Job Description
Based at The Bellingham Practice and Haltwhistle Medical Group
Job summary
We have four vacancies to join our Primary Care Network serving the populations of 12 practices across West Northumberland. The opportunity is to be part of a wider PCN team, while also bringing the valued skills and knowledge of Pharmacy Technicians into your assigned practices. You will have two practices assigned to you, and these will be your main base of work, although you may be asked to support with our two non-PCN practices in Prudhoe, and to provide holiday cover at other practices remotely if required.
Pharmacy Technicians play an important role in complementing clinical pharmacists, and other members of the wider PCN multi-disciplinary team, and they will work under supervision to ensure effective and efficient use of medicines.
The purpose of the role is to ensure effective medicines use, support the practices with medication reviews, medication reconciliations, improve repeat prescribing protocols, mimimise clinical risk and reduce wasted medicines.
The Pharmacy Technician team will also take a role in supporting the PCN achieving national requirements, NICE implementation, utilisation of medicines optimisation initiatives, and taking undertaking clinical audits.
Main duties of the job
- Undertake patient facing and patient supporting roles
- Carry out medicines optimisation tasks
- Support medication reviews and medicines reconciliation
- Provide specialist expertise, where competent
- Take a central role in the clinical aspects of shared care protocols
- Support initiatives for antimicrobial stewardship
- Work with the PCN MDT to ensure efficient medicines optimisation
- Provide training / support on the legal, safe and secure handling of medicines
- Develop relationships and work with practice teams
- Support the implementation of national prescribing policies and guidanc
- Undertake clinical audits, support quality improvement measures and contribute to the Quality and Outcomes Framework and enhanced services
- Assist in the delivery of medicines optimisation incentive schemes and patient safety audits
- Provide leadership for medicines management systems across PCNs
Overview of your organisation
At West Northumberland PCN our guiding aim is to improve the health and wellbeing of local people. Relationships are key to everything we do and by working with our practice members and their Primary Care Networks, as well as other local partners, we strive to provide excellent services that help people to live their best lives.
When you join our team we want to help you to do your best for our patients every day, and so we offer flexible working and a friendly, supportive workplace. To us, your attitude is the most important thing that you bring to your role so if you are positive, enthusiastic and treat people brilliantly then this could be the place for you. We operate to a gold standard in everything we do, because that is what our patients and practices deserve. If job satisfaction for you comes from knowing that you made a difference today then we would love to hear from you!
Specific duties include, but not limited to:
Clinical Responsibilities
- Undertake patient facing and patient supporting roles to ensure effective medicines use, through shared decision-making conversations with patients;
- Carry out medicines optimisation tasks including effective medicine administration (e.g. checking inhaler technique), supporting medication reviews, and medicines reconciliation. Where required, utilise consultation skills to work in partnership with patients to ensure they use their medicines effectively;
- Support, as determined by the PCN and the practice, medication reviews and medicines reconciliation for new care home patients and synchronising medicines for patient transfers between care settings and linking with local community pharmacists.
- Provide specialist expertise, where competent, to address both the public health and social care needs of patients, including lifestyle advice, service information, and help in tackling local health inequalities;
- Take a central role in the clinical aspects of shared care protocols and liaising with specialist pharmacists for more complex patients;
- 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 practices, 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
Technical and Administrative responsibilities
- Work with the PCN and practice multi-disciplinary team to ensure efficient medicines optimisation, including implementing efficient ordering and return processes, and reducing wastage;
- Support practice reception teams in sorting and streaming general prescription requests, so as to allow GPs and clinical pharmacists to review the more clinically complex requests;
- Provide leadership for medicines optimisation systems across the PCN, supporting practices with a range of services to get the best value from medicines by encouraging and implementing Electronic Prescriptions, safe 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 (EPS);
- Develop relationships with other pharmacy technicians, pharmacists and members of the multi-disciplinary team to support integration of the pharmacy team across health and social care including primary care, community pharmacy, secondary care, and mental health.
Communication and Relationships
- Establish and maintain effective communication pathways with all practice and PCN staff and the MDT team, as well as visiting team members from the community teams and those from community pharmacy, secondary care, and other health and social care sectors.
Generic Responsibilities
All staff have a duty to conform to the following:
Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (ED&I)
- A good attitude and positive action towards ED&I creates an environment where all individuals are able to achieve their full potential. Creating such an environment is important for three reasons: it improves operational effectiveness, it is morally the right thing to do, and it is required by law.
