About this role
Job summary
JOB ADVERT- Pharmacy Technician 37.5 hours per week From £14.52 per hour depending on skills and experience
Due to increased demand, we are looking for a Pharmacy Technician to join our friendly Practice team. Oswald Medical Centre is an award-winning Practice serving over 17,500 patients. We are based across 3 sites in Accrington, Oswaldtwistle and Blackburn. We pride ourselves on our approach to providing caring services and offer a range of standard NHS and enhanced services including minor surgery.
The Practice has an extensive clinical team comprising of: GP Partners, Salaried GPs, Advanced Nurse / Clinical Practitioners, Practice Nurses, Nurse Associates and Healthcare Assistants. We also have additional clinicians who work across practices in Hyndburn including Pharmacists, Physiotherapists, Health and Wellbeing Coaches and Social Prescribers. Supporting our Clinical Team is a large Administrative Team including an existing Pharmacy Technician and Prescribing Clerks.
Benefits of the role include:
- Generous annual leave allowance
- Free on-site parking
- Access to the NHS Pension scheme
- High-quality training and continued professional development opportunities
- A supportive GP team
- Experienced support staff
- The opportunity to be involved in practice development
The role will be predominantly based at our Accrington surgery but there will be a requirement to work at our Blackburn and Oswaldtwistle surgeries from time to time.
Main duties of the job
A Pharmacy Technician is an integral part of the general practice team, working within their professional boundaries.
This role will work under the supervision of the Senior Partners and Clinical Pharmacists to ensure the safe, accurate and timely administration of medication/prescriptions to patients.
The Pharmacy Technician will:
Provide technical and administrative support to the clinicians.Support the practice clinical teams with queries regarding medication from patients.Action medication changes communicated to the practice from secondary and third party health organisations in a timely and efficient mannerComplete audits regarding patient safety in the prescribing of medication and present the information for sharing with the clinical teamSupport medicines optimisation initiatives to ensure quality, safety and value within prescribing as well as work to reduce inequality and variationUndertake medicines optimisation co-ordinator duties in line with guidance and support from commissionersOversee shared care and high risk / controlled drugs monitoring recall administrationRespond to local and national alertsWork within NICE guidelines to ensure local and national priorities are addressed within the practice scope of prescribing.Maintain professional registration at all timesThe Pharmacy Technician supports and participates in quality improvement initiatives to enhance patient outcomes and reduce health inequalities.
About us
Due to increased demand, we are looking for a Pharmacy Technician to join our friendly Practice team.Oswald Medical Centre is an award-winning Practice serving over 17,500 patients.We are based across 3 sites in Accrington, Oswaldtwistle and Blackburn.We pride ourselves on our approach to providing caring services and offer a range of standard NHS and enhanced services including minor surgery.
The Practice has an extensive clinical team comprising of: GP Partners, Salaried GPs, Advanced Nurse / Clinical Practitioners, Practice Nurses, Nurse Associates and Healthcare Assistants.We also have additional clinicians who work across practices in Hyndburn including Pharmacists, Physiotherapists, Health and Wellbeing Coaches and Social Prescribers.Supporting our Clinical Team is a large Administrative Team including an existing Pharmacy Technician and Prescribing Clerks.
Benefits of the role include:
-Generous annual leave allowance
-Free on-site parking
-Access to the NHS Pension scheme
-High-quality training and continued professional development opportunities
-A supportive GP team
-Experienced support staff
-The opportunity to be involved in practice development
The role will be predominantly based at our Accrington surgery but there will be a requirement to work at our Blackburn and Oswaldtwistle surgeries from time to time.
Job description Job responsibilities
Generic Responsibilities
All staff at this organisation have a duty to conform to the following:
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
Safety, Health, Environment and Fire (SHEF)
The organisation is committed to supporting and promoting opportunities for staff to maintain their health, wellbeing and safety.
The post-holder is to manage and assess risk within the areas of responsibility, ensuring adequate measures are in place to protect staff and patients and monitor work areas and practices to ensure they are safe and free from hazards and conform to health, safety and security legislation, policies, procedures and guidelines.
