Job summary
This is an exciting opportunity for an Advanced Pharmacy Technician to help shape the pharmacy services within the developing NHS@Home and Urgent Response teams in the community in Swindon.
You will have direct patient contact in the community to support patients in their homes as they are either recovering from hospital admission or preventing an admission.
You will be responsible for the leadership, development, management and delivery of the pharmacy operational and medicines management elements of the Urgent Response and NHS@Home service in Swindon. These services support early discharge from hospital as well as preventing avoidable admissions into the Trust.
You will be responsible for ensuring that patients in these services receive the correct medications in a timely manner. You will work in conjunction with a clinical pharmacist and the multidisciplinary team to ensure patients have appropriate monitoring of their therapy. This could involve remote consultations, home visits and attending multidisciplinary team meetings. You will be involved in developing and delivering safe and effective pathways of care to patients for a range of conditions. There is a plan to have a capacity of 90 virtual ward 'beds' in Swindon before April 2024. You will also be a key part of a collaborative approach to virtual wards across the BaNES, Swindon and Wiltshire (BSW) Integrated Care Board (ICB).
Main duties of the job
You will support the lead pharmacist for community services in planning, co-ordinating, managing and developing all aspects of medicines optimisation for community health services to Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in accordance with local and national directives.
You will work collaboratively to support the seamless transfer of patient care into and out of the Urgent Response and NHS@Home service, including effective and timely communication with a range of healthcare professionals internal and external to the Trust.
You will develop and deliver education and training to patients, carers and healthcare professionals on relevant pharmacy elements of the Urgent Response and NHS@Home service. You will work with the Urgent Response and NHS@home team to develop and implement processes to support patient self-administration and optimise patient experience.
You will support the Trust antimicrobial stewardship programme and be an Antibiotic Guardian.
You will collate and analyse the required data to provide reports on medication consumption, financial indicators and assurance of prescribing within the Urgent Response and NHS@Home service.
Please see attached job description for further information.
About us
Our STAR values are at the heart of everything we do. You can expect to see them in the way we act and the way we treat each other. Our values make us who we are.
Service We will put our patients first
Teamwork We will work together
Ambition We will aspire to provide the best service
Respect We will act with integrity
Job description
Job responsibilities
1. In conjunction with the Clinical Pharmacist and Lead Pharmacist for Community Services and Palliative Care, responsible for the leadership, development and delivery of the pharmacy operational and medicines management elements of the Urgent Response and NHS@Home service.
2. Responsible for ensuring the pharmacy operational and medicines management elements of the Urgent Response and NHS@Home service are delivered in line with relevant national legislation and standards.
3. Responsible for developing, implementing and reviewing medicines management procedures, guidelines and policies relating to the Urgent Response and NHS@Home service. To ensure these are communicated effectively to all relevant staff groups and necessary training implemented.
4. Responsible for managing pharmacy operational and medicines management service provision to the Urgent Response and NHS@Home service, including prioritisation of work according to patient urgency, clinical need and service requirements to ensure treatment is delivered in a timely manner.
5. Responsible for ensuring that patients in the Urgent Response and NHS@Home service receive the correct medications in a timely manner. This will require liaising with a wide range of healthcare professionals, including prescribers, staff within the Trust and staff in community.
6. Minimise waste and reduce risk to patients by ensuring appropriate ordering and storage of all medicines used in the Urgent Response and NHS@Home service.
7. Be independent and forward thinking to support the development of the services.
8. Work collaboratively with a wide range of healthcare professionals to optimise patient care and experience and ensure patient safety, including include staff groups within the Trust, staff in other local acute Trusts, staff in community provider organisations and Homecare providers.
9. Support seamless transfer of patient care into and out of the Urgent Response and NHS@Home service, including effective and timely communication with a range of healthcare professionals internal and external to the Trust. This may involve complex or sensitive information.
10. Complete medicines reconciliation for patients within the Urgent Response and NHS@Home service.
11. Answer routine queries regarding medicines from clinical staff and patients/carers and escalate where appropriate.
12. Work in conjunction with the Clinical Pharmacist and the NHS@Home team to ensure patients have appropriate monitoring of their therapy.
13. Contribute to improving patient safety and patient experience in relation to the Urgent Response and NHS@Home service.
