Higher Level Pharmacy Technician - Clinical Services

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust celebrates diversity and promotes equal opportunities; we are committed to challenging and eliminating racism and other forms of discrimination and advancing and promoting equality of opportunity in the provision of services and creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We believe that everyone has the right to be treated with dignity and respect.

We take positive action to support disadvantaged groups and also particularly encourage applications from ethnic minorities, disabled and LGBTQIA+ people that are under-represented in our workforce. Furthermore we welcome applications from reservists and ex-armed forces personnel as we recognise the benefits of the values, skills, training and experience that they bring to their work with us. We encourage all applicants to share their equality information with us.

Job overview

Are you looking for an opportunity to elevate your technical and clinical knowledge across a range of services? Why not consider mental health?

If you are forward thinking, enthusiastic and self-motivated come and join our friendly Medicines Management Team.

Why choose us?

• Specialist services: we currently have opportunities across acute mental health services.
• Professional growth; support continuous learning and career development through our education and training department.
• Our supportive environment: The friendly and multiskilled team are here ready to support you on your journey.
• As a department we are embracing the Trust's ambition to digitally transform our services and have introduced new initiatives to support this.

Please feel free to get in touch to organise a visit to our department, or for any questions you may have.

You will have the opportunity to work within a multi-disciplinary team, supporting patient care and assisting with medicines reconciliations and timely discharge processes. There will be an opportunity to assist nursing staff with medicines management, completing audits and providing training and education.

To maintain Pharmacy Technician competencies and to continue to develop your skills, there is a requirement to provide some support to our dispensary services on a rota basis.

Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 1.4 million people across our region and are also commissioned for services that cover the North West, North Wales and the Midlands.

We offer specialist inpatient and community services that support physical and mental health and specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability, addiction and brain injury services. Mersey Care is one of only three trusts in the UK that offer high secure mental health facilities.

At the heart of all we do is our commitment to 'perfect care' - care that is safe, effective, positively experienced, timely, equitable and efficient. We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families, and carers to design and develop future services together. We're currently delivering a programme of organisational and service transformation to significantly improve the quality of the services we provide and safely reduce cost as we do so.

To carry out under the direction of the Specialist Pharmacy technician Manager, the following duties in accordance with current Trust and Departmental procedures:

1. To develop and maintain safe systems of medication supply to in-patient areas.
2. To liaise with ward staff with regard to prescription interventions e.g., missing details, incorrectly prescribed dosages. Fill in any adverse incident reporting paperwork to participate in the medicines management 7-day supply service including by accuracy checking slots in the dispensary to ensure maintenance of competency in final accuracy checking.
3. Supply of compliance aids is a key element of this role. These may require complex medication regimes that necessitate the accurate manipulation of pharmaceutical products.
4. To organise and supervise the work of pharmacy dispensers, assistants and other technicians.
5. To assist the Specialist Pharmacy Technician Manager in the running of clinical trials and the maintenance of necessary records, in accordance with protocols. This is to include the training of other staff in the dispensing of clinical trials.
6. To accurately and efficiently supply dispensed medication within Trust frameworks for inpatients, outpatients, and community patients including discharge, weekend leave, self-medication, and patient information leaflets.
7. Following successful demonstration of agreed medicines optimisation competencies, to complete the accurate drug history and support medicines reconciliation of patients' medication and assess medicines for usability at ward level.
8. To maintain contemporaneous records on the appropriate clinical system.
9. Where appropriate to be involved in the organisation of the supply and monitoring of medications to patients within the trust.

This will include:

• Dispensing and checking of medication (including utilising compliance aids) in accordance with protocols with regard to blood result status
• Liaising with patients and clinical teams regarding the appropriate supply of medications.
• Receiving and processing of denzapine/ clozapine and other therapeutic monitoring blood results where appropriate
• Issue of medication to clients at ward level supporting ward-based discharge
• To update and maintain pharmacy stock control system records with regard to medicines supply

Please refer to JD and person specification for more details.

• NVQ Level 3 in Pharmacy Services and BTEC level 3 in Pharmaceutical Science, or equivalent qualification with underpinning knowledge
• Accredited Technical Accuracy Checking Qualification
• Registration with General Pharmaceutical Council as a Pharmacy Technician

• Willingness to work towards BTEC/ NVQ Level 4 Clinical Diploma
• NVQ A1 workplace assessor (or willingness to work towards)
• Relevant medicines management qualification, or willingness to work towards or equivalent experience

• Ability to train others
• Proven relevant pharmacy experience
• Experience of multi-disciplinary team working
• Demonstrable experience of dispensing and accuracy checking medication
• Experience of using electronic medicines management systems, including oversight of stock levels
• Clear understanding of relevant legislation and guidance
• Demonstrable evidence of commitment to self-development and CPD

• Demonstrable post qualification hospital pharmacy experience
• Experience of working on wards
• Experience of working within an NHS organisation
• Experience of supervising staff within a technical area or pharmacy services
• Knowledge of mental health
• Knowledge of mental health medications
• Experience in mental health

• Continuous Improvement
• Accountability
• Respectfulness
• Enthusiasm
• Support
• High professional standards
• Responsive to service users
• Engaging leadership style
• Strong customer service belief
• Transparency and honesty
• Discreet
• Change oriented

• Team player but with the ability to work alone
• Drive and enthusiasm
• Self-motivated
• Excellent verbal communication
• Customer care and near patient contact skills
• Basic IT skills

Please ensure you check the email account from which you apply for all correspondence. All information regarding your application will come from apps.trac.jobs not NHS Jobs.

Only those applicants who demonstrate clearly how they meet our person specification will be shortlisted for interview.

As a Disability Confident Employer, we offer a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants who consider themselves to be disabled who meet the minimum (essential) criteria for the role in the person specification. If you would like your application to be considered under the Trust's guaranteed interview scheme you can indicate this in the personal information section of your online application form.

Should you require a reasonable adjustment to our recruitment process please email recruitment@merseycare.nhs.uk to ensure that measures can be put in place to support you.

We reserve the right to close any vacancy earlier than advertised in exceptional circumstances once we have received a high volume of applications.

The Trust expects all post holders who require an enhanced DBS for their role subscribe to the DBS Update Service. You will be required to enrol for this service for a fee of £16 per year and maintain registration. Trans applicants who require a DBS check and do not want to reveal details of their previous identity can contact the DBS Sensitive Applications Team (01516761452 or email sensitive@dbs.gsi.gov.uk) with their application number once they have completed their DBS application form. The team can prevent any previous identity showing on the DBS Certificate, unless the applicant has a conviction under their previous details in which case this will need to be disclosed.

Please be advised that the use of Artificial Intelligence on applications is monitored and if you choose to use this, you must declare this on your application form.

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

• Job Description & Person Specification (PDF, 186.0KB)
• OH Risk ID (PDF, 144.4KB)
• A Great Place to Work (PDF, 2.1MB)
• Our People Promise and Charter (PDF, 5.8MB)
• Employee Benefits (PDF, 950.7KB)