Pharmacy Technician Dartford, England
Job description
We are looking for a Pharmacy Technician to to join our Dartford Central PCN who will work collaboratively across Temple Hill surgery, Redwood Practice and Horseman's Place.
Its an exciting time to come and work with us as we are expanding our services to support primary care, working with GP practices and other partners across our health and care system
Pharmacy Technicians will provide leadership for medicines management 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).
Responsibilities will include supporting 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, 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.
Pharmacy technicians core role responsibilities will cover clinical, and technical and administrative categories.
Main duties of the job
We are looking for candidates who are enthusiastic and adaptable to change, with excellent clinical skills and a good level of competence in use of I.T in systems such as EMIS. Candidates should exhibit good organisational skills and ability to communicate effectively with a wide range of healthcare professionals and other stakeholders including patients, families and careers. The successful candidate will work at practice level, independently, but also as part of a supportive practice team and the Primary Care Network, to deliver safe and effective service.
About us
Working within a Primary Care Network offers both variety and flexibility, in terms of your day-to-day work, training and development, career progression but also opportunities to work flexibly across network locations.
The Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley area is located in North Kent, only a 15 minute commute by train from London St Pancras, and our main GP Federation office is metres away from Ebbsfleet International Rail Station. The area is undergoing considerable housing, retail and leisure development including the Ebbsfleet Garden City Area. The area also boasts the Bluewater retail centre, and there are a good variety of high performing schools including state, grammar and independent schools. All practices in the area are members of the GP Federation and we work together to design and deliver clinically led and managerially enabled services.
Job description
JOB SUMMARY
The Pharmacy Technician role involves complementing clinical pharmacists, community pharmacists and other members of the PCN multi-disciplinary team.
They will provide leadership for medicines management 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).
Responsibilities will include supporting 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.
Pharmacy technicians core role responsibilities will cover clinical, and technical and administrative categories.
KEY ROLES 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
- As determined by the PCN, 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
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 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.
COLLABORATIVE WORKING RELATIONSHIPS:
- Works within the primary care team, contributing to leadership of service evaluation and research to promote quality improvement activity
- Collaborates with other members of the MDT, patients and their carers when managing and coordinating care
- Uses healthcare technologies to optimise service delivery, patients access, and continuity of care
EDUCATION, LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT:
- It is the responsibility of the employee to comply with all organisational and statutory requirements (e.g. health and safety, infection control, equality and diversity, confidentiality, safeguarding adults and children, information governance)
- Engages in annual appraisal, developing objectives to inform a Personal Development Plan, which may include 360-degree appraisal and use of patient feedback
- Participate in teaching and training of medical, nursing, and all other practice staff
- Supports the practice staff and responds to requests for advice and assistance
- Complete all mandatory and statutory training required by the role
- Takes responsibility for personal development, learning and performance and maintain education through attendance on any courses and/or study days necessary to ensure that professional development requirements are met
- Undertakes additional training where necessary to provide enhanced services and participate in training programmes implemented by the PCN/practices/DGS Health GP Federation/ CCG as part of this employment
- Understands and demonstrates the characteristics of a role model to members in the team and/or service
- Demonstrates an understanding of current educational policies relevant to working areas of practice and keeps up to date with relevant clinical practice
QUALITY
Under supervision and support of Clinical Pharmacists, the post-holder will strive to maintain quality within the practices, and will:
- Participate in clinical governance activity and contribute to the improvement in quality of health outcomes through audit, risk management and Quality Improvement
- Alert other team members to concerns about risk, quality, and safety
- Assess own performance and take accountability for own actions, either directly or under supervision
- Participate in investigation of incidents and events as required
- Identify, apply, and disseminate research findings relating to own practice
- Collect data for audit purposes and use clinical audit to monitor quality in the service
- Contribute to the effectiveness of the team by reflecting on own and team activities and making suggestions on ways to improve and enhance the teams performance
- Work effectively with individuals in other agencies to meet patients needs
- Effectively manage own time, workload, and resources
- Meet timescales/deadlines for audits and written returns to ensure that the Practice meets quality standards
RESPONSBILITIES UNDERPINNING THE ROLE
- To develop and facilitate a good working relationship with PCNs and other local providers of healthcare
- To plan and organise the post holders own workload, including audit and project work, and training sessions for members of the practice team and other partners are required
- To record personally generated information relating to the work done in the practice(s)
- As appropriate to the post, to maintain and develop professional competence and expertise, keep up to date with medical/therapeutic evidence and opinion, and local and national service, legislation and policy developments, agree objectives and a personal development plan and participate in the appraisal process
- To attend local, regional and national meetings of relevance
- All employees should understand that it is their personal responsibility to comply with all organisational and statutory requirements (e.g. health and safety, equal treatment and diversity, confidentiality and clinical governance)
CONFIDENTIALITY
All employees are required to observe the strictest confidence with regard to any patient/client information that they may have access to, or accidentally gain knowledge of, in the course of their duties.
