Bury GP Federation

General

Ensure that all activities are monitored and evaluated

Attend internal meetings as required

Attend any training courses and supervision sessions as required

Undertake any other duties as may reasonably be required from timeto time

Codes ofConduct

PharmacyTechnicians must comply with the Code of Professional Conduct set by theGeneral Pharmaceutical Council and to Bury GP Federation Code of Conduct

EqualOpportunities

Thefederation is committed to eliminating unlawful discrimination and promotingequality of opportunity. All staff have a personal responsibility to contributetowards an inclusive and supportive environment for patients, carers, visitorsand other colleagues from all the equality strands (race, gender, age, sexualorientation, religion, disability)

Staffhave a personal responsibility to:

Ensure theirbehaviour is not discriminatory

Does notcause offence

To challengethe inappropriate behaviours of others

Adhere to theFederations values, including Respecting Everyone, as well as the Staff Conduct Policyand the EqualOpportunities policy

Health an Safety

Underthe provisions contained in the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, it is theduty of every employee to:

Takereasonable care of themselves and for others at work

To co-operatewith the Trust as far as is necessary to enable them to carry out their legal duty

Not to intentionally or recklessly interfere with anythingprovided including personal protective equipment for Health and Safety orwelfare at work

Management is responsible for the implementation ofsuitable arrangements to ensure the health, safety and welfare of all employeesat work and the health and safety of other persons who may be affected by theiractivities. Where health and safetymatters cannot be resolved the Chief Officer must be notified.

Managers are responsible for the health and safetymanagement of all activities, areas and staff under their control. Thisincludes responsibility for ensuring risk assessments are completed and implementationof suitable and sufficient control measures put in place. Health and safetyissues are dealt with at the lowest level of management practicable. Wherehealth and safety matters cannot be resolved at a particular management levelthe appropriate Senior Manager must be notified.

Everyonehas a responsibility for contributing to the reduction of infections.

SafeguardingChildren and Vulnerable Adults

BuryGP Federation is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children,young people and vulnerable adults, and as such expects all staff andvolunteers to share this commitment.

Quality and Clinical Governance

Quality in Health Care delivery has three core dimensions: Patient Safety, Patient Experience and Clinical Effectiveness.

ClinicalGovernance is about the systems, processes and behaviours to ensure that highquality services are provided to patients. Every member of staff has a role toplay in striving for excellence: it is important that everyone is aware of andfollows policies and procedures that govern their work; and if something goeswrong, everyone has an obligation to report it so lessons can be learned frommistakes, incidents and complaints.

Ifany member of staff has concerns on any clinical governance matters, theyshould raise them with their line manager, professional adviser, or a moresenior member of management. Reference should be made to the federations guidanceon Raising Concerns about provision of patientcare.

InformationGovernance

Itis the responsibility of all staff to respect the confidentiality of patientsand staff, as specified in the Caldicott Principles, Data Protection Act andthe Human Rights Act. It is the duty ofevery employee to:

Only accessperson identifiable information as required inthe execution of their duties

Discloseinformation appropriately, in line with the Data Protection Act 1998

To ensuregood quality data by recording, promptly and accurately, clinical and non-clinicalinformation within agreed timescales to PAS, the health record or theappropriate clinical or non-clinical information system

Maintain theconfidentiality of their password / username and if in possession of aSmartcard abiding by the terms and conditions of its use

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

BTEC/NVQ level 3 or equivalent in Pharmaceutical science Professional registration with GPhC Evidence of Continuing professional development (CPD) Accuracy checking qualification Experience of working as a qualified, registered Pharmacy technician in a community pharmacy or a hospital pharmacy setting

Desirable

Additional Qualifications to support role. BTEC in therapeutics Primary care experience

Experience

Essential

Knowledge of Pharmacy law and ethics and current legislation An appreciation of the NHS agenda and Government targets Good Clinical Pharmacy knowledge including terminology Excellent understanding of data protection and confidentiality issues Awareness of the nature of key prescribing priorities in primary care IT skills including word and excel Influencing and negotiating skills Planned and organised approach to workload, and ability to meet deadlines. Able to think analytically and logically to resolve or escalate as appropriate Excellent communication skills (verbal and written) Demonstrates diplomacy, professionalism and accountability Able to work effectively independently and as part of a team Self - motivated and proactive with good time management skills Adaptability, flexibility and ability to cope with uncertainty and change Independently mobile to be able to work across several sites and travel to meet stakeholders and clients Able to undertake the needs of the post with reasonable adjustments if required Demonstrated ability to prioritise workload effectively

Desirable

Awareness of systems to support management of patients in a primary care setting Awareness of the PCN agenda Demonstrated ability to conduct audit and produce reports Working knowledge of GP Practice IT systems Able to analyse and interpret prescribing data and analysis tools

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