All personnel have a duty to take reasonable care of health and safety at work for themselves, their team and others and to cooperate with employers to ensure compliance with health and safety requirements.
Confidentiality
The organisation is committed to maintaining an outstanding confidential service. Patients entrust and permit us to collect and retain sensitive information relating to their health and other matters pertaining to their care. They do so in confidence and have a right to expect all staff will respect their privacy and maintain confidentiality at all times.
It is essential that, if the legal requirements are to be met and the trust of our patients is to be retained, all staff must protect patient information and provide a confidential service.
Quality and Continuous Improvement (CI)
To preserve and improve the quality of organisations outputs, all personnel are required to think not only of what they do but how they achieve it. By continually re-examining our processes, we will be able to develop and improve the overall effectiveness of the way we work.
The responsibility for this rests with everyone working within the practice to look for opportunities to improve quality and share good practice and to discuss, highlight and collaborate with the team to create opportunities to improve patient care.
At this organisation, we continually strive to improve work processes which deliver healthcare with improved results across all areas of our service provision. We promote a culture of continuous improvement where everyone counts, and staff are permitted to make suggestions and contributions to improve our service delivery and enhance patient care.
Staff should interpret national strategies and policies into local implementation strategies that are aligned to the values and culture of general practice. All staff are to contribute to investigations and root cause analyses whilst participating in serious incident investigations and multidisciplinary case reviews.
Induction
We will provide a full induction programme and support throughout the process.
Learning and development
The effective use of training and development is fundamental in ensuring that all staff are equipped with the appropriate skills, knowledge, attitude and competences to perform their role. All staff will be required to partake in, and complete mandatory training as directed. It is an expectation for this post-holder to assess their own learning needs and undertake learning as appropriate.
The post-holder will undertake mentorship for team members and disseminate learning and information gained to other team members to share good practice and inform others about current and future developments (e.g., courses and conferences). The post-holder will provide an educational role to patients, carers, families and colleagues in an environment that facilitates learning.
Collaborative working
All staff are to recognise the significance of collaborative working and understand their own role and scope and identify how this may develop over time. Staff are to prioritise their own workload and ensure effective time-management strategies are embedded within the culture of the team.
Teamwork is essential in multidisciplinary environments, and the post-holder is to work as an effective and responsible team member, supporting others and exploring the mechanisms to develop new ways of working and to work effectively with others to clearly define values, direction and policies impacting upon care delivery
Effective communication is essential, and all staff must ensure they communicate in a manner which enables the sharing of information in an appropriate manner. All staff should delegate clearly and appropriately, adopting the principles of safe practice and assessment of competence. Plans and outcomes by which to measure success should be agreed.
Managing information
All staff should use technology and appropriate software as an aid to management in the planning, implementation and monitoring of care and presenting and communicating information.
Data should be reviewed and processed using accurate SNOMED codes / practice templates to ensure easy and accurate information retrieval for monitoring and audit processes.
Service delivery
Staff will be given detailed information during the induction process regarding policy and procedure.
The post-holder must adhere to the information contained within practice policies and regional directives, ensuring protocols are always adhered to.
Security
The security of the organisation is the responsibility of all personnel. The post-holder must ensure they always remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity immediately to their line manager.
Under no circumstances are staff to share the codes for the door locks with anyone and are to ensure that restricted areas remain effectively secured. Likewise, password controls are to be maintained and are not to be shared.
Professional conduct, uniforms and appearance
All staff are required to dress appropriately for their role and in accordance with the organisations Uniforms, Dress and Appearance Policy. All staff members are to ensure that their conduct is commensurate with line management expectations and practice protocol.
Leave
All personnel are entitled to take leave. Line managers are to ensure all their staff are afforded the opportunity to take their leave each year.
Public holidays will be calculated on a pro-rated basis dependent on the number of hours worked.
