Employer: Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type: NHS
Site: Liverpool University Hospital
Town: Liverpool
Salary: £31,049 - £37,796 per annum
Salary period: Yearly
Closing: 23/09/2025 23:59
Band 5
Job overview
An exciting opportunity has arisen to join the Pharmacy Emergency Floor team at LUHFT on the Royal Liverpool site, working alongside pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and ATOs.
We are looking for a registered pharmacy technician with an accuracy checking certificate who is keen to realise their potential and who can make the most of the scope this post offers to deliver a patient centred approach to our service delivery.
The position is full time (37.5 hours). Our pharmacy technicians work over 7 days covering the service 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 4.15pm Saturday and Sunday. Staff have the flexibility to request their shifts/ days off and weekends within the rota.
We provide pharmacy services to the Emergency Department and the Acute Medical Unit. You will play a pivotal role in ensuring optimum performance of the pharmacy service whilst working in our busy departments as part of the Medicine Management team.
Technicians are encouraged to progress in their role and career path by obtaining additional relevant training to enable them to achieve this.
Are you looking for an opportunity to broaden your technical and clinical knowledge supported by a friendly and enthusiastic pharmacy team?
If so, we welcome applications from Pharmacy Technicians currently working in all settings.
Please feel free to get in touch to organise a visit to our department.
Main duties of the job
You will be working closely with the pharmacists and other health care professionals within the multidisciplinary team in the Emergency Department and Acute Medical Unit area to deliver high quality, patient focused medicines management services.
You will be responsible for the delivery of safe and cost-effective pharmaceutical care to patients, as well as facilitating efficient discharge and transfer of patients. This will need you to have excellent organisational skills to undertake this role.
You will also have a small obligation to rotate through our busy dispensary, making good use of your accuracy checking certificate.
You must be able to work accurately, have a good eye for detail, and be able to prioritise your workload, meet deadlines and be committed to the delivery of high standards in a patient focused service.
We are open every day of the year; our rota includes weekends, bank holidays and late nights.
Working for our organisation
Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust comprises Aintree University Hospital, Broadgreen Hospital & Royal Liverpool University Hospital.
We are part of NHS University Hospitals of Liverpool Group, formed on 1 Nov 2024 from the coming together of LUHFT and Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust. The Group was born from a shared aim to improve the care we provide our patients.
UHLG is one of the largest employers in the region, with over 16,800 colleagues dedicated to caring for our communities - from birth and beyond.
For the 630,000 people across Merseyside, we are their local NHS. We provide general and emergency hospital care, alongside highly specialised regional services for more than two million people in the North West.
Aintree University Hospital is the single receiving site for adult major trauma patients in Cheshire and Merseyside and hosts a number of regional services including an award-winning stroke facility. Broadgreen Hospital is home to elective surgical, diagnostic and treatment services, together with specialist patient rehabilitation. Liverpool Women’s Hospital specialises in the health of women and babies, delivering over 7,200 babies in the UK’s largest single site maternity hospital each year. The Royal Liverpool University Hospital is the largest hospital in the country to provide inpatients with 100% single bedrooms and focuses on complex planned care and specialist services.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Key Responsibilities
* To provide a clinical technical service to the POD wards, including the taking of comprehensive medication histories and to provide a cost-effective “one-stop” dispensing service involving accuracy checking patients’ own drugs and assessing their suitability for reuse.
* To provide a cost-effective “one-stop” dispensing service to wards, involving accuracy checking patients’ own drugs and assessing their suitability for use, arranging re-supplies of patients’ drugs, liaising with G.P.s, nursing homes and ward staff, assessing patient concordance and providing counselling and education where necessary.
* To provide a “topping up” service on wards for individual patient drug supplies under the direction of the Dispensary Manager or Senior Technicians and in accordance with procedures.
* To support the clinical pharmacists on POD wards in the provision of complete pharmaceutical care for patients.
* To liaise with GPs, nursing homes, doctors, ward staff and other healthcare professionals to provide complete pharmaceutical care for patients.
* To interpret medical notes and test results, identify pharmaceutical and clinical problems and refer to the appropriate medical staff or clinical pharmacist.
* To counsel and educate patients and carers on the correct use of their medication and assess their understanding of the medicines prescribed.
* To assess patient concordance, identify patients requiring compliance aids and arrange provision of the necessary aids in both primary and secondary care.
* To facilitate patient discharges to ensure timely and effective discharge supplies of medication are available for individual patients.
* To perform a final accuracy check on prescriptions and orders which have previously been clinically checked by a pharmacist and in accordance with Trust procedures, and ensure dispensing errors are corrected by the appropriate member of staff.
* To develop, implement and manage a training package for technical staff in the systems used on POD wards and to assess, train and supervise other technical staff in the systems used on POD wards to ensure optimal and continuous service, adherence to procedures and safe systems of work and expansion of systems to other areas of the Trust.
* To consult with ward managers and train nursing staff in the systems used on POD wards and provide pharmaceutical information and advice, and be prepared to give lectures on pharmaceutical topics to other healthcare professionals and patients where appropriate.
* To carry out audit projects independently and in conjunction with other pharmacy staff to improve and develop service provision and to contribute to the review of existing systems and implementation of new procedural guidelines.
* To co-ordinate and participate in the provision of a patient counselling course for technical staff and to assist with the education and training of all members of staff, other healthcare professionals and patients.
* To participate in personal development review and appraise and perform personal development reviews on other staff members.
* To assist in the provision of directorate financial information and analysis and the implementation of directorate service quality and cost improvement initiatives.
