Job summary
- Main area
- Pharmacy
- Grade
- Band 6
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time
- Part time
- Job share
- Flexible working
- Home or remote working
- Job ref
- 150-BM1541-COR-C
- Employer
- Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Brighton General Hospital
- Town
- Brighton
- Salary
- £37,338 - £44,962 Per annum
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 19/06/2025 23:59
Employer heading
Senior Pharmacy Technician - Community Health Services
Band 6
Job overview
We are looking for an experienced pharmacy technician to join our expanding and supportive Medicines Management team.
Our Medicine Management Team (MMT) is well integrated within multi-disciplinary teams combining a range of specialisms and backgrounds to offer medicines management and clinical pharmacy expertise to our patients in community health services throughout Sussex. Pharmacy services include clinical pharmacy services to bedded inpatient units, specialist pharmacy services such as rheumatology and children's services, medicines supply and distribution, pharmacy advisory service, medicines safety and governance.
Based at Brighton General Hospital the successful candidate will deliver a high quality and effective medicines management service to patients in adult beds in Brighton & Hove, be the Medicines Management lead for medical gases across the Trust, and support Trust wide Medicines Safety and Governance by participating in and leading on an interesting range of community health services workstreams. Examples include maintaining accurate records of Trust Medicines Safety and Governance meetings and following up actions arising with group members, leading across the MMT to produce a regular data dashboard demonstrating activities, coordinating the update of medicines policies and procedures to ensure timely review and ratification, and leading on clinical audits.
Main duties of the job
Working hours are currently Monday to Friday business hours, no weekends bank holidays or on-call. Flexible and hybrid working may be considered. The role will occasionally need to travel to other areas across Sussex and this will require you to have access to your own mode of transport (e.g. car).
To be considered for this exciting opportunity you will be registered with the GPhC and have considerable experience as a pharmacy technician including patient facing roles, medicines management and clinical governance. Experience of a range of health care settings is desirable. You will have excellent communication and interpersonal skills and proven team working and leadership abilities. You will have skills to plan and deliver accurate and timely work and you will be able to prioritise and manage your own workload and that of others. You will be resourceful, taking a proactive approach to lead across teams when delivering and coordinating workstreams. Your ongoing development will be encouraged and supported.
Applicants with the right experience and skills are welcomed from all branches of pharmacy practice. Informal visits prior to application or interview are encouraged. For further details / informal visits contact:
Working for our organisation
We are the main provider of NHS community services across East and West Sussex, with 6,000 staff serving 1.3 million people. We deliver essential care to adults and children, helping them manage their health, avoid hospital admissions, and reduce hospital stays.
Our Trust vision is to provide excellent care at the heart of the community. We offer opportunities across medical, clinical, support, and corporate services.
Why work for us?
• Positive 2024 NHS Staff Survey results, highlighting compassionate leadership and wellbeing
• Varied environments: community hospitals, patients’ homes, and bases across Sussex
• Flexible working options: part-time, flexi-time, annualised hours, and flexi-retirement
• Excellent training, development, and research opportunities
• Cost-effective workplace nurseries in Crawley, Hove, and Brighton
• Active EMBRACE, Disability & Wellbeing, LGBTQIA+, and Religion & Belief networks
• Level 3 Disability Confident Leader and Veteran Aware Trust
• Beautiful Sussex location near the South Downs and coast
Our values—Compassionate Care, Working Together, Achieving Ambitions, Delivering Excellence—guide everything we do.
We embrace diversity and encourage applications from all backgrounds, particularly from ethnically diverse, disabled, and LGBTQIA+ individuals. We aim to create an inclusive environment and support reasonable adjustments during recruitment.
This post may close early if sufficient applications are received.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
See attached Job Description and Person Specification for full description of role and requirements.
Medicines management
• Assist in the legal, safe and cost effective use of medicines.
• Work closely with the designated medicines management pharmacists, technicians and assistants as part of the pharmacy team to develop and deliver a pharmaceutical technical service in the bedded units and services, when required.
• Lead on Medical Gases, as the Trust wide medicines management lead, and other medicines management speciality area/s, as agreed with line manager.
• Supervise / manage pharmacy assistant(s), depending on speciality area and locality.
• Answer queries as appropriate within area of competence. Ensure the advice is in line with evidence-based prescribing, pharmaceutical care plans and promoting compliance with local Sussex Partner formulary.
