Pharmacy Technician

Job description

Job responsibilities

Job title

Pharmacy Technician

Line manager

Practice Manager

Accountable to

The Partners and Pharmacy Team

Job summary

The Pharmacy Technician's role is to support the practice to ensure the delivery of safe, effective and efficient systems for repeat prescribing, medicines optimisation, reducing medicines waste and maximising patient outcomes.

To recommend changes to prescribing or medicines optimisation systems and processes in practice. To resolve prescription-related issues and encourage better pharmaceutical understanding with patients and throughout the primary health team, including GPs, nurses, practice staff, care homes and community pharmacy. By working as part of the multidisciplinary team, your role will be to improve the quality and safety of all aspects relating to prescribing and medicines optimisation within the practice. You will also contribute to the training and development of practice staff.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Provide medicines optimisation advice to Doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals to promote the safe, effective, quality and cost-effective use of medicines.

To reconcile medicines using the practice protocols for newly registered patients and following hospital discharge or outpatient consultation. Work with patients/carers and community pharmacists to ensure patients receive the medicines intended.

Carry out housekeeping whilst in patient records e.g. Dose optimisation and medicines synchronisation

Support repeat prescribing systems and processes in practice with a focus on quality improvement and supporting safe prescribing.

Coordinate monthly prescriptions for care homes

Support the Acute Prescription clerks and care co-ordinator team by helping with queries relating to prescription requests and look for ways to improve the efficiency and safety of the prescription issuing process, ensuring queries are resolved and scripts issued in line with the practice prescribing protocol timeframe (usually 2 working days)

Deal with patient medication queries via telephone call back e.g. dose schedule, side effects, adverse effects and out of stocks, swallowing difficulties, urgent requests

Resolve queries with prescriptions and issue certain medication where appropriate in line with practice protocols

Participate in practice clinical meetings, patient participation groups, and other meetings to improve engagement of the role of pharmacy technician with the GP model and promote issues relevant to prescribing and medicines optimisation

Help implement electronic prescribing and repeat dispensing in appropriate patients including working with community pharmacy staff to identify appropriate patients

Liaise with medicine management & optimisation pharmacist on analysing patient prescribing data, including an awareness of prescribing budget and how this can be managed

Assist practice to reach QOF, QIPP and LCS enhanced service targets

To plan with Clinical team the implementation of projects and audits

Implement drug withdrawals and alerts e.g. MHRA alerts

Manage practice formularies to improve the quality, safety and cost effectiveness of prescribing and to reflect CCG prescribing policy

Assist practice with audits, QI audits and reviews of the practice prescribing dashboard

Provide medicines related training to staff

Observe the principles of clinical governance when developing policies, SOPs, protocols, guidelines and procedures

This job description is not meant to be exhaustive. It describes the main duties and responsibilities of the post. The candidate would be expected to undertake any other duties commensurate with the role as agreed with the practice.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• GPhC registered Pharmacy Technician

Desirable

• See Attached Person Specification

Experience

Essential

• See attached Person Specification

Desirable

• See attached Person Specification

Personal qualities and other requirements

Essential

• Ability to use own initiative, discretion and sensitivity
• Able to get along with people from all backgrounds and communities, respecting lifestyles and diversity
• Flexible and cooperative
• Ability to identify risk and assess/manage risk when working with individuals
• Sensitive and empathetic in distressing situations
• Able to provide leadership and to finish work tasks
• Problem solving and analytical skills
• Ability to maintain confidentiality
• Knowledge of and ability to work to policies and procedures, including confidentiality, safeguarding, lone working, information governance and health and safety
• Flexibility to work outside core office hours
• Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) check
• Evidence of continuing professional development
• Access to own transport and ability to travel across the locality on a regular basis, including to visit people in their own home

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).

Employer details

Employer name

Bretton Park Healthcare

Address

Bretton Medical Practice

Rightwell

Bretton

Peterborough

PE3 8DT