- Everyone has the right to be treated fairly and can expect to be treated with dignity and respect and will not be discriminated against on any grounds including age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.
- Staff have the right to be treated fairly in recruitment and career progression. Staff can expect to work in an environment where diversity is valued, and equality of opportunity is promoted. Staff will not be discriminated against on any grounds including age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. Staff have a responsibility to ensure that they treat others with dignity and respect.
Safety, Health, Environment and Fire (SHEF)
- This PCN is committed to supporting and promoting opportunities to for staff to maintain their health, well-being and safety. You have a duty to take reasonable care of health and safety at work for you, your team and others, and to cooperate with employers to ensure compliance with health and safety requirements. All personnel are to comply with the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, Environmental Protection Act 1990, Environment Act 1995, Fire Precautions (workplace) Regulations 1999 and other statutory legislation.
Confidentiality and Data Protection
- This PCN is committed to maintaining an outstanding confidential service. Patients and colleagues entrust and permit us to collect and retain sensitive information relating to their health and other matters, pertaining to their care. They do so in confidence and have a right to expect all staff will respect their privacy and maintain confidentiality at all times. It is essential that if, the legal requirements are to be met and the trust of our patients and colleagues is to be retained that all staff protect patient information and provide a confidential service.
- All staff must comply with the most up to date GDPR and Data Protection regulations.
Quality & Continuous Improvement (CI)
- To preserve and improve the quality of our output, all personnel are required to think not only of what they do, but how they achieve it. By continually re-examining our processes, we will be able to develop and improve the overall effectiveness of the way we work. The responsibility for this rests with everyone working within the PCN to look for opportunities to improve quality and share good practice.
- This PCN continually strives to improve work processes which deliver health care with improved results across all areas of our service provision. We promote a culture of continuous improvement, where everyone counts, and staff are permitted to make suggestions and contributions to improve our service delivery and enhance patient care.
Learning and Development
- The effective use of training and development is fundamental in ensuring that all staff are equipped with the appropriate skills, knowledge, attitude and competences to perform their role. All staff will be required to partake and complete mandatory training as directed by their line manager, as well as participate in the PCN training programme as required. You will also be required to participate in an annual individual performance review, including taking responsibility for maintaining a record of own personal and/or professional development
Collaborative Working
- All staff are to recognise the significance of collaborative working. Teamwork is essential in multidisciplinary environments. Effective communication is essential and all staff must ensure they communicate in a manner which enables the sharing of information in an appropriate manner.
Service Delivery
- Staff must adhere to the information contained with PCN practices policies and regional directives, ensuring protocols are adhered to at all times.
Security
- The security of the PCN is the responsibility of all personnel. Staff must ensure they remain vigilant at all times and report any suspicious activity immediately to their line manager.
Professional Conduct
- Staff are required to dress appropriately for their role and to conform with any PCN or practice dress code that may apply
Person specification
Experience Essential Criteria
- Experience of working as a qualified, registered pharmacy technician in primary care
- Experience of patient consultation and shared decision making conversations
Desirable criteria
- Experience of undertaking clinical audits supporting quality improvement measures
- Experience of EMIS and/or System One
QualificationsEssential criteria
- Professional Registration with GPhC BTEC/NVQ level 3 or equivalent in pharmaceutical sciences
- Evidence of continuing Professional Development demonstrating that knowledge and training are current
- Completed, or working towards, the CPPE Primary Care Pharmacy Education Pathway for Technicians (Time will be given within contracted hours to support the completion of pathway)
Personal Qualities Essential criteria
- Influencing and Negotiating skills
- Positive and Optimistic
- Flexible and Cooperative
- Excellent Interpersonal Skills
- Attention to detail
- Able to work accurately and identify errors quickly and easily
- Ability to work independently,
- Good and as part of a team
- Ability to use initiative and judgement
- Good critical appraisal skills
Skills, Knowledge and Understanding Essential criteria
- Understanding and knowledge of pharmacy law and ethics and current legislation
- Good clinical pharmacy knowledge including terminology
- Sound IT skills including the use of MS office
- Awareness of primary care agendas including QIPP, QOF and the PCN DES and how pharmacy technicians may support in practices within these areas
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- Ability to prioritise and work to tight deadlines in a fast-paced environment
Job Type: Full-time
Salary: £26,282.00-£27,055.00 per year
Benefits:
Schedule:
Ability to commute/relocate:
- Northumberland: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (required)
Experience:
- Pharmacy: 1 year (preferred)
Work Location: In person
Application deadline: 10/06/2023