Pharmacy TechnicianNHS

Job summary

GP ConnectPrimary Care Network PCN is recruiting Pharmacy Technicians to support the well-established clinical pharmacy team based within the Primary Care Network in line with the new Network Contract Directed Enhanced Service (DES) Specification.

This role will provide technical support to the Clinical Pharmacists and other pharmacy services within General Practice and the PCN to ensure professional operational standards and excellence in pharmaceutical care and safety are maintained.

The post holder will have access to appropriate clinical supervision and an appropriate named individual in the PCN to provide general advice and support on a day-to-day basis.

The post holder will work as part of a multidisciplinary team in a patient facing role, based either remotely or within a member GP Practice, but working for all GP Practices across the PCN as required.

This post is part of the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme for PCNs funded by NHS England

Main duties of the job

The role will support Clinical Pharmacists to ensure delivery of safe, effective, efficient systems for repeat prescribing, medicines optimisation, waste reduction & maximising patient outcomes, including:-

responding to medicines related queries & requests

reconciliation of medicines post discharge from hospital, intermediate care & into care homes, including identifying & rectifying unexplained changes & working with patients, admissions & discharge care coordinator & community pharmacists to ensure patients receive the medicines they need

reconciliation of medication following specialist/secondary care contacts/advice

reviewing the use of medicines commonly associated with unplanned hospital admissions through audit & patient review

working with clinicians/CPs to develop and implement robust systems for shared care prescribing, high risk drug monitoring & drug monitoring for optimisation of LTCs

having their own clinic after suitable training & competencies assessment eg BP review

Job description

Clinical Responsibilities

• 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, supporting medication reviews, and medicines reconciliation. Where required, utilise consultation skills to work in partnership with patients to ensure they use their medicines effectively
• Provide primary support to general practice staff with regards to prescription and medication queries.
• Support with medicines reconciliation on transfer of care and systems for safer prescribing.
• Support, as determined by the PCN, medication reviews and medicines reconciliation for new care home patients and synchronising medicines for patient transfers between care settings and linking with local community pharmacists
• Provide specialist expertise, where competent, to address both the public health and social care needs of patients, including lifestyle advice, service information, and help in tackling local health inequalities
• Take a central role in the clinical aspects of shared care protocols and liaising with specialist pharmacists for more complex patients
• Support initiatives for antimicrobial stewardship to reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing
• Assist in the delivery of medicines optimisation and management incentive schemes and patient safety audits
• Support the implementation of national 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 (QOF), Investment and Impact Fund (IIF) and enhanced services.

Administrative responsibilities

• Work with the PCN multi-disciplinary team to ensure efficient medicines optimisation, including implementing efficient ordering and return processes, and reducing wastage
• Supervise practice reception teams in sorting and streaming general prescription requests, so as to allow GPs and clinical pharmacists to review the more clinically complex requests
• Provide leadership for medicines optimisation systems across PCNs, supporting practices 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, 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, and mental health.

The post holder will:

• be responsible for the day-to-day planning of personal workloads
• follow departmental policies procedures and guidelines
• develop yourself and the role through participation in clinical supervision, training and service redesign activities
• contribute to a patient safety culture through reporting and investigation of incidents and undertaking proactive measures to improve patient safety
• actively signpost patients to the correct healthcare professional
• maintain accurate clinical records of all patient consultations and related work
• Be qualified on the CPPE Pathway or be willing to undertake this
• review the latest guidance ensuring the practice conforms to NICE, CQC etc.
• support in the delivery of enhanced services and other service requirements on behalf of the PCN
• participate in the management of patient complaints when requested to do so and participate in the identification of any necessary learning brought about through clinical 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 with their manager at least every 12 months. Once a performance/training objective has been set, progress will be reviewed on a regular basis so that new objectives can be agreed
• contribute to public health campaigns (e.g. flu clinics) through advice or direct care
• support delivery of QOF, IIF, incentive schemes, QIPP and other quality or cost effectiveness initiatives
• perform other general tasks as assigned.

About us

GP Connect PCN consists of 5 GP Practices covering approx. 33000 patients. Our network operates with in the city of Coventry.

The successful candidate will join a GP Connect PCN Team and will be supported by a Senior Team and Regular development sessions, teaching, training and opportunities to upskill will be provided.

If you are a forward-thinking individual who is keen to develop in this role, we want to hear from you!

If you have recently applied for this post please do not re-apply, your application will already have been considered.