Pharmacy Technician

Job responsibilities

The post holder is a member of the Primary Care Network (PCN) Additional Roles team providing Pharmacy support to the network practices. Clinical Pharmacy in General Practice is part of an exciting programme of transformation to develop a new model of care which addresses our ambition to deliver person-centred, coordinated care in our Practices.

Pharmacy technicians play an important role, complementing clinical pharmacists, community pharmacists and other members of the PCN multi-disciplinary team. Pharmacy technicians are different to clinical pharmacists as they are not able to prescribe or make clinical decisions, instead working under supervision to ensure effective and efficient use of medicines.

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 medicines.

In addition, the post holder will be responsible for encouraging the development of better understanding of the principles of medicines optimisation throughout the practice teams and promoting good practice in line with therapeutic developments. This will involve assisting the PCN in achieving national requirements, NICE implementation, and utilisation of medicines optimisation initiatives.

Job Responsibilities

• Work with the Clinical Pharmacists and Clinicians in accordance with agreed practice prescribing standard operating procedures.
• Process repeat medication requests, including the conversion of acute requests to repeat medicines, changing quantities of medicines. Processing prescriptions in line with agreed clinical protocols and within your competency.
• As determined by the PCN, support medication reviews/monitoring and medicines reconciliation post discharge (or other transfer of care) and synchronizing medicines for patients especially if transferring between care settings, linking with local community pharmacists.
• Undertake patient supporting roles to ensure effective medicines use, through shared decision-making conversations with patients.
• Support Clinicians and Clinical Pharmacists in Structured Medication Reviews (SMR) i.e. organise necessary monitoring tests prior to SMR.
• Manage shared care protocols and liaise with Clinical Pharmacist for more complex patients.
• To develop and maintain medicines related communication to all practice staff.
• To assist with the development and review of medicines audits.
• Provide contact for patients and colleagues with medication queries.
• Support with project work/prescribing initiatives/clinical audits under the support of the pharmacist.
• Liaise with clinicians and staff to resolve prescribing queries.
• To support the management and development of the prescribing systems to ensure safe, effective, and quality prescribing within member practices in the network.

Key tasks

Prescribing

• Dealing with medication queries including acute medication requests, patient medication and prescription queries. This may involve removing unwanted items, checking review dates, ensuring necessary blood tests, and monitoring have been carried out, prescription synchronization etc.
• Communicating with patients/carers and members of the healthcare team including doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and receptionists.
• Liaising with local pharmacies and hospitals regarding prescription queries and helping to ensure optimum therapy and to ensure a smooth transition from Secondary to primary care.
• Answer ad hoc medication drug queries from GPs, nurses, and other healthcare professionals within the post holders expertise.
• Updating of medication received from secondary care on the patient medical record, where appropriate.
• To problem solve issues related to prescribing.
• To support the lead GP for prescribing with clinical administration, projects, and audits to improve services and initiatives to enhance safety, quality, and cost effectiveness of prescribing (e.g., Prescribing Quality Scheme, MHRA updates etc.).
• To work as an autonomously and be capable of prioritising work whilst maintaining accurate and timely records.

Other Duties

• To facilitate and participate in multidisciplinary meetings and education sessions related to prescribing topics.
• To always keep professional up to date and to meet the General Pharmaceutical Council standards for continuing professional development to maintain professional registration.
• To ensure that all information is recorded accurately using computer systems and paper if required.
• To ensure maintenance of accurate patient records and ensure all relevant information is documented in the patients medical record in a timely manner.
• This is not an exhaustive list of duties and responsibilities, and the post holder may be required to undertake other duties that fall within the grade of the job, in discussion with line manager and clinical pharmacist.
• Support initiatives for antimicrobial stewardship to reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing.
• Providing leadership for medicines optimisation systems across the PCN, supporting practices with a range of services to get best value from medicines by encouraging and implementing Electronic Prescriptions, safe repeat prescribing systems, and timely monitoring and management of high-risk medicines.

