Senior Pharmacy Assistant (SATO), Band 3
Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Our friendly and progressive department is looking for an enthusiastic individual to join the cancer services pharmacy team with the potential to rotate through the acute hospital pharmacy, depending on candidate experience and training.
This is an excellent opportunity to work in the heart of a well-established clinical pharmacy team with a wide range of patients and healthcare professionals in a busy and expanding cancer centre.
The successful candidate will perform a wide range of duties at clinic and dispensary level. Key duties include dispensing of prescriptions and processing prescriptions for homecare delivery.
Past experience in pharmacy is helpful but not essential to the role as full training will be provided, based on your existing qualifications and future role requirements. Candidates would ideally already hold the NVQ 2 in pharmacy services or equivalent or be willing to work towards this.
Main duties of the job
* Interpreting and dispensing of prescriptions (inpatients, outpatients and discharge) according to set rota.
* Liaising with ward staff when there are drug supply problems.
* Assist with relevant queries from nursing staff in clinic.
* Handing out of medication to outpatients - where appropriate according to SOP.
* Maintain adequate stock levels of medications.
* Answering the telephone and directing queries from staff and patients to the appropriate team member.
Job responsibilities
Job purpose Cancer Services duties: Interpreting and dispensing of prescriptions for oral chemotherapy, dose banding syringes and support drugs for oncology patients. Maintain adequate stock levels of drugs in the cancer services pharmacy and report any drug supply problems to the Lead Cancer Services Pharmacy Technician. Liaise with manufacturing and dispensary regarding supplies of drugs for patients. Assist the pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in cancer services with general admin duties e.g. finding missing notes/prescriptions, printing patient lists from Trakcare, retrieving patients from the waiting area. Assist with relevant queries from nursing staff in clinic. Handing out of medication to outpatients where appropriate according to SOP. Processing prescriptions for Homecare delivery.
Dispensing: Interpreting and dispensing of prescriptions (inpatients, outpatients and discharge) according to set rota. Dispensing one-stop medication. Dispensing of controlled drugs including entering controlled drug registers, checking the balances and reporting any discrepancies to the Lead Pharmacy Technician. Dispensing into compliance aid packs. Liaising with ward staff when there are drug supply problems. Dispensing of medicines for clinical trials - completing records as per the trial protocol.
Reception duties: Receiving prescriptions from the general public at the outpatient hatch. Requesting payment for prescriptions where necessary and processing financial transactions. Answering the staff hatch and dealing with requests and queries. Manning the pharmacy helpdesk and answering telephone queries from staff and patients. Referring complex queries to the appropriate member of staff. Handing out of medication to outpatients where appropriate according to SOP.
Other duties: To cover ward top-ups as requested by dispensary manager/deputy dispensary manager. Housekeeping and stock security/control duties. Help manage return of unwanted medicines from wards & departments, assessing stock for reuse and credit as appropriate and destroying medicines that are unsuitable for use. Informing pharmacists/medicines management pharmacy technicians of stock unavailability. To undertake any other duties as deemed fit by the GHNHSFT management. Occasional handling of potentially hazardous substances (e.g. cytotoxic medication) in accordance with standard operating procedures and COSHH regulations. Lifting and moving light packages.
Knowledge, Skills and Experience Required
* NVQ 2 in pharmacy services (necessary from January 05) or equivalent, or be willing to work towards this.
* Basic IT skills to be able to use the pharmacy computer system.
* Basic numeracy and literacy.
* Will be required to complete in-house dispensing accuracy assessment.
* Required to have full training in patient administration computer system (EMIS).
* To be able to work as part of a team or alone.
* To have appropriate dispensing experience.
Person Specification
Qualifications
* NVQ Level 2 in Pharmaceutical Sciences or equivalent.
* NHS hospital pharmacy experience or working within a ward, clinic or nursing home.
Skills
* Be proficient in Microsoft applications, including Word, Excel, Outlook.
* Self-motivated and able to use initiative & prioritise workload as well as work in a team.
* Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
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.
Employer name
Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
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