Primary Key Responsibilities
The following are the core responsibilities of the Pharmacy Technician in delivering health services:
Support medication reviews and medication reconciliation
Support initiatives for antimicrobial stewardship to reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing
Assist in the delivery of medicines optimisation and incentive schemes and patient safety audits
Support the implementation of national / local prescribing policies and guidance within GP practices, care homes and other primary care settings. This will be achieved through undertaking clinical audits (e.g., use of antibiotics), supporting quality improvement measures and contributing to the Quality and Outcomes Framework and enhanced services
Work with the multi-disciplinary team to ensure efficient medicines optimisation, including medicines switches and cost reduction
Support practice reception teams in sorting and streaming general prescription requests, to allow GPs and Clinical Pharmacists to review the more clinically complex requests
Support medicines optimisation systems with a range of services to get the best value from medicines by encouraging and implementing electronic prescriptions, safe repeat prescribing systems, and timely monitoring and management of high-risk medicines
Provide training and support on the legal, safe and secure handling of medicines and medicine stationery including the implementation of the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS).
Develop relationships with other pharmacy technicians, pharmacists and members of the multi-disciplinary team to support integration of the pharmacy team across health and social care including primary care, community pharmacy, secondary care, residential care and mental health
Be aware of duties and responsibilities regarding current legislation and adhere to practice policies and procedures on Safeguarding Adults and Safeguarding Children
Handle prescription queries and requests directly where needed
Be an integral part of the general practice team
Demonstrate initiative and be creative in finding solutions to problems
Participate in clinical audits and research projects and implement changes as required, including supporting the development and updates to practice protocols / guidelines and procedures locally
Support in the delivery of enhanced services and other service requirements as needed
Support in the management of patient complaints when requested to do so and participate in the identification of any necessary learning brought about through incidents and near-miss events
Undertake all mandatory training and induction programmes
Contribute to and embrace the spectrum of clinical governance
Attend a formal appraisal every 12 months.
Attend and contribute to meetings as required
Contribute to public health campaigns (e.g., flu clinics)
Maintain a clean, tidy, effective working area at all times
There may be, on occasion, a requirement to carry out other tasks, this will be dependent upon factors such as workload, contracts, external priorities and staffing levels
Person Specification
Qualifications Essential
Confirmation of registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) Meet the specific qualification and training requirements as specified by the GPhC criteria to register as a Pharmacy Technician. 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)
Experience Essential
Can demonstrate working under appropriate clinical supervision to ensure safe, effective and efficient use of medicines Ability to communicate information effectively with people at all levels by telephone, email and face to face Demonstrate personal accountability, emotional resilience and work well under pressure Ability to record accurate clinical notes Understanding of safeguarding adults and children Effective time management (planning and organising) Ability to follow legal, ethical and professional policies/ procedures and codes of conduct Ability to use own initiative, discretion, and sensitivity Able to get along with people from all backgrounds and communities, respecting lifestyles and diversity Ability to identify risk and assess/manage risk when working with individuals Ability to work as a team member and autonomously Good interpersonal skills Good organisational skills Sensitive and empathetic in distressing situations Commitment to ongoing professional development Knowledge of and ability to work to key policies and procedures Clear, polite telephone manner Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) check Meet the requirements and produce evidence for GPhC revalidation Evidence of continuing professional development (CPD) commensurate with the role Maintenance of GPhC registration
Desirable
Experience of working in a primary care setting Understanding and knowledge of healthcare provision in GP practices, QOF and enhanced services An appreciation of the new NHS landscape including the relationship between individual organisations, PCNs and the commissioners Good clinical system IT knowledge (EMIS WEB) Broad knowledge of clinical governance Problem solving and analytical skills Demonstrate personal accountability, emotional resilience and work well under pressure Knowledge of IT systems including the ability to use word processing skills, emails and the internet to create simple plans and reports Problem solver with the ability to process information accurately and effectively, interpreting data as required Effectively utilise resources Occupational Health 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).
Employer details Employer name Oswald Medical Centre
Address Oswald Medical Centre
387-391 Blackburn Road
Accrington
Lancashire
BB5 1RP
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://www.oswaldmedicalcentre.co.uk (Opens in a new tab)