Pharmacy Technician

This vacancy is not open to recruitment agencies.

Oldham Central PCN have afantastic new job opportunity for a Pharmacy Technician within our Primary Care Network. You will become a valued member of our primary care team, focused on providing proactive, personalised, co-ordinated, and integrated health andsocial care to our patient population.

Technicians provide support to GPs to reduce workload and where appropriate, and within the post-holders capabilities, respond to patient and staff queries.

The post-holder will maximise safe, cost-effective prescribing to enhance the quality of patient care, improving repeat prescribing processes (including use of electronic repeat dispensing and online ordering), minimising clinical risk, and reducing avoidable wasted medicines. As well, the post-holder will develop and encourage a positive culture of medicines optimisation principles to assist the PCN in achieving local and national medicines-related objectives.

The post-holder will help patients get the best from their medicines, use existing protocols to maximise cost-effective preparations and where appropriate, liaise with patients to improve compliance and concordance.

Oldham Primary Care Network is one of five PCNs in the borough and has a network of 11 practices with the largest population size of all the PCNs.

The profile of the borough means that we have diverse communities, made up of people from a range of ages, backgrounds and cultures.

All of these factors make Oldham an excellent place in which to live and work.

Oldham is located only five miles away from Manchester City Centre, close to major motorways and road networks linking it to Greater Manchester, Lancashire, and Yorkshire. It is also part of the Metrolink.

The role will involve the development of managed Clinical Networks and will involve collaboration with a broad range of stakeholders, in order to reduce health inequalities and improve health within the population of Oldham Central PCN.

The purpose of the role is to lead improvements to maximise safe, cost effective best practice in prescribing to improve the quality of patient care. The post holder will help patients to get the best from their medicines by switching medications, improving repeat prescribing processes in General Practice, including promotion of repeat dispensing and online ordering, minimising clinical risk and aiming to reduce wasted medicines.

In addition, the post holder will be responsible for encouraging the development of better understanding of the principles of medicines optimisation and promoting good practice in line with therapeutic developments. This will involve assisting the PCN in achieving national requirements, NICE implementation and utilisation of medicines optimisation initiatives.

Clinical

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.

As determined by the PCN, support medication reviews and medicines reconciliation for new care home patients and synchronising medicines for patient transfers between care settings, linking with local community pharmacies

Support the Clinical Pharmacist in Structured Medication Reviews (SMR) i.e. organise necessary monitoring tests prior to SMR

Provide expertise to address both the public health and social care needs of patients, including lifestyle advice, service information, and help in tackling local health inequalities.

Manage shared care protocols and liaise with Clinical Pharmacists for more complex patients.

Support initiatives for antimicrobial stewardship to reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing locally.

Technical and Administrative

Support the PCN multi-disciplinary team to ensure efficient medicines optimisation processes are being followed.

Implement efficient ordering and return processes and reducing medication wastage.

Promotion of Electronic Repeat Dispensing (eRD) and online ordering

Develop relationships with other pharmacy professionals and members of the multi- disciplinary team to support integration across health and social care including primary care, community pharmacy, secondary care and mental health.

Support the implementation of national prescribing policies and guidance within GP practices, care homes and other primary care settings.

Support the PCN to deliver on QIPP agenda, QOF, IIF, Medicines Optimisation Projects and locally commissioned enhanced services

All Pharmacy Technicians must work within their competencies, and have professional indemnity for their role.

General

The postholder will:

• Develop a culture that promotes equality and values diversity.
• Ensure…