PCN - Pharmacy Technician

Job responsibilities

Key areas of Focus

Clinical

- Undertake patient facing and patient supporting roles to ensure effective medicines use, through shared decision-making conversations with patients.

- Carry out medicines optimisation tasks including effective medicine administration (e.g. checking inhaler technique), supporting medication reviews and medicines reconciliation. Where required, utilise consultation skills to work in partnership with patients to ensure they use their medicines effectively.

- As determined by the PCN, support medication reviews and medicines reconciliation for new care home patients and synchronising medicines for patient transfers between care settings, linking with local community pharmacies

- Support the clinical pharmacist to deliver structured medication reviews (SMRs) i.e. organise necessary monitoring tests prior to SMR

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

- Manage shared care protocols and liaise with clinical pharmacists for more complex patients.

- Support initiatives for antimicrobial stewardship to reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing locally.

Technical

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

- Implement efficient ordering processes and reduce medication wastage.

- Provide training and support on the legal, safe and secure handling of medicines, including the implementation of the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS).

- Promotion of Electronic Repeat Dispensing (eRD) and online ordering

- Develop relationships with other pharmacy professionals and members of the multidisciplinary team to support integration across health and social care including primary care, community pharmacy, secondary care and mental health.

- Support practice reception teams in streaming general prescription requests, so as to allow GPs and clinical pharmacists to review the more clinically complex requests.

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

- Support the PCN to deliver on QIPP agenda, QOF and locally commissioned enhanced services

- Support the PCN in reviewing and developing practice policies for CQC requirements

General

The postholder will:

Develop a culture that promotes equality and values diversity. The postholder must be aware of and committed to the Equality and Diversity policies of the PCN and comply with all the requirements of these policies and actively promote Equality and Diversity issues relevant to the post.

Ensure the principles of openness, transparency and candor are observed and upheld in all working practices.

The post holder will have, or acquire through training provided by the organisation, the appropriate level of safeguarding and knowledge, skills and practice required for the post and be aware of and comply with the organisations safeguarding protection policies and procedures.

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

Equality and diversity:

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

Acting in a way that recognises the importance of peoples rights, interpreting them in a way that is consistent with practice procedures and policies, and current legislation

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

Behaving in a manner which is welcoming to and of the individual, is non-judgmental and respects their circumstances, feelings priorities and rights.

Personal/Professional development:

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

Participation in an annual individual performance review, including taking responsibility for maintaining a record of own personal and/or professional development

Taking responsibility for own development, learning and performance and demonstrating skills and activities to others who are undertaking similar work

Quality:

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

Alert other team members to issues of quality and risk

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

Contribute to the effectiveness of the team by reflecting on own and team activities and making suggestions on ways to improve and enhance the teams performance

Work effectively with individuals in other agencies to meet patients needs

Effectively manage own time, workload and resources

Knowledge and understanding

Essential

• 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 and ethics and current legislation

Desirable

• Relevant advanced theoretical and practical knowledge of Primary Care Networks, General Practice and evidence based medicine
• An appreciation of the NHS agenda and Government targets
• Awareness of GP budget-management and 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

• 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
• An excellent understanding of data protection and confidentiality issues

Desirable

• Computer literate with an ability to use the required GP clinical systems and Microsoft office packages
• Understand the aims of current healthcare policy within the PCN
• Able to analyse and interpret prescribing data
• Influencing and negotiating skills

Qualifications

Essential

• Professional registration with GPhC
• BTEC/NVQ level 3 or equivalent in pharmaceutical sciences
• Evidence of continued professional development (CPD)

Desirable

• Demonstrate ability to influence and persuade partners and stakeholders of the respective merits of different options, innovations, new opportunities and challenges

Experience

Essential

• Experience of working as a qualified, registered pharmacy technician in primary care, community or hospital pharmacy

Desirable

• Experience in Primary Care

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
• 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
• DBS Clearance

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).