The East Lancashire Alliance is currently looking to recruit a Pharmacy Technician on behalf of the Ribblesdale PCN.
Main duties of the job
Pharmacy technicians play an important role, complementing clinical pharmacists, community pharmacists, and other members of the PCN multi-disciplinary team. Pharmacy technicians are different from clinical pharmacists as they are not able to prescribe or make clinical decisions. Instead, they provide key skills, working within the practice dispensary, to ensure the safe, effective & efficient handling of medicines.
The purpose of the role is to lead improvements to maximize safe, cost-effective best practice in prescribing to improve the quality of patient care. The post holder will help patients to get the best from their medicines by switching medications to agreed and approved protocols, improving repeat prescribing processes in General Practice, including promotion of repeat dispensing and online ordering, minimizing clinical risk, and aiming to reduce wasted medicines.
About us
The East Lancashire Alliance is a network of 9 PCNs covering 48 GP practices covering a population of over 390,000 patients across East Lancashire. Patients are at the heart of everything we do, and we pride ourselves in ensuring our patients feel safe, supported, communicated with, and respected at a time when they may be feeling vulnerable. The Alliance is proud to represent our member practices and to champion our Primary Care Partners, by working with local general practice and other system partners in the provision of patient-centered, local healthcare services. Each practice has a close-knit team of staff who collectively seek to improve the health of their patient populations. East Lancashire is one of the world's most innovative, original, and exciting places to live and work. From the beauty of the surrounding countryside to the heart of the vibrant inner towns and villages with great shopping, entertainment, and dining options. Wherever you go, you will experience a great northern welcome with people famed for their warmth, humour, and generosity.
Job responsibilities
Key duties and responsibilities
Clinical
1. Undertake patient-facing and patient-supporting roles to ensure effective medicines use through shared decision-making conversations with patients.
2. Carry out medicines optimisation tasks including effective medicine administration (e.g. checking inhaler technique), supporting medication reviews, and medicines reconciliation.
3. Where required, utilise consultation skills to work in partnership with patients to ensure they use their medicines effectively.
4. As determined by the PCN, support medication reviews and medicines reconciliation for new care home patients and synchronising medicines for patient transfers between care settings, linking with local community pharmacies.
5. Support the Clinical Pharmacist in Structured Medication Reviews (SMR), i.e. organise necessary monitoring tests prior to SMR.
6. Provide expertise to address both the public health and social care needs of patients, including lifestyle advice, service information, and help in tackling local health inequalities.
7. Manage shared care protocols and liaise with Clinical Pharmacists for more complex patients.
8. Support initiatives for antimicrobial stewardship to reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing locally.
Technical and Administrative
1. Support the PCN multi-disciplinary team to ensure efficient medicines optimisation processes are being followed.
2. Work within the practice dispensary to ensure the safe, effective & efficient handling of medicines.
3. Implement efficient ordering and return processes and reduce medication wastage.
4. Provide training and support on the legal, safe, and secure handling of medicines, including the implementation of the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS).
5. Promotion of Electronic Repeat Dispensing (eRD) and online ordering.
6. Develop relationships with other pharmacy professionals and members of the multi-disciplinary team to support integration across health and social care including primary care, community pharmacy, secondary care, and mental health.
7. Support practice reception teams in streaming general prescription requests, so as to allow GPs and clinical pharmacists to review the more clinically complex requests.
8. Support the implementation of national prescribing policies and guidance within GP practices, care homes, and other primary care settings.
9. Support the PCN to deliver on QIPP agenda, QOF, and locally commissioned enhanced services.
10. Support quality improvement measures and contribute to the Quality and Outcomes Framework and enhanced services.
11. Support the PCN in reviewing and developing practice policies for CQC requirements.
For further details please see the attached job description.
Person Specification
Qualifications
* Professional registration with GPhC.
* Meets the specific qualification and training requirements as specified by the GPhC criteria to register as a Pharmacy Technician; enrolled in, undertaking, or qualified from an approved training pathway (e.g., the Primary Care Pharmacy Educational Pathway (PCPEP) or Medicines Optimisation in Care Homes (MOCH)).
* BTEC/NVQ level 3 or equivalent in pharmaceutical sciences.
* Evidence of continued professional development (CPD).
* Experience of working as a qualified, registered pharmacy technician in primary care, community, or hospital pharmacy.
* Demonstrate the ability to influence and persuade partners and stakeholders of the respective merits of different options, innovations, new opportunities, and challenges.
Experience
* Computer literate with an ability to use the Microsoft Office packages.
* Able to analyse and interpret prescribing data.
* Has attention to detail, able to work accurately, identifying errors quickly and easily.
* Has a planned and organised approach with an ability to prioritise their own workload to meet strict deadlines.
* Able to think analytically; anticipating obstacles and thinking ahead; using analytical techniques to draw logical solutions to problems.
* Excellent communication skills, verbal and written, with the ability to adjust communication style and content to suit the audience.
* Excellent verbal and written communication skills with team members, patients, carers, and other healthcare professionals, whilst recognising people's needs for alternative methods of communication.
* Computer literate with an ability to use the required GP clinical systems.
* Understand the aims of current healthcare policy within the PCN.
Attributes
* Works effectively independently and as a member of a team.
* Flexible approach to meet service needs and ensure a stakeholder-focused response.
* Self-motivated and proactive.
* Able to undertake the demands of the post with reasonable adjustments if required.
* Independently mobile to be able to work across several sites and travel to meet with stakeholders.
* Adaptability, flexibility, and ability to cope with uncertainty and change.
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 Band 5 AFC LIKE (NOT AFC).
#J-18808-Ljbffr