About this role
Job summary
Part-time permanent post (35 hours per week - over 4 days).
An exciting and challenging opportunity has arisen to join the team based at Clare House Surgery. The post holder will work primarily with the Prescriptions Team and also provide administrative support to the wider team as required.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will provide an efficient, timely and accurate repeat prescription service for patients, ensuring requests are processed safely, effectively, and in accordance with practice policies, NHS regulations, and prescribing guidelines. The clerk will support clinicians and administrative teams in delivering a high-quality prescribing service, can do attitude while maintaining confidentiality and excellent customer service. The post holder must be able to organise and prioritise their own workloads and work as part of a team.
Interviews will take place week commencing 30 November.
About us
Amicus Health is a thriving practice with five sites located in the picturesque Mid Devon area covering Clare House, Bampton, Witheridge, Morchard Bishop and Cheriton Fitzpaine surgeries. We deliver excellent primary care to over 23,000 patients thanks to our multidisciplinary clinical team of GPs, pharmacists, advanced practitioners, paramedics, practice nurses, health care assistants and a strong administrative function.
We provide fruit, tea and coffee for all staff and foster team spirit with annual summer and Christmas parties, yoga, walking groups and appreciation postcards. Other benefits include a Cycle to Work Scheme.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Main responsibilities
Prescription Processing
- Process repeat prescription requests via online services, NHS App, email, telephone, pharmacies, and written requests accurately
- Generate repeat prescriptions in accordance with practice protocols and authorised medication lists
- Identify requests requiring clinical review and refer appropriately to GPs, pharmacists, or prescribing clinicians
- Ensure prescriptions are processed and issued within agreed timescales
- Maintain accurate patient medication records within the clinical system
- Monitor and manage prescription queries and outstanding requests
- Produce prescriptions for the GP to sign in an acceptable timeframe
- Generate requests for medication on behalf of the patient for non-repeat items
- Issue batch prescriptions for the repeat dispensing scheme
- Actively encourage patients to reconcile medications to facilitate monthly collections
- Discuss with patients their requirements, encouraging patients to order only what they require
- Act upon compliance issues, liaising with the appropriate clinician
- Ensure medication reviews are arranged by maintaining an accurate recall system
- Liaise with hospital staff, community pharmacists, patients, carers, care homes and others to resolve any queries relating to drugs and appliances
- Input data into the patients healthcare records as necessary and accurately
- Monitor the prescription and personal task box and emails daily and complete in a timely manner
- Highlight scripts with no EPS and request the patient to nominate an EPS chemist
- Aim to increase the number of EPS scripts and avoiding printing paper copies
- All queries to be dealt with using the EMIS medication screen
- Maintain a clean, tidy, effective working area always
- Keep up to date with training and audit requirements
- Supporting and through training complete the end-to-end process for prescriptions as requested
- Manage or support quality projects where appropriate.
Patient and Pharmacy Liaison
- Respond to patient queries relating to prescriptions in a professional and courteous manner
- Provide information on prescription ordering processes and turnaround times
- Liaise with hospitals, care homes, community pharmacies, and other healthcare providers regarding medication-related matters
- Promote and support patients with NHS App and online prescription ordering queries where appropriate
- Support PST with answering questions and dealing with patient queries appropriately
- Speak to patients on the prescriptions and process their requests and answer their queries first time and appropriately.
Administrative responsibilities
- Duties may be varied from time to time under the direction of the Team Leader, Operations Manager, or Clinical Pharmacist, dependent on current and and evolving practice workload and staffing levels
- File, scan, and manage prescription-related correspondence
- Maintain confidentiality in accordance with GDPR, NHS policies, and practice procedures
- PPA claim reporting and completion
- Support the administration team during periods of increased demand.
Confidentiality
- While seeking treatment, patients entrust us with, or allow us to gather, sensitive information in relation to their health and other matters. They do so in confidence and have the right to expect that the post holder will respect their privacy and act appropriately
- In the performance of the duties outlined, the post holder may have access to confidential information relating to patients and their carers, practice staff and other healthcare workers. They may also have access to information relating to the practice as a business organisation. All such information from any source is to be regarded as strictly confidential
- Information relating to patients, carers, colleagues, other healthcare workers or the business of the practice may only be divulged to authorised persons in accordance with the practice policies and procedures relating to confidentiality and the protection of personal and sensitive data.
Health & Safety
The post holder will assist in promoting and maintaining their own and others' health, safety and security as defined in the practice Health & Safety Policy, to include:
- Using personal security systems within the workplace according to practice guidelines
- Identifying the risks involved in work activities and undertaking such activities in a way that manages those risks
- Making effective use of training to update knowledge and skills
- Using appropriate infection control procedures, maintaining work areas in a tidy and safe way and free from hazards
- Actively reporting health and safety hazards and infection hazards immediately when recognised
- Keeping own work areas and general areas clean and assisting in the maintenance of general standards of cleanliness consistent with the scope of the post holder's role
- Undertaking annual infection control training
- Reporting potential risks identified.
Equality & 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 people's 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 any 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, such training to include;
- Participation in an annual individual performance appraisal 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:
- Adhere to all prescribing protocols and standard operating procedures
- Support prescribing audits and quality improvement initiatives
- Ensure compliance with NHS prescribing guidance and practice policies
- Participate in mandatory training and professional development
- Contribute to achieving prescribing safety and quality targets
- Ensure that any feedback given is acted upon and improvements made in line with objectives set by Team Leader or Clinical Pharmacists
- Alert other team members to issues of quality and risk
- Assess own performance and take accountability for own actions, either directly or under supervision
- Demonstrate high levels of accuracy, understanding of numerical requirements for prescriptions changes to volumes and frequency is right first time
- Contribute to the effectiveness of the team by reflecting on own and team activities and making suggestions on ways to improve and enhance the team's performance
- Work effectively with individuals in other agencies to meet patients' needs
- Effectively manage own time, workload and resources.
Communication
The post holder will recognise the importance of effective communication within the team and strive to:
- Communicate effectively with other team members
- Communicate effectively with patients and carers
- Recognise people's needs for alternative methods of communication and respond accordingly
- Demonstrate a Can-Do attitude and deliver great excellent customer service
- Contribute to the Implementation of Services.
Person Specification
Experience
Essential
- Experience of multi-tasking.
Desirable
- Experience of working in a GP practice.
- Experience of working with prescriptions.
Qualifications
Essential
- GCSE grade A to C (4 or above) in English and Maths, or equivalent.
Skills
Essential
- Able to work confidently with numbers, calculations and prescription quantities, maintaining a high level of accuracy and attention to detail.
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.
Employer details
Employer name
Amicus Health
Address
Clare House Surgery
Newport Street
Tiverton
Devon
EX16 6NJ
United Kingdom
Employer's website
https://www.amicushealth.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)