Are you looking for a new challenge, to develop the role of pharmacy technicians in general practice?
The Chesterfield and Dronfield Primary Care Network (PCN) is looking for a pharmacy technician to join their growing pharmacy team to deliver clinical pharmacy services across our Dronfield practices and care home service. This exciting new post has a huge scope for professional and role development, working alongside existing pharmacy teams integrated into our practices and care home service.
The ideal candidate will be a registered pharmacy technician, who is an enthusiastic, adaptable team player with an interest in developing the role of pharmacy technicians within our PCN, who can use their initiative to dynamically support practice‑based pharmacy teams with workflow across several practices. We are looking for an individual who is passionate about patient care and will contribute to improving the quality of prescribing in primary care. You will be supported to develop to your full potential by our team of experienced clinical pharmacists and technicians.
You will be expected to enroll on the CPPE Primary Care Pharmacy Education Pathway (PCPEP) if you have not completed it already or can be exempted. Practice‑based/home‑based flexible working arrangements are available.
We are only in a position to offer this post for up to 30 hours a week. However, as this post is split across two sites, we do not feel the role would be sustainable on significantly less than that.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will work within their clinical competencies as part of a multidisciplinary team, supporting clinical pharmacists and practice colleagues to deliver high quality medicines management. This will include contributing to medicines optimisation at transfer of care, safer prescribing systems, clinical medicines management, technical medication reviews, and aspects of structured medication and long term condition reviews. The role will also support the management of repeat prescription authorisations and reauthorisations, in line with agreed protocols and the post holder's scope of practice.
The post holder will help patients achieve the best outcomes from their medicines by supporting the delivery of clinical pharmacy services. This will include reconciling medication changes following transfer of care, monitoring and acting on medication risk stratification tools, responding to patient and healthcare professional queries, and improving repeat prescribing processes such as the promotion of repeat dispensing and online ordering. The role will focus on minimising clinical risk, reducing medicines waste, and improving efficiency.
Arc Primary Care is not an Agenda for Change organisation but does offer structured pay progression and NHS pension.
Benefits of working with us:
* NHS Pension Scheme, offering flexible retirement choices, an ill health retirement pension, life assurance and an optional lump sum on retirement
* On appointment 27 days plus 8 Bank Holiday annual leave entitlement which rises annually with length of service up to 33 days (pro rata for part‑time staff)
* Up to 5 days professional/study leave per annum (pro rata)
* Access to Wellbeing/Employee Assistance Support
* Blue light Card Discount
Job responsibilities
Key duties and responsibilities
Stratify and triage patients to determine the appropriate level of review, including technical medication reviews, medicines adherence reviews (including polypharmacy), focused long‑term condition or clinical reviews, or holistic long‑term condition and clinical reviews (Structured Medication Reviews). Provide timely and appropriate support to patients by responding to questions, queries, and concerns relating to their medicines.
2. Medicines related clinical support for care homes
Whilst pharmacists represent the practice and pharmacy team in care home multi‑disciplinary team clinical medication reviews, where appropriate and within the scope, technical aspects around this process can be delegated to pharmacy technicians. Work with care home staff and ageing well team to optimise medicines management, and support safe and effective prescribing, and medicines use.
With appropriate supervision or under an approved Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), and where within the pharmacy technicians recognised scope of clinical competence, selected elements of long‑term condition planning and review may be undertaken by pharmacy technicians. This may include defined clinical activities such as Direct Acting Oral Anticoagulant (DOAC) reviews, patient counselling to support statin initiation, and asthma reviews.
Identification of cohorts of patients at high risk of harm from medicines through pre‑prepared practice computer searches. This might include risks that are patient related, medicine related, or both. This includes prescription services software such as Eclipse Live Radar 500 searches. Wherever possible, technicians will be accountable for reviewing the results of these searches, with clinical pharmacists being responsible for supporting pharmacy technician's where managing high‑risk patient’s is outside the scope of their competence, or directly covering during leave and exceptional circumstances.
6. Unplanned hospital admissions
With the supervision of a clinical pharmacist, review the use of medicines most commonly associated with unplanned hospital admissions and readmissions through audit and individual patient reviews. Put in place changes to reduce the prescribing of these medicines to high‑risk patient groups.
7. Management of medicines at transfer of care
Reconcile medicines for new patients and following discharge from hospitals or other care settings, including identifying and rectifying unexplained changes and working with patients and community pharmacists to ensure patients receive the medicines they need post discharge. With the supervision of a clinical pharmacist, set up and manage systems to ensure continuity of medicines supply to high‑risk groups of patients (e.g., those with medicine compliance aids or those in Care Homes).