14. Report incidents using the Trust incident reporting system and investigate any medicines-related incidents relating to the Urgent Response and NHS@Home service.
15. Investigate complaints involving or relating to the pharmacy operational or medicines management elements of the Urgent Response and NHS@Home service, developing and implementing necessary changes in practice to ensure improvement.
16. Responsible for collating and analysing the required data to provide reports on medication consumption, financial indicators and assurance of prescribing within the Urgent Response and NHS@Home service.
17. Develop and provide education and training for a variety of healthcare professionals on the pharmacy operational and medicines management elements of the Urgent Response and NHS@Home service.
18. Provide information on pharmacy elements of the Urgent Response and NHS@Home service to support induction programmes for new staff.
19. Provide information in a variety of formats to patients / carers to support and optimise therapy.
20. Determine patients adherence to medication regime using a variety of sources as appropriate.
21. Work with the Urgent Response and NHS@Home team to develop and implement processes to support patient self-administration.
22. Support the Trust antimicrobial stewardship programme and be an Antibiotic Guardian.
23. Identify and implement strategies to ensure cost-effective use of resources and product rationalisation in the Urgent Response and NHS@Home service.
24. Plan and carry out audits of the pharmacy operational and medicines management elements of the Urgent Response and NHS@Home service and disseminate findings and recommendations for improvement to appropriate staff groups.
25. Participate in Quality Improvement projects relating to the Urgent Response and NHS@Home service and other project work required to develop the clinical pharmacy service as required.
26. Participate in MDT meetings regarding patient care when required.
27. Represent GWH pharmacy at BSW-wide NHS@Home meetings as required.
28. Attend national conferences relevant to Urgent Response and NHS@Home and share learning with the pharmacy and NHS@Home teams.
29. Work with the Clinical Pharmacist and Lead Pharmacist for Community Services and Palliative Care to review current levels of service, identify future developments and measure relevant activity and output of the NHS@Home service. This also involves promotion of these services internally and externally where appropriate.
30. May require elements of manual handling and lone working.
31. Undertake and record CPD relevant to personal and organisational needs.
32. Be a role model for staff.
33. Have line management responsibilities.
34. To act professionally in accordance with medicines legislation, the Code of Ethics of the General Pharmaceutical Council, and Trust policies and procedures.
You will be asked to contribute to the dispensary processes within the acute hospital to support the wider pharmacy team as well as to be able to integrate the community-based services into the acute services. This will include being part of weekend / late night rotas where required.
Person Specification
Qualifications, education and training
Essential
35. Registered as a Pharmacy Technician with the GPhC
36. NVQ / QCF Level 3 in Pharmacy Services or equivalent plus accredited underpinning knowledge (BTEC in Pharmaceutical Science or Equivalent)
37. Accredited Checking Technician qualification or be eligible and willing to work towards accreditation which will be completed within 12 months
38. Accredited Medicines Management qualification or be eligible and willing to work towards accreditation which will be completed within 12 months
39. Accredited to clinical prioritisation module or equivalent clinical qualification or be eligible or willing to work towards
Desirable
40. Project management qualification
41. Staff / team management qualification
Experience
Essential
42. Significant experience in a clinical pharmacy environment (any sector) with experience of leading and managing teams
43. Managing own workload to meet the needs of a service
44. Working within a role involving multi-disciplinary communication
45. Developing and training staff
46. Aware of risk and Health and Safety issues and their implications for staff
47. Managing meetings
Desirable
48. Audit and/or research experience and implementation
49. Knowledge of national reports on development of pharmacy services
50. Staff appraisal and objective setting
51. Successful project or change management
52. Recruitment and selection
53. Policy and procedure development
54. Managing change
Knowledge and skills
Essential
55. Good knowledge of the legal requirements (Law and Ethics) for dispensing and supplying medicines, with a focus on CDs
56. Knowledge of statutory regulations, including Medicines Act and the Misuse of Drugs Act and Regulations
57. Leadership, motivation and inspiration skills
58. Excellent and effective communication and interpersonal skills, both verbal and written, to pass on complex information
59. Able to make sound judgments when analysing and interpreting the requirements for Patient services such as allocation of staffing resource across multiple sections
60. Excellent clinical pharmaceutical knowledge
61. Excellent IT skills including Microsoft applications