• Using own knowledge and skills to manage and deal with complex problem-solving issues, e.g. supply of pharmaceuticals, administration of medicines or medicine management queries (within a framework of broad polices and guidance and being aware of own limitations).
• In agreement with line-manager, travel to various sites within SCFT to deliver medicines management services. This may be to cover the work of other technicians in their absence.
Pharmacy Dispensary
• To work in the pharmacy dispensary as an Accredited Checking Technician (ACT) when required. Participate in the pharmacy dispensary rota. (currently the pharmacy dispensary is not open on weekends and BH).
Policy and service development
• Develop and write the appropriate Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for their area of expertise. Train staff in these activities.
• Make improvements to ensure legal requirements and best practice is adopted at all times. This includes the identification, preparation and updating of the appropriate SOPs in line with any changes in legal and ethical policy, local and regional guidance as well as departmental working arrangements.
• Support Trust Medicines Safety and Governance Group including attending regular group meetings, taking accurate minutes of the meetings, maintaining the schedule of documents and policies for group ratification and finalising documents ratified by the group, follow up on actions.
• Support the development of Patient Group Directions (PGDs), as required.
- To lead on various emerging medicines management projects for a wide variety of community health services, as agreed with the line manager, including for example antimicrobial stewardship, education and training, Patient Group Directions, medicines safety, data collection/analysis/reporting, etc.
Finance
• Assist in the legal, safe and cost effective use of medicines.
Audit and research
• Plan and develop audits as part of quality improvement processes completing the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle under the supervision of the Senior Clinical Pharmacist.
• Develop, produce, analyse and interpret data and expenditure reports and other relevant statistical and financial data. Write reports and present findings as appropriate.
Staff supervision, training and development
• Manage or indirectly supervise the staff involved in the area of expertise (if relevant).
• Assist in the training and development of pharmacy and other healthcare staff, as appropriate.
See attached Job Description and Person Specification for full description of role and requirements.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- NVQ Level 3 or BTEC in Pharmaceutical Sciences or an equivalent pharmacy technician qualification.
- Pharmacy Technician Registered with General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).
- Accredited Checking Technician (ACT) or willing to work towards ACT
- National Medicines Management Accreditation or equivalent.
- Educational Supervisor or equivalent
- Foundation leadership qualification e.g. Edward Jenner, NHS or equivalent
- Leading for Change, CPPE or equivalent
Desirable criteria
- Supervisory/ Management qualification (e.g.Mary Seacole, NHS or equivalent) or previous supervisory or managerial experience.
- Consultation skills, CPPE or equivalent
- Shared decision making, CPPE or equivalent
Experience
Essential criteria
- Extensive hospital pharmacy (or equivalent) experience in areas of Pharmacy Technical Services and / or Medicines Management.
- Working in an inpatient environment including wards with direct patient contact either within an acute trust or similar setting.
- Medication reconciliation processes.
- Staff training and development.
Desirable criteria
- Service and policy development, including writing policies, procedures and protocols.
- Multi-disciplinary working
- Supervisory / managerial / team leadership role.
- Audit experience and implementation.
- Entering and analysing prescribing data
skills and knowledge
Essential criteria
- General knowledge of common drug therapy and their uses.
- Excellent computer skills. This includes keyboard skills and the ability to use IT software, e.g. Internet, Intranet, Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook).
- Recognises personal limitations and boundaries of professional competence, able to identify when advice needs to be sought.
Desirable criteria
- Knowledge of medicines management and relevant legislation and policies.
- Experience of working with Patients’ Own Drugs Schemes and able to assess patients’ own drugs to ensure suitability for future use.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Good organisational skills and time management, able to prioritise own work and meet targets.
- Able to work within teams, good interpersonal abilities.
- Able to organise and manage / supervise staff to carry out their daily activities.
- Able to demonstrate presentation skills (e.g. using Powerpoint or other medium) to team/staff members
Other
Essential criteria
- Professional appearance and manner
- Ability to work on Multi-sites and to travel between multi-sites using own mode of transport.
Desirable criteria
- Reliable, enthusiastic and self-motivated
- Able to lift / carry pharmaceutical goods.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
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.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Karen Varisco
- Job title
- Deputy Chief Pharmacist
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 07825 606914
- Additional information
Karen Varisco
Deputy Chief Pharmacist
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 01273 696011 x3074 or 07825 606914Lorna Elliott
Principal Clinical Pharmacist and Medication Safety Officer (MSO)
Email:[email protected]
Telephone: 01273696011 ext 3074 or 07919145564
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