8. Medicine information to practice staff and patients
Answers relevant medicine‑related enquiries from GPs, other network staff, other healthcare teams (e.g., community pharmacy) and patients with queries about medicines. Suggesting and recommending solutions, seeking support from a clinical pharmacist where needed. Providing follow up for patients to monitor the effect of any changes.
9. Signposting
Ensure that patients are referred to the appropriate healthcare professional for the appropriate level of care within an appropriate time period e.g., pathology results, common/minor ailments, acute conditions, long‑term condition reviews etc.
10. Repeat prescribing
Manage the repeat prescribing reauthorisation process by identifying medicines approaching or exceeding review dates. Flag patients requiring clinical review in accordance with agreed protocols, and ensure appropriate monitoring tests are in place and up to date to support safe and effective prescribing.
Contribute technical pharmaceutical advice for the development and implementation of new services that have medicinal components (e.g., advice on treatment pathways and patient information leaflets).
12. Information management
Analyse, interpret and present medicines data to highlight issues and risks to support decision making.
Undertake clinical audits of prescribing in areas directed by the GPs and the PCN team, feedback the results and implement changes in conjunction with the relevant practice team, and with the supervision and support of a clinical pharmacist as necessary.
Implement changes to medicines that result from MHRA alerts, product withdrawal and other local and national guidance, with the supervision and support of a clinical pharmacist as necessary.
15. Implementation of local and national guidelines and formulary recommendations
With the supervision of clinical pharmacists, monitor practice prescribing against the local health economy's RAG list and make recommendations to GPs for medicines that should be prescribed by hospital doctors (red drugs) or subject to shared care (amber drugs).
16. Education and Training
With the support of a clinical pharmacist, provide education and training to practice or PCN teams on therapeutics and medicines optimisation.
17. Care Quality Commission
With the supervision of a clinical pharmacist, work with the general practice teams to ensure the practices are compliant with CQC standards where medicines are involved.
18. Public health
Support public health campaigns.
19. Collaborative working arrangements
As part of an integrated pharmacy team, foster and maintain collaborative working relationships with practice teams, ICB colleagues including medicines management pharmacy professionals, the Ageing Well Team and social prescribing team, and all other relevant services across the PCN and other stakeholders as needed for the collective benefit of the practice and its patients.
Person Specification
Qualifications
* Mandatory registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council as pharmacy technician
* Demonstrates understanding of, and conforms to, relevant standards of practice
* Follows professional & organisational policies/procedures relating to performance management
* Membership Royal Pharmaceutical Society
* Foundation training in primary care
Experience
* Experience of working as a qualified, registered pharmacy technician in primary care, community or hospital pharmacy
Skills and Knowledge
* A comprehensive understanding of the role of a pharmacy technician in the larger clinical workforce, and the inherent limitations the role carries, including the need for direct supervision or adhering stringently to the processes outlined in a robust SOP
* Excellent Interpersonal, influencing & negotiating skills, to make shared decisions in situations where barriers to this may be present
* Excellent verbal & written communication skills, including appreciation of different communication needs and skills
* Demonstrate the ability to communicate complex and sensitive information in an understandable form to various audiences (e.g. patients)
* Knowledge of IT systems, including ability to use clinical systems, word processing skills, spreadsheets and emails to communicate effectively, document consultations and code accurately and safely, and produce timely and accurate reports
* Recognises priorities when problem solving and identifies deviations from the normal pattern and able to recognise limitations of own competence, referring to more senior clinical colleagues when appropriate
* Able to work under pressure and meet deadlines, including prioritisation, time‑keeping and sustainable working, including when resource levels change
* Work effectively independently and as a team member
* Able to recognise personal and professional limitations, and refer to more suitable colleagues when appropriate
* Ability to identify risk and assess/manage risk when working with individuals
* Experience of working in Primary Care
* Therapeutic & clinical knowledge and an understanding of evidence‑based medicine, clinical terminology, medicines optimisation and shared decision‑making
* An appreciation of GPs and General Practice, including the relationship between GP, PCNs and ICBs in the context of the larger NHS and NHS funding
* Awareness of common acute and long‑term conditions that are likely to be seen in general practice
* Experience of collaborative working and building relationships across a variety of organisations
* Able to manage, monitor, advise & review general medicines optimisation issues in core areas for long term conditions with direct supervision, or under a robust SOP
* Understand the systems of research governance
* Demonstrates accountability for delivering professional expertise and direct service provision
Other
* Adaptable and self‑motivated
* Appropriate Immunisation Status
* Meets DBS reference standards and has a clear criminal record, in line with the law on spent convictions
* Access to own transport and ability to travel across the locality on a regular basis, including to visit people in their own homes
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.
£31,196.24 to £34,568 a year (Actual Salary 0.8FTE £24,956.99-£27,654.40 depending on experience)
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