Bute House Medical Centre is a forward-thinking and well-respected teaching and training practice in the heart of Luton, Bedfordshire, caring for a diverse population of 10,700 patients.
We are a proactive practice in Luton, offering an exciting opportunity for a hardworking, enthusiastic, and innovative pharmacy technician to join our Pharmacy team. You will benefit from regular tutorials and clinical supervision, the opportunity to be actively involved in how your role evolves over time, and the chance to work within a highly motivated, dedicated multi-disciplinary team. Our aim is to deliver services that improve the health and wellbeing of our population while enhancing job satisfaction for our staff.
We support the delivery of high-quality, cost-effective holistic care to the population we serve through the sharing of best practices and ensuring an equitable approach to enable effective team working. Our partners have strong links with the local VTS, the ICB including representation on the local Prescribing Committee, and with secondary care.
Our team consists of 5 GP Partners, 2 Salaried GPs, 2 nurses, HCA, TNA, 2 pharmacists, Practice Manager, Deputy Practice Manager, Operational Lead, 5 admin and reception team members, 2 medical secretaries, a mental health link worker, and a social prescribing navigator.
Main duties of the job
The role involves working independently and within a highly motivated additional roles team to support the further development of our prescribing systems and pathways, ensuring safe, effective, and efficient prescribing within the practice.
Job responsibilities
The Pharmacy Technician plays an important role, complementing clinical pharmacists and community pharmacists. The purpose of the Pharmacy Technician Role is to lead improvements that maximize safe, cost-effective best practices in prescribing to improve the quality of patient care. The post holder will support patients in getting the best from their medicines by switching medications to agreed and approved protocols, improving repeat prescribing and drug monitoring processes in General Practice, including the promotion of repeat dispensing and online ordering, minimizing clinical risk, and aiming to reduce wasted medicines. Additionally, the post holder will encourage the development of a better understanding of the principles of medicines optimization throughout the practice teams and promote good practices in line with therapeutic developments.
Key Responsibilities
This is a guide; duties may vary depending on practice priorities.
Clinical
* Undertake patient-facing and patient-supporting roles to ensure effective medicines use through shared decision-making conversations with patients.
* Carry out medicines optimization tasks including effective medicine administration (e.g., checking inhaler technique), supporting medication reviews, and medicines reconciliation.
* Utilize consultation skills to work in partnership with patients to ensure they use their medicines effectively.
* Monitor high-risk medicines according to local systems and processes.
* Support medication reviews and medicines reconciliation for new care home patients and synchronize medicines for patient transfers between care settings, linking with local community pharmacies.
* Support delivery of Structured Medication Reviews.
* Provide expertise to address both public health and social care needs of patients, including lifestyle advice, service information, and help in tackling local health inequalities.
* Manage shared care protocols and liaise with Clinical Pharmacists and other MDT members for more complex patients.
* Support initiatives for antimicrobial stewardship to reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing locally.
Technical and Administrative
* Implement policies and effective processes for medicines governance including controlled drugs and repeat prescribing and drug monitoring.
* Ensure all information, including allergies, is recorded accurately and contemporaneously.
* Identify missing information, discrepancies, and errors on repeat prescription requests and resolve according to local policy and procedures.
* Support the team to ensure efficient medicines optimization processes are being followed.
* Implement efficient ordering and return processes to reduce medication wastage.
* Provide training and support on the legal, safe, and secure handling of medicines, including the implementation of the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS).
* Promote Electronic Repeat Dispensing (eRD) and online ordering.
* Develop relationships with other pharmacy professionals and members of the multidisciplinary team to support integration across health and social care.
* Support practice reception teams in streaming general prescription requests to allow GPs and clinical pharmacists to review the more clinically complex requests.
* Support the implementation of national prescribing policies and guidance within GP practice, care homes, and other primary care settings.
* Support the practice to deliver on QIPP agenda, QOF, and locally commissioned enhanced services.
* Complete audits and reviews as requested.
Person Specification
Experience
* Experience of working as a qualified, registered pharmacy technician in primary care, community, or hospital pharmacy.
* Experience of working within multi-professional team environments.
* Experience of working with elderly or vulnerable people, complying with best practice and relevant legislation.
Qualifications
* Professional registration with GPhC.
* BTEC/NVQ level 3 or equivalent in pharmaceutical sciences.
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.
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