Pharmacy Technician

Job responsibilities

Working within your clinical and professional boundaries, you will work alongside the Durham Coast PCN Clinical Pharmacists to support the clinical teams in all aspects of prescribing and medicines safety.

The purpose of this role is to promote and support improvements to maximise safe and best practice in prescribing and improve the quality of patient care. The Pharmacy Technician will be a point of contact for patients enquiries regarding their prescriptions. The post holder will help patients to get the best from their medicines through effective medicines reconciliation after discharge and on other transfers of care, identification of patients potentially suitable for repeat dispensing, providing assistance in the monitoring of high-risk and high-cost drugs, and handling of prescription queries within the areas of competence.

This will also involve work to deliver key medicines optimisation outcomes against the ICB-set Prescribing Outcomes Scheme. Contribute to quality improvement and clinical audit, as well as supporting aspects of the Quality and Outcomes Framework, medicines safety and antibiotic stewardship. You will also be required to contribute towards practice financial stability through medicines optimisation and related targets in QOF.

The role will include training and development of practice based administrative staff that process repeat prescriptions to support improved co-ordination and effective pharmacy administration within general practice, especially with relation to repeat prescribing systems and processes.

Main Duties and Areas of Responsibility: Pharmacy Technician

Support practice clinical pharmacists and practice clinical teams to provide a safe and effective repeat prescribing service.

Comply with legal and professional requirements and with safe systems of work for re-authorising repeat prescriptions.

Co-ordinate medication review appointments and any changes of medication as advised by the clinical team.

Liaise with pharmacies on the supply of prescribed drugs, alert clinicians of any supply issues and forward recommendations of alternatives.

Medicines reconciliation post discharge and on other transfers of care.

Bring queries to clinical team to include under or over usage.

Day to day handling of prescription queries within area of own competence.

Delivery of training and development to practice administrative staff who process repeat prescription requests to support improved co-ordination and effective pharmacy administration.

Use and maintain information reporting systems and databases relevant to the position including incident reporting, prescribing data and patient outcomes.

Participate in practice meetings, and other meetings to improve engagement of the role and to promote issues relevant to prescribing.

Liaise with multidisciplinary team, prescribing support team, community pharmacy and hospital pharmacy teams.

Handle function specific information, which may be sensitive, complex or confidential and appropriately recording, transferring and/or coordinating such information in accordance with the GDPR; Caldecott Guidelines and the Confidentiality Code of Conduct.

Be responsible for the organisation and planning of own workload to meet set deadlines.

Utilise GP practice clinical systems to conduct prescribing audits.

Support the clinical pharmacists and practices with the work required under County Durham ICBs Medicines Management Local Incentive Scheme.

Support the clinical pharmacists in shared care monitoring and processes.

In collaboration with practice Clinical Pharmacists and GP Prescribing Leads ensure that all major MHRA drug alerts, where appropriate and within levels of competence, are acted upon within practices over an appropriate time frame and to advise on any medication changes that occur as a result.

Undertake training and development, to ensure the required knowledge and skills for practice-based work.

Escalate problems or issues to line manager that requires additional support or input.

Carry out other duties which are appropriate to the skills and competencies of the post holder and grade of the post as the priorities of the service change.

Establish and maintain effective working relationships with GP practices, staff and other healthcare professionals.

The post holder will develop a culture that promotes equality and values diversity. The post holder must be aware of and committed to the Equality and Diversity policies of the practice 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 candour are observed and upheld.

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.

Experience

Essential

• Good IT Skills Excellent communications skills (verbal and written).
• Excellent organisational skills.
• Ability to work safely under pressure.
• Work as part of a team.
• Have excellent time management and workload prioritisation skills.
• Understand clinical governance and risk management.
• Awareness of current medicines Management Agendas.
• Knowledge of audit and research.
• Demonstrate accountability for delivering professional expertise and direct service provision.
• Self-Motivation.
• Adaptable Ability and ability to move between practice sites.
• In date DBS check.
• Safeguarding adult and children.
• Immunisation status.
• UK Work Permit (please note we're unable to provide Visa sponsorship at this time)

Desirable

• Previous work within a patient facing role.
• Understanding of GMS contracts and Medicines Management Incentive Schemes.
• Experience of NHS IT Systems.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience Required

Essential

• Have experience and an awareness of common acute and long-term conditions that are likely to be seen in General Practice.
• Recognises priorities when problem-solving and identifies deviations from normal pattern and is able to refer to seniors or GPs when appropriate.
• Able to follow legal, ethical, professional and organisational policies/procedures and codes of conduct.
• Involves patients in decisions about prescribed medicines and supporting adherence as per NICE guidelines.
• Demonstrate understanding of the pharmacy technician role in governance and can implement this appropriately within the workplace.
• Demonstrate understanding of, and contributes to, the workplace vision.
• Demonstrates ability to improve quality within limitations of service.
• Reviews yearly progress and develop clear plans to achieve results within priorities set by others.
• Demonstrate ability to motivate self to achieve goals.
• Promotes diversity and equality in people management techniques and leads by example.
• Demonstrate understanding of the implications of national priorities for the team and/or the service.
• Demonstrate understanding of the process for effective resource utilisation.
• Demonstrate understanding of, and conforms to, relevant standards of practice.
• Demonstrates ability to identify and resolve risk management issues according to policy/protocol.
• Follows professional and organisational policies/procedures relating to performance management.
• Demonstrate ability to extend boundaries of service delivery within the team.
• Understands and demonstrates the characteristics of a role model to members in the team and/or service.
• Demonstrates understanding of the mentorship process.
• Demonstrates ability to conduct teaching and assessment effectively according to a learning plan with supervision from experienced colleagues.
• Demonstrates self-development through continuous professional development activity; working alongside colleagues to identify areas to develop.
• Participates in the delivery of formal education programmes.
• Demonstrates an understanding of current educational policies relevant to working areas of practice and keeps up to date with relevant clinical practice.
• Ensures appropriate clinical supervision is in place to support development.
• Enrolled into review and appraisal systems within the network.
• Demonstrates ability to critically evaluate and review literature.
• Demonstrates ability to identify where there is a gap in the evidence base to support the practice.
• Demonstrates ability to generate evidence suitable for presentations at practice and local level.
• Demonstrates ability to apply research evidence base into working place.
• Demonstrates understanding of principles of research governance.

Qualifications

Essential

• Registration with the General Pharmaceutical Society and have a BTEC/NVQ level 3 or equivalent in pharmaceutical sciences.
• Evidence of continuing Professional development.

Desirable

• Medicines Reconciliation Certificate / Equivalent.

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).