Job summary
- Main area
- Pharmacy
- Grade
- Band 3
- Contract
- 18 months (18 month fixed term post)
- Hours
- Full time
- Part time
- Job ref
- 150-GM1788-COR
- Employer
- Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Pharmacy department Crawley Hospital
- Town
- Crawley
- Salary
- £24,625 - £25,674 Per Annum (Pro rata for part time)
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- Today at 23:59
Employer heading
Pharmacy assistant - Homecare
Band 3
Job overview
We are looking for a reliable and conscientious person, with an aptitude for thoroughness and accuracy, to fill the highly valued role of a Pharmacy Assistant – Homecare on an 18 month fixed term contract.
The successful candidate will be a member of a friendly and supportive pharmacy team and will be based at the pharmacy department in Crawley Hospital.
Main duties of the job
For part time applicants the main duties include:
- Receiving prescriptions and checking they are valid
- Processing prescriptions and sending to homecare companies
- processing invoices for homecare deliveries
- Maintaining good record keeping of prescriptions and invoices
- Communicate with the Homecare team and companies around discrepancies.
For full time applicants there may be additional medicines management responsibilities.
Please see full job description for more detail.
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
Medicines Management
• Production of orders to suppliers and processing the orders.
• Check and process delivery notes and invoices, ensuring they reflect orders received.
• Problem solve on ordering and invoice issues, in liaison with the Computer and Procurement Pharmacy Technician.
• Receiving the delivery to the pharmacy dispensary, unpacking and recording delivery.
Pharmacy Dispensary / Ward Duties
• Undertake stock top up of medicines on wards and departments.
• Answer incoming phone calls in a polite manner, referring on as appropriate and taking accurate messages if necessary.
• Select medicines according to ward requisitions / clinic orders according to local procedure.
• Select and label medicines according to the local procedure under supervision in preparation for checking. This will require:
- Selection to a high specification of accuracy.
- Complex manipulation of dispensing into multi-dose compartment compliance aids.
• Maintain high quality of data input of into the pharmacy dispensary computer system.
Please see the person specification and job description for further information.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Educated to secondary school standard
- 5 GCSE's (grade c or above or equivalent including maths and english)
Desirable criteria
- NVQ in pharmacy services or equivalent pharmacy experience
Experience
Essential criteria
- One year experience as a pharmacy assistant or pharmacy related work or the ability to demonstrate pharmacy knowledge and procedures
- previous experience working in community, hospital or ICB
- Safe and secure handling of medicines processes
- experience on processing orders and invoice clearance
- Working with NHS pharmacy procurement, distribution, safe storage and transportation of medicines processes
Desirable criteria
- Experience training others
- Working in an inpatient environment including with direct patient contact
- Multi-disciplinary working
- Data collection
Skills and knowledge
Essential criteria
- Able to cope with medicine names
- Good organisation and prioritisation skills
- Good written skills
- good verbal communication skills - Face to face and via telephone
- Able to work to protocols, procedures and guidelines
- Able to keep accurate records
- Able to resolve problems
- Excellent attention to detail and accuracy
- Good computer skills including Microsoft office, emails and internet
- Reliable, enthusiastic and self motivated
- Good time management skills
- Ability to work under pressure
- Willing to undertake repetitive and routine work
- Able to work within teams with good interpersonal abilities
- Adaptable to change and ability to support change issues
- Good numeracy skills
- Ability to work alone or under supervision
- Honest and trustworthy
- Uses initiative but recognises limitations and able to identify when advice is needed
- Knowledge of stores/stock keeping processes
Desirable criteria
- knowledge of medicines management and relevant legislation and policies
- knowledge of safe and secure handling of medicines processes
- Experience of working with homecare teams and patients
- an understanding of information management and technology in the management of pharmaceutical services
other requirements
Essential criteria
- flexible approach
- able to concentrate on tasks for an extended period
- able to cope with interruptions when busy
- able to work to deadlines
- ability to work on multi-sites and travel between sites using own mode of transport
Desirable criteria
- Able to lift/carry goods
Employer certification / accreditation badges
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
- Daniel Clarke
- Job title
- Specialist Pharmacy procurement & technician
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 01273266001
- Additional information
Rebecca Jones
Service Development and Performance Pharmacy Manager
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