* To attend meetings relevant to the role and appropriate training courses for technicians, to encourage other staff to undertake further training and to participate in such training schemes necessary to keep relevant pharmaceutical and clinical technical knowledge up to date.
* To advise nursing staff on the correct storage of goods supplied by the pharmacy with regard to security and stability.
* To contribute to the recording and reporting of clinical and non-clinical incidents.
* To liaise and provide support for the Senior Technician Team in the management of ward service activities.
* To act as a role model for student technicians and other members of technical and support staff and provide mentoring, assessing, induction and training of student technicians, pre-registration pharmacists, dispensing assistants and any other relevant members of the pharmacy team.
* To undertake Continuing Professional Development in order to keep pharmaceutical knowledge current, ensure best practice and comply with requirements for entry on the pharmacy technician register.
* To carry out dispensing of prescriptions, including extemporaneous prescriptions, unlicensed drugs, controlled drugs, and in-patient and outpatient prescriptions in accordance with the agreed safe systems of work practice.
* To co-operate in staff rotation within the pharmacy departments of the Trust including all dispensaries, the aseptic department and out patients and to participate in Saturday, Sunday, Bank holiday and late night duties as is considered appropriate by the Chief Pharmacist or other senior manager.
* To observe the recommendations contained in the Guide to Good Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Practice and its supplements and to assist in ensuring that work carried out in the department is in accordance with these and any other recommendations which may be issued from time to time by the Department of Health or Medicines Inspectorate.
* To observe the regulations in respect of the Health and Safety Act and Data Protection Act.
* To co-operate in the operation and development of computerised systems of stock control and medical speciality costing and to assist in maintaining reasonable stock levels, in accordance with the policies that are in force.
* To assist in maintaining reasonable stock levels, in accordance with the policies that are in force, in the section of the pharmacy in which (s)he is currently employed and to assist in ensuring correct storage and turnover of stock to maintain quality and potency.
* To answer telephone and face to face queries of a routine or technical nature from a wide range of staff groups, either in the pharmacy or on the ward, and refer appropriate queries to the relevant member of the pharmacy team when necessary.
* To liaise with various members of the pharmacy team and ward staff when solving supply problems and ensuring the best service to patients.
* To participate in pharmacy and ward based stock audits under the direction of the Senior Technicians.
* To assist in the receipt and issue of goods in pharmacy and to check delivery notes and invoices if required.
* To participate in pharmacy objectives set by the Trust, the National Patient Safety Agency, the Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection, the Department of Health and its regulators, and others to meet clinical governance targets, develop patient care, improve clinical outcomes and ensure compliance with standards for hospital pharmacy services.
* To provide accurate record keeping of controlled drugs kept in pharmacy including supplies to wards, orders, and regular audits of computer and paper records.
* To dispense clinical trials in accordance with the dispensing protocol, ICH GCP guidelines and European Directive under the direction of the clinical trials technician/pharmacist.
* To undertake special dispensing and manufacturing involving the use of aseptic techniques to a suitable standard in preparation of sterile products in accordance with aseptic procedures and under the direction of the Aseptic Services Manager.
* To undertake cytotoxic reconstitution and dispensing in accordance with the Aseptic Production Manual and COSHH regulations and regional/national standards.
* To support equality and diversity.
To undertake any other related duties, which may be required.
Person specification
Other
* Ability to thrive in a changing environment
* Attention to detail and work accurately
* Flexible
Skills
* Excellent written and verbal communication skills
* Pleasant and helpful attitude
* Ability to work on own initiative, as part of a team
* Smart and clean appearance
Experience
* Significant experience with the Electronic Medicines Management systems, including file maintenance, standard and ad-hoc reporting
* Demonstrate Dispensing Experience
* Patient Counselling
* Experience of working on wards
Qualifications
* Accredited Technical Accuracy Checking Qualification
* NVQ Level 3 in Pharmacy Services and BTEC Level 3 in Pharmaceutical Sciences with appropriate underpinning knowledge
* Registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council
Knowledge
* Commitment to Continuing Processional Development
* Ability to understand role and service priorities
* Ability to train staff
Please ensure you check the email account (including junk/spam boxes) from which you apply regularly as we will use this to contact you regarding your application.
Posts advertised to ‘internal staff’ are open to employees of hospitals within University Hospitals of Liverpool Group and you should confirm your employment within your application form.
Note: Under current Home Office Immigration Rules we are currently unable to offer right to work visa sponsorship for Band 2 and 3 roles with a salary of less than £25,000 p.a. as they do not meet the UK Visas & Immigration criteria.
Only those applicants who clearly demonstrate how they meet the person specification will be shortlisted for interview.
We reserve the right to close vacancies if we have received a minimum number of applications.
Candidates applying for Healthcare Assistant on the staff bank should note that due to the nature of the role, workers must be aged 18 or above.
The Trust is committed to a healthy work-life balance and to equality and diversity; flexible working requests will be considered from day one of employment.
Trust policy requires DBS application costs to be recovered via salary deduction after start. DBS fees may be deducted as specified in policy.
All staff must adhere to safeguarding policies and complete mandatory safeguarding training.
If you have any personal requirements to participate in the recruitment process, contact Recruitment Services by phone on 0151 706 4666.
Please note: new NHS entrants commence on the first pay point of the relevant band.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and a Disclosure submission to the DBS.
Name: Cheryl Kelly
Job title: Deputy Technical Services Manager
Email: cheryl.kelly@liverpoolft.nhs.uk
Telephone: 0151 706 2095
Additional information: Lena Whittall, Technical Services Manager, 0151 706 2095, Lena.Whittall@liverpoolft.nhs.uk
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