Primary Care Network (PCN) Pharmacy TechnicianNHS

Job summary

Unfortunately NPC does not hold a license for Visa Sponsorship and cannot progress any applications for candidates without the right to work in the UK.

Hours: 37.5 hours per week

Salary: Negotiable (Depending on qualifications and experience)

We hold the right to close the advert early dependent upon application volumes.

Interviews are scheduled to take place week commencing 2nd and 9th of November.

Main duties of the job

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join Norfolk Primary Care, working as a Pharmacy Technician across a Primary Care Network in Norwich.

As a pharmacy technician you will work alongside our Clinical Pharmacists as a key member of the GP practice teams, contributing to prescribing of the highest quality, safety and value, supporting medicines optimisation and prescribing processes.

You will provide support to our GPs, Pharmacists, other clinical staff and reception teams, co-ordinating discharge summaries and medication reviews, playing a central role in repeat prescribing processes, liaising with our patients, carers, hospital and community pharmacies, responding to medication queries and updating medical records.

Job description

Key Responsibilities:

To be part of the West Norwich Primary Care Network (PCN), working as a key member within the GP practice teams, contributing to prescribing of the highest quality, safety and value and supporting medicines optimisation.

Reporting to a Clinical Pharmacist, the post holder will provide support to the GPs, Pharmacists, Dispensers, other clinical staff and reception teams to co-ordinate discharge summaries, medication reviews and ensure the safe prescribing of medication. The post holder will support the development of a safe, cost effective, efficient practice repeat prescribing system through reviewing, improving and implementing medicines management processes.

Your core role in the GP practices will cover responsibilities in clinical, and technical and administrative areas.

Clinical:

• Undertaking patient facing and patient supporting roles to ensure effective medicines use, through shared decision-making conversations with patients.
• Carrying out medicines optimisation tasks including effective medicine administration (e.g. checking inhaler technique), supporting medication reviews and medicines reconciliation. Where required, utilise consultation skills to work in partnership with patients to ensure they use their medicines effectively.
• As determined by the PCN practices, supporting medication reviews and medicines reconciliation for new care home patients and synchronising medicines for patient transfers between care settings, linking with local community pharmacists, and referring to the pharmacist for structured medication reviews.
• Providing 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.
• Taking a central role in the clinical aspects of shared care protocols and liaising with specialist pharmacists for more complex patients.
• Supporting initiatives for antimicrobial stewardship to reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing.
• Support the Clinical Pharmacist in SMRs i.e. organise necessary monitoring test prior to SMR
• Manage shared care protocols and liaise with Clinical Pharmacists for more complex patients

Technical and Administrative:

• Working with the GP practice multi-disciplinary team to ensure efficient medicines optimisation, including implementing efficient ordering and return processes and reducing wastage.
• Providing training and support on the legal, safe and secure handling of medicines, including the implementation of the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) and electronic Repeat Dispensing (eRD)
• Developing 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.
• Supervising 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.

The role will also require pharmacy technicians to 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 and enhanced services. In addition, pharmacy technicians will assist in the delivery of medicines optimisation incentive schemes (e.g. medicines switches) and patient safety audits.

Training requirements

Pharmacy technicians are registered healthcare professionals, who have been undertaking clinical and technical roles in hospitals, community and primary care. Their initial 2-year training is mandated by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC), which specifies criteria to register as a pharmacy technician and this covers the education, training and experience requirements.

The role may require travel between GP practice sites within the PCN area.

About us

Norfolk Primary Care Ltd is a Community Interest Company. It was established to:

• Support and strengthen primary care and to promote and assist practices to improve quality by working with and on behalf of primary care in Norfolk.
• Help with challenges identified by practices workload, GP recruitment, sharing best practice.
• Recognise the changing nature of primary care and assist to ensure that the right level of service is provided to address the needs of the local population.
• Provide benefit to patients of primary care, the clinicians and administrators who work in it and practice organisations in Norfolk.
• Work within health systems to provide patient care in innovative and solution-focused ways.
• We offer successful candidates a supportive working environment, competitive salary, excellent working conditions and the benefits of the NHS pension scheme. Other benefits include access to NHS discounts and discounted First Bus travel.

If you are interested in working in an organisation committed to a culture of professionalism, growth, integrity, positivity and kindness then we would love to hear from you.