We currently have a fantastic opportunity for a qualified Pharmacy Technician to join our wonderful Medicines Management Team at Ascent PCN. We are a supportive, proactive PCN, with a proud history of developing our clinical team. We serve a population of around 35,000 patients across 3 sites: Asplands Medical Centre, Fishermead Medical Centre, and Walnut Tree Health Centre. We offer an MDT approach to our care and a wide range of services to our patients including additional access to physiotherapy, minor surgery and joint injections, health coaching, occupational therapy, mental health practitioners, and social prescribing.
Ascent PCN is a group of three Milton Keynes GP surgeries: Asplands Medical Centre, Walnut Tree Health Centre, and Fishermead Medical Centre, providing a unique mix across the spectrum of health needs and demographics. The close-knit Medicines Management Team has a member in place in each practice and is key to supporting the individual practices with their daily capacity and delivery of support to the populations they serve, while also looking to deliver the PCN agenda of proactive and preventative care. The new role of Pharmacy Technician will be key in supporting the team delivery of services across the 3 practices.
Main duties of the job
Average Week Job Responsibilities
1. To work closely with the clinical pharmacy team, clinicians, and reception teams to:
2. Reduce inappropriate poly-pharmacy and wasteful prescribing.
3. Reconcile medicines following hospital discharge and work with patients and community pharmacists to ensure patients receive the medicines they need post-discharge.
4. Interface with community and hospital pharmacy colleagues to ensure medication-related queries are addressed in a timely manner.
5. Manage the repeat prescribing reauthorisation process by reviewing requests for repeat prescriptions and medicines reaching review dates.
6. Coordinate patients and healthcare professionals' medication-related queries.
7. Support quality and safety of prescribing through audits and monitoring.
8. Implement drug alerts e.g. MHRA and in-house actions.
9. Work with colleagues and patients to implement evidence-based guidelines.
10. Provide medicines information and training to practice staff.
11. Act as a source of medicines information for the practice team and patients (e.g. around doses, side effects, adverse events, possible alternatives e.g. around out of stocks).
12. Support clinical teams with managing out of stock medication.
13. Liaise with commissioners on prescribing-related matters to ensure consistency of care and cost-effective prescribing.
About us
The PCN has a pharmacist based at each surgery, who leads on the workflow for that site. The Pharmacy Technician will work to support those three pharmacists in delivering safe and smooth care for patients across the network, and this may be from site or remotely. The Technician will be a key support for the PCN as well as being well supported by the PCN MDT. Our Medicines Management Team works together closely, meeting up once a week to focus on their PCN agenda.
Job responsibilities
This is a new role for the PCN, and the recruited candidate will be key in shaping the role.
1. Medicines reconciliation from discharge and clinic letters.
2. Answering medication-related queries and stock checks and alternatives.
3. Prescription queries and reauthorisations.
4. Clinical audits and patient medicines safety monitoring.
Person Specification
Experience
* Previous experience in general practice will be an advantage.
* Working in a hospital or community pharmacy.
* Knowledge of medicines, including how to handle potentially hazardous medicines/substances.
* Working independently.
* Working knowledge of using SystmOne.
* Supervisory role within a pharmacy.
* Training/mentoring new staff.
Qualifications
* Registered with GPhC.
* CPPE Training sessions relevant to general practice.
Skills
* Evidence of good IT skills, e.g. Microsoft Office applications.
* Ability to effectively deal with customers/patients in person or by telephone, and be able to handle difficult conversations.
* Counselling patients on the use of their medicines.
* Evidence of accuracy.
* Effective communicator, verbal and written.
* Ability to work effectively under pressure.
* Evidence of working to standard operating procedures.
* Able to work systematically and to re-prioritise workload.
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.
Depending on experience based on Band 5 equivalents.
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