Job summary
Employer heading
Pharmacy Assistant Medicines Effectiveness
Band 3
Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is a unique organisation, serving as the sole integrated provider in the Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon, and Wiltshire system. Our scope extends beyond boundaries as we oversee adult community services in Swindon and provide acute care from the Great Western Hospital.
Our 5,500 staff have 1.2m patient contacts a year, with 13,000 operations carried out in our Theatres, around 4,000 babies born, and our emergency attendances are now well over 100,000 per year. Those numbers only tell part of our story about what an exciting time it is to join Great Western Hospitals.
We are cultivating a culture that fosters our ambitions, prioritising equality, diversion, inclusion, wellbeing, and leadership. We aim to create an environment where every member of our team can truly thrive.
The Trust is a Disability Confident Employer; all applicants who have a disability can opt to be considered under the guaranteed interview scheme, which means that, providing they meet the minimum essential criteria for the post, they will be offered an interview. We are also proudly accredited as a Veteran Aware organisation and have signed The Armed Forces Covenant.
If we receive a high volume of applications, we may close adverts prior to the published closing date. Therefore, we advise you to complete and submit your application as soon as possible.
Job overview
Are you looking to join a friendly and progressive pharmacy team, which is focused on ensuring that all our patients receive safe, clinically effective and cost-efficient medicines?
The successful candidate will support our Lead Pharmacy Technician (Medicines Effectiveness) in introducing new medicines to the Trust. You will also, for an agreed proportion of your time, work with our Dispensary and Pharmacy Stores teams to develop your pharmaceutical skills.
In joining our team, we would like you to support our culture of improving together, inspire other team members, embrace change, and demonstrate a patient- centred approach. In return, we will support you in developing your knowledge and skills, and in your future career development.
We embrace new technologies. Our pharmacy robots are invaluable members of our team; electronic prescribing is well-established in almost all inpatient and outpatient settings at Great Western Hospital; we use CareFlow EPR electronic patient records system and NerveCentre for electronic pharmacy handover notes.
Main duties of the job
- To provide administrative support to our Medicines Effectiveness team, under the supervision of the Lead Pharmacy Technician (Medicines Effectiveness), assisting in the delivery of the team's key objectives, completion of the team’s agreed tasks and actions, and documentation of the team’s performance against its key performance indicators.
- To undertake, for an agreed proportion of your time, general pharmaceutical duties, under the supervision of our Dispensary or Pharmacy Stores Manager or their deputies, and assist in the provision of a safe and effective Pharmacy service in line with current policies, procedures and legal requirements.
- To work in our Dispensary, dispensing prescriptions and supporting the Dispensary Manager and Lead Technician in the day to day running.
- To work as part of the Pharmacy Stores team monitoring and maintaining ward stock levels
It is expected that the post holder will undertake in depth training and obtain a QCF level 2 in Pharmacy services unless you already hold a relevant qualification.
Working for our organisation
Our STAR values are at the heart of everything we do. You can expect to see them in the way we act and the way we treat each other. Our values make us who we are.
Service- We will put our patients first.
Teamwork We will work together.
Ambition We will aspire to provide the best service.
Respect We will act with integrity.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please see the attached JD & person specification for more detailed information, but your main responsibilities will include:
Under the supervision of the Lead Pharmacy Technician (Medicines Effectiveness) or nominated deputy:
- Monitor the team’s shared email inboxes and direct queries to relevant team members.
- Assist in preparing the paperwork necessary to get a new medicine added to the Pharmacy IT system and the Trust’s electronic prescribing system.
- Assist in producing any educational materials needed to support introduction of a new medicine.
- Assist in producing a monthly Formulary newsletter for distribution to clinicians across the Trust.
- Ensure all relevant electronic signatures are collected on GWH Formulary Exceptions forms and Unlicensed Medicines forms and maintain a register of completed forms.
- Maintain a spreadsheet of NICE technical appraisals (TAs) and assist in producing a brief monthly report of new NICE TAs for Pharmacy Board and Medicines Assurance Group.
- Maintain a spreadsheet of NHS England (NHSE) communications and assist in producing a brief monthly report of new NHSE communications for Pharmacy Board and Medicines Assurance Group.
Person specification
Education, qualifications & training
Essential criteria
- QCF level 2 in Pharmacy services – or willing and able to work towards
Experience
Essential criteria
- Working within a team
- Managing own workload to meet the needs of a service
- Previous pharmacy experience
Desirable criteria
- Previous hospital pharmacy experience
Knowledge & skills
Essential criteria
- Good IT skills including Microsoft applications
- Good literacy & numeracy skills required (assessment completed at interview)
- Well-developed physical accuracy and dexterity
- Able to concentrate for prolonged periods when subject to changing working patterns
- Acts on own initiative with the appropriate level of supervision
- Be able to provide and receive routine information where there may be barriers to understanding
- Be able to communicate information to patients/carers regarding prescribed medication
- Demonstrates good interpersonal skills with the ability to listen and undertake instruction
- Demonstrates sensitivity in dealing with patients and staff
Desirable criteria
- Knowledge of Pharmacy computer systems
Other job-related requirements
Essential criteria
- Self-starter
- Able to undertake heavy lifting and pushing/pulling on a daily basis
Applicant requirements
The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Shirley Reardon
- Job title
- Lead Pharmacy Technician (Medicines Effectiveness)
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 01793 605036
- Additional information
Available for calls 09:00 to 17:15 Mon-Fri and for informal visits by appointment only.
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