Pharmacy Technician - Patient Services

NHS; Isleworth; On-site; GBP 31,000 - 42,000

Job description

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

An excellent opportunity has arisen for an experienced hospital technician to apply for this post. The post-holder will work closely with the Senior Pharmacy Technician team - Patient Services to provide a safe, efficient and responsive dispensary service. The post-holder will take part in the medicines management service to wards at WMUH. Work to improve the admission/discharge process by facilitating the safe and efficient supply of medicines to patients. You will provide a final accuracy check to dispensed medication. You will assist in the work processes in the inpatient and outpatient pharmacy. This includes managing workflow and working alongside pharmacy staff to ensure that dispensary services are provided according to all relevant up-to-date procedures and standards.

The post holder will need to be NVQ Level 3 qualified.

Main duties of the job

Although ACPT/MMT qualifications are essential for this role, the department is open to applications from non-ACPT/MMT qualified technicians. Should these applicants be successful, they will be paid Band 4 AFC until completion of both the ACPT qualification and In-house MMT validation accreditations. Once both of these courses have been completed and passed, candidates will be placed on the Band 5 pay scale. You must be an experienced technician with good communication skills and have a demonstrated ability to work in a busy dispensary. Please note that in order to support 7-day working, this post involves working weekends on a regular basis.

About us

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is one of England's top-performing and safest trusts. We operate two main acute hospital sites - Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and West Middlesex University Hospital - along with award-winning clinics across North West London.

Our nearly 7,500 staff care for a diverse population of 1.5 million, providing full clinical services, including maternity, A&E, and children's services, plus specialist HIV and sexual health clinics. The Care Quality Commission rates us 'Good' in safety, effectiveness, care, and responsiveness, and 'Outstanding' in leadership and resource use.

We continually invest in our facilities, including a £30m expansion of critical care at Chelsea and Westminster and an £80m Ambulatory Diagnostic Centre at West Middlesex.

We are committed to equal opportunities and believe that diversity drives innovation and excellence. As part of our dedication to equity, we actively welcome applications from individuals from the global majority, veterans, and underrepresented communities. We value the unique perspectives and experiences that diverse teams bring and are committed to creating an environment where all voices are heard, respected, and empowered to succeed.

If you haven't heard from us within three weeks of the closing date, your application was likely unsuccessful.

Employment is subject to a six-month probationary period.

Some roles may require weekend shifts at multiple sites.

Job responsibilities

Dispensary Services

• Accurately identify, select, label using JAC, dispense and distribute drugs (including controlled drugs & clinical trials) for in and out patients prescriptions according to Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
• Maintain high quality of data input of patient information into the pharmacy computer system in order to ensure excellent labelling standards for dispensed medications.
• Take part in counselling and in the provision of information on medicines to patients, doctors, and other health care staff.
• Carry out reception duties, involving dealing with patients, relatives and handling prescription charges.
• Use the computer systems to track prescriptions. Ensure medication is dispensed to meet agreed delivery times and to minimize waiting times for patients.
• Deal with queries from patients and other hospital staff, referring complex issues to the supervisor or line manager.
• Ensure that all medicines are stored according to environmental requirements (e.g. temperature) and to required security standards.
• Ensure stock levels of all products are accurate and support the appropriate ordering of stock through liaison with pharmacy purchasing and procurement office.
• Ensure medication is dispensed to meet agreed turnaround times and to minimize waiting times for patients.
• Be a robot super user in order to troubleshoot complex problems and maintain efficient systems within the dispensing process.
• Check of prescriptions within the dispensary for accuracy, in line with departmental procedures.
• Dispense and check of clinical trials.
• Contribute to developing systems for service provision, which enhance the efficiency of the dispensary.
• Follow relevant procedures for Medicines Management in order to deliver the service in a safe and effective manner.
• Responsible for the provision of the Medicines Management service to designated ward areas, which involves working in clinical areas unsupervised.
• Obtain accurate medication histories for patients on admission by liaising with the patient and/or primary care team in order to support decisions about continued care.
• Implement and maintain the Patients' Own Medicines/Drug (PODs) scheme, for the designated areas (and self-administration where introduced) according to trust policies. This involves checking the suitability of patients' own medicines, i.e. correct instructions on label, expiry date, re-labelling if necessary and gaining patient consent for using their own medication.
• Initiate supply of non-stock items for one-stop dispensing i.e. ordering medication labelled ready for discharge when appropriate and to ensure a full prescription of at least 14 days of medication for inpatients (agreed appropriate quantities for other areas) is available in each patient's bedside locker.
• Counsel patients in order to provide effective and appropriate advice to patients on medication use in order to ensure their understanding of their medication including benefits of their medication and possible side effects. These may be patients with certain barriers e.g. hearing problems, language issues.
• Deal with queries and complex issues from patients and other hospital staff.
• Effectively contend with informal/verbal complaints from wards staff or patients in the first instance before appropriate referral to line manager if necessary.
• Co-ordinate the discharge medication, bringing together Patients' Own Medicines and newly dispensed items in advance of patient discharge and support the planning of patients' discharge with respect to medication, including the transcription of requests for dispensing.
• Participate in and contribute to the development of the extension of the medicines management scheme across all wards in the hospital.

Supervisory and training responsibilities

• Training and supervision of new and rotational staff.
• Deputizing for section/team leaders or senior pharmacy technicians in their absence.

Person Specification

Education and Qualifications

• NVQ level 3 or BTEC Pharmaceutical Sciences or an equivalent pharmacy technician qualification
• GPHC registration

Experience

• Able to work to standard operating procedures
• Patient Counselling
• Hospital Experience
• Wellsky/JAC pharmacy computer system experience

Skills and Knowledge

• Good written and oral communication skills
• Ability to overcome barriers
• Efficient and accurate worker
• Ability to work under pressure
• Ability to follow procedures and policies
• Ability to work under supervision
• Ability to supervise and participate in training of others
• Good time management
• Good team player and demonstrates reliability

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.

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

£31,081 to £41,956 a year per annum incl. HCAS