Key Working Relationships

• The post holder will be required to maintain constructive relationships with a broad range of internal and external stakeholders and communicate with all grades of healthcare staff including all practice staff, secondary health care staff, community health care professionals and community pharmacists.
• Communicate highly sensitive condition-related information to patients and relatives if needed.

Communication

Communicate effectively with other team members.

Communicate effectively with patients and carers, recognising their needs for alternative methods of communication.

Enthusiastic about health promotion and lifestyle change.

Personal and people development

Take responsibility for own developmental learning and performance, including participating in supervision.

Take responsibility for maintaining a record of own personal development.

Work with management on any new training requirements.

To recognise and understand the roles and responsibilities of individuals working in the primary health care team.

Health, safety, and security

• Use the personal security systems within the workplace according to practice guidelines.
• Identify the risks involved in work activities and undertake them in a way that manages the risks.
• Know the health and safety policies and procedures within the workplace, including fire procedures, maintaining documentation, monitoring, and maintaining of equipment and furniture within your area of responsibility.
• Use the computer monitor safely.

Service improvement

• Work with colleagues in the team on the development of current and new services and other initiatives.

Quality

Our PCN is committed in its use of available resources to obtaining the best possible service for patients and staff. The post holder must share this objective and seek to maintain and improve the quality of service provided.

The post holder must:

• Alert other team members to issues of quality and risk in the care of patients.
• Ensure own actions are consistent with clinical governance systems.
• Know the organisations policies, especially the whistle-blowing policy, available in the practice staff handbook.
• Be able to manage your own time effectively.

The post holder must:

• Act in ways that recognise the importance of people's rights, interpreting them in a way that is consistent with procedures.
• Respect the privacy, dignity, needs and beliefs of patients and carers.

Information processes and Confidentiality

Information relating to patients, employees and business must be treated in strictest confidence. Under no circumstances should such information be discussed with any unauthorised person(s) or organisations. All staff must operate within the requirements of our policies.

The post holder must:

• Maintain confidentiality or information relating to patients, relatives, staff and the PCN.
• Maintain accurate and contemporaneous electronic patient records on SystmOne.
• Take the necessary precautions when transmitting information.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Maintain your professional standards in respect of education and training and ensure that you are aware of your specific area specialty training and needs analysis.

The post holder must:

• Attend annual updates and mandatory training as required.
• Highlight any gaps in knowledge/training needs to their line manager to allow them the opportunity to offer support to fulfil the duties of this post.

Act in a manner that safeguards children and/or vulnerable adults as applicable to the role.

Work in line with organisational policies and procedural guidelines.

This JD is not intended to be an exhaustive list of activities but rather an outline of the main areas of responsibility. The role is likely to evolve to meet the changing needs of the service.

Skills and other

Essential

• Skills
• Excellent oral and written communication skills with people from a wide variety of backgrounds.
• Good presentation skills and ability for work effectively with individuals and groups.
• Ability to present complex information in a clear and logical manner.
• Ability to understand and work within the organisations and practices policies.
• Good organisational skills to manage and prioritise caseload.
• Personal attributes
• Confident.
• Self-motivated.
• Flexible, adaptable, and creative.
• Able to respond to unpredicted work patterns and frequent interruptions.
• Able to set priorities and meet daily deadlines.
• Able to organise complex information.
• Good understanding of the principles of confidentiality.
• The ability to respond positively to changes within the Primary Care Network.
• Consistently thinks about how their work can help and support clinicians and frontline staff deliver better outcomes for patients.
• Able to travel across various sites where applicable.

Qualifications

Essential

• NVQ Level 3 / BTECH in pharmacy services or equivalent nationally recognised qualification
• Current registration as a pharmacy technician with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).
• 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) or courses approved by the Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK (APTUK).

Desirable

• Accredited Checking Technician Qualification.

Experience

Essential

• Experience of working as a qualified, registered pharmacy technician in primary care, community, or hospital pharmacy.
• Portfolio evidence of ongoing Continuous Professional Development.
• Experience of delegation and supervision.
• Experience of working flexibly and effectively within a multidisciplinary team.
• Experience of having to prioritise caseload/manage own time effectively.
• Experience of managing change and conflict situations.

Desirable

• Experience of Audit.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).