All employees are required to observe the strictest confidence regarding any information relating to the work of the practice and its employees. You are required not to disclose any confidential information either during or after your employment with the practice, other than in accordance with the relevant professional codes.
Failure to comply with these regulations whilst in the employment of practice could result in action being taken.
DATA PROTECTION
All employees must adhere to the practice Policy on the Protection and use of Personal Information, which provides guidance on the use and disclosure of information. The practice also has a range of policies for the use of computer equipment and computer-generated information. These policies detail the employees legal obligations and include references to current legislation. Copies of the policy on the protection and use of personal information, and other information technology, can be found in the Employee Handbook.
PROFESSIONAL IDEMNITY INSURANCE
The Post holder may be required to take out their own Professional Indemnity Insurance and share the details of this indemnity with the DGS Health.
RISK MANAGEMENT
You will be responsible for adopting the risk management culture and ensuring that you identify and assess all risks to your systems, processes and environment and report such risks for inclusion within the practice risk register. You will also attend mandatory and statutory training, report all incidents/accidents, including near misses, and report unsafe occurrences as laid down within practice Incidents and Accidents Policy.
TRAINING REQUIREMENTS
Pharmacists undertake a masters level qualification (MPharmS) plus a one-year post-graduate pre-registration structured programme regulated by the GPhC. The new curriculum for pre-registration trainee pharmacy technicians is being tested with placements in general practice, through the Pharmacy Integration Fund (PhIF).
ELIGIIBILITY FOR REIMBURSMENT UNDER THE NETWORK CONTRACT DES AND PROPOSALS FOR REIMBURSMENT
All Pharmacy Technicians must have completed or be enrolled in, be undertaking or be prepared to start an approved 18-month training pathway (e.g. Primary care pharmacy educational pathway (PCPEP) or Medicines Optimisation in Care Homes (MOCH)). Pharmacy technicians must be registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council. Entry to the PCPEP programme will include the option for an accreditation of Prior Learning (APEL) process
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Professional registration with GPhC
- Evidence of continued professional development
- Demonstrate ability to influence and persuade partners and stakeholders of the respective merits of different options, innovations and new opportunities and challenges
- Ongoing internal and external training
- Commitment to personal development
Desirable
- Experience of working as a qualified registered Pharmacy Technician in primary pare community or hospital.
Knowledge
Essential
- Awareness of systems to support management of patients in primary care setting, delivering pharmaceutical input and support in the context of pathways of care and the business of the organisations
- Good clinical pharmacy knowledge including terminology
- An appreciation of the nature of primary care prescribing, concepts of rational prescribing and strategies for improvement of prescribing
- Knowledge and understanding of pharmacy law and ethics and current legislation
Desirable
- Relevant advanced theoretical and practical knowledge of Primary Care Networks, General Practice and evidence-based medicine
- An appreciation of NHS agenda and government targets
- Awareness of GP budget management and funding systems to enable GP clinical pharmacist services to assist delivery of PCN and NHS priorities and requirements for financial balance and quality
Personal skills and attributes
Essential
- Good written and verbal communication skills
- Organisational skills
- Decision making skills
- Calm and objective under pressure
- Able to maintain and develop professional relationships
- Able to work alone
- Able to work in a team
- Able to listen to others
- Able to influence others
- Able to identify when advice needs to be sought
- Recognises personal limitations
- Able to avoid overconfidence
Desirable
- Familiarity with Microsoft Office packages.
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).
Job Types: Full-time, Permanent
Salary: £27,055.00-£30,771.00 per year
Benefits:
- Company pension
- On-site parking
Schedule:
- Monday to Friday
Ability to commute/relocate:
- Dartford, Kent: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (required)
Experience:
- Pharmacy: 3 years (preferred)
- Primary care: 1 year (preferred)
Work Location: In person
Application deadline: 31/03/2023
Reference ID: Pharmacy Technician - DC PCN
