An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced Pharmacy Technician to join our team at Fell Cottage Surgery. Our Practice is located in the Low Fell area of Gateshead, providing care to a practice list size of approximately 9,000 patients.
Main duties of the job
The Pharmacy Technician supports safe and effective medicines management across GP practices and primary care settings. Key duties include medicines reconciliation, supporting antimicrobial stewardship, and helping deliver medicines optimisation initiatives, audits, and prescribing quality improvement programmes.
They work closely with multidisciplinary teams to improve prescribing processes, reduce medicine waste, manage prescription requests and queries, and support the safe use of high‑risk medicines and electronic prescribing systems. The role also involves providing training on medicines management, contributing to clinical audits, enhanced services, public health campaigns, and ensuring compliance with safeguarding, governance, and relevant legislation.
Additionally, the Pharmacy Technician is expected to be an active member of the practice team, participate in mandatory training and appraisals, support patient safety and complaint management processes, maintain an effective working environment, and undertake other duties as required to meet service needs.
Job responsibilities
Core Responsibilities
* Support medication reviews and medicines reconciliation from clinical letters/discharges.
* Support initiatives for antimicrobial stewardship to reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing.
* Assist in the delivery of medicines optimisation and management incentive schemes and patient safety audits.
* Support the implementation of national prescribing policies and guidance within GP practice, care homes and other primary care settings. This will be achieved through undertaking clinical audits (e.g., use of antibiotics), supporting quality improvement measures and contributing to the Quality and Outcomes Framework and enhanced services.
* Work with the multi‑disciplinary team to ensure efficient medicines optimisation, including implementing efficient ordering and return processes, and reducing waste.
* Support practice reception team in sorting and streaming general prescription requests.
* Support medicines optimisation systems with a range of services to get the best value from medicines by encouraging and implementing electronic prescriptions, safer repeat prescribing systems, and timely monitoring and management of high‑risk medicines.
* Provide training and support on the legal, safe and secure handling of medicines, including the implementation of the Electronic Prescription Service.
* Be aware of duties and responsibilities regarding current legislation and adhere to practice policies and procedures on Safeguarding Adults and Safeguarding Children.
* Handle prescription queries and requests directly.
* Be an integral part of the general practice team.
* Demonstrate initiative and be creative in finding solutions to problems.
* Participate in clinical audits and research projects and implement changes as required, including supporting with the development, and updating of practice protocols, guidelines and procedures locally.
* Support in the delivery of enhanced services and other service requirements.
* Support in the management of patient complaints when requested to do so and participate in the identification of any necessary learning brought about through incidents and near‑miss events.
* Undertake all mandatory training and induction programmes.
* Contribute to and embrace the spectrum of clinical governance.
* Attend a formal appraisal with their manager at least every 12 months. Once a performance/training objective has been set, progress will be reviewed on a regular basis so that new objectives can be agreed.
* Contribute to public health campaigns.
* Maintain a clean, tidy, effective working area at all times.
* Identify patients that are overdue required monitoring and refer to the appropriate clinicians.
* Reconcile medicines following discharge from hospitals, intermediate care and into care homes, including identifying and appropriately rectifying unexplained changes and working with patients and community pharmacists to ensure patients receive the medicines they need post discharge.
* Ensure shared care protocols are in place where relevant and ensure the continuation of safe practice within primary care is maintained.
* Understand and accurately record relevant patient alerts (e.g. visually impaired, hard of hearing).
Quality
Quality
* Alert other team members to issues of quality and risk.
* Assess own performance and take accountability for own actions, either directly or under supervision.
* Contribute to the effectiveness of the team by reflecting on own and team activities and making suggestions on ways to improve and enhance the team's performance.
* Work effectively with individuals in other agencies to meet patients' needs.
* Effectively manage own time, workload and resources.
Qualifications
* Confirmation of registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council (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. For example, the Primary Care Pharmacy Educational Pathway (PCPEP) or Medicines Optimisation in Care Homes (MOCH).
Clinical Knowledge and Skills
* Ability to communicate information effectively with people at all levels by telephone, email and face to face.
* Demonstrate personal accountability, emotional resilience and work well under pressure.
* Good clinical system IT knowledge.
* Ability to record accurate clinical notes.
* Understanding of safeguarding adults and children.
* Ability to interpret clinical information to support clinical decision making.
* Broad knowledge of clinical governance.
* Problem solving and analytical skills.
Experience
* Experience working under appropriate clinical supervision to ensure safe, effective and efficient use of medicines.
* Experience in medicines optimisation.
* Understanding of medicines legislations, including controlled drugs, safeguarding and national prescribing guidance.
* Understanding of medicines management, pharmaceutical care principles, and repeat prescribing processes.
* Experience of working in a primary care setting.
* Understanding and knowledge of healthcare provision in GP practices, QOF and enhanced services.
* An appreciation of the new NHS landscape including the relationship between individual organisations, PCNs and the commissioners.
Personal Qualities
* Effective time management (planning and organising).
* Ability to follow legal, ethical and professional policies/ procedures and codes of conduct.
* Ability to use own initiative, discretion, and sensitivity.
* Able to get along with people from all backgrounds and communities, respecting lifestyles and diversity.
* Ability to identify risk and assess/manage risk when working with individuals.
* Ability to work as a team member and autonomously.
* Good interpersonal & organisational skills.
* Sensitive and empathetic in distressing situations.
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 £28,392 – £31,157 depending on experience.
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