Pharmacy Technician

Job summary
Whitstable Medical Practice is looking for a committed and compassionate Pharmacy Technician to join our friendly and growing multi-disciplinary team.

We are looking for someone 37 hours a week to be based at our Chestfield Medical Centre site, however working pattern and hours can be negotiated over 4/5 days and must include Monday and Friday.

This is an exciting opportunity to join a progressive and ambitious practice where your ideas, professional development and well-being is genuinely valued.

We offer a competitive salary as well as the NHS pension.

Main duties of the job
The successful candidate will be working alongside our current Pharmacy Technicians to provide support to our multi disciplinary team by processing medicines for prescriptions, whilst under the supervision of our Clinical Pharmacists to ensure compliance with medicines management processes achieve highly effective, safe patient centred prescribing.

About us
Whitstable Medical Practice is a forward thinking single practice Primary Care Network (PCN) GP Practice based across 3 sites in Whitstable. There are 22 equity GP Partners looking after over 45,500 patients. We pride ourselves on our innovative approach to Primary Care.

Our Practice was the only GP Practice named in the NHS 10-year Health Plan for its innovation and care.

We are a training practice and our state-of-the-art buildings provide access to a wide range of services and facilities, including:

• In-house phlebotomy
• X-ray
• Ultrasound
• DVT diagnosis and treatment
• Minor Injury Unit
• Dermatology including our award-winning QiC Team of the Year
• Echocardiography
• Ophthalmology
• Gynaecology
• LSI
• Minor surgery
• And many, many more ...

Job responsibilities
Main Duties and Responsibilities
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.
• 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.

Audits:

• Provide assistance and support with audits undertaken by the Practice Managers, Partners, Salaried GPs, GP Registrars, Medical Students and the wider Practice Team.

Technical and Administrative:

• Working with the PCN 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).
• 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 and line managing practice prescribing team in sorting and streaming general prescription requests, so as to allow GPs and clinical pharmacists to review the more clinically complex requests.
• Support implementation of national prescribing policies and guidance within GP Practice, care homes and other primary care settings.
• Supporting Quality Improvement measures and participation in Prescribing Quality Scheme, supporting Quality and Outcomes Framework and enhanced services.

Additional tasks

• Other duties as per Partners instructions as dictated by changes in the nature of the Whitstable Medical Practice.

Person Specification
Experience
Essential

• Previous experience of working in an administrative role
• Experience of working in a busy environment and working to tight deadlines
• Advance knowledge of Microsoft Office applications, including Excel and PowerPoint

Desirable

• Experience of working in a GP Practice or other health care setting
• Working knowledge of Emis, experience in running searches and report; creating and updating templates

Skills and Abilities
Essential

• Accurate, thorough attention to detail with the ability to work quickly with numbers
• Excellent communication, organisation, and problem solving skills, with the ability to work to tight deadlines
• Ability to communicate effectively with people at all levels by telephone, email and face to face
• Proven IT skills including the use of Microsoft office and other software packages
• Able to maintain confidentiality
• Ability to use own initiative, discretion and sensitivity

Desirable

• A team player who is able to promote good practices and motivate others

Qualifications
Essential

• Good general education including minimum Grade C GCSE or equivalent in English Language and Maths or equivalent qualification
• BTEC National Diploma in Pharmaceutical science or NVQ/SVQ Level 3 in Pharmacy Services or National Certificate in Pharmaceutical Science
• Valid registration with General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).
• The post holder must either be enrolled or have qualified from an accredited training pathway that equips the clinical pharmacist to be able to practice and prescribe safely and effectively in a primary care setting (currently the CPPE Clinical Pharmacist Training Pathway)

Desirable

• Primary Care pharmacy educational pathway (PCPEP)
• Medicines Optimisation in Care Homes (MOCH)

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).

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