Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The post holder will

v  work under the direction of the Senior Pharmacy Technician in the Dispensary and Senior Pharmacy Assistants in the provision of a high quality, cost effective and efficient patient centred pharmacy service to the Trust

v  support the governance and medicines risk management agenda locally

v  support the development of the assistant teams to compliment and facilitate multidisciplinary working

v  act as a role model and provide a consistently high level of communication to the Pharmacy staff and Pharmacy customers

v  support the agreed policies and procedures for safe medicines use and support mechanisms to promote high quality medicine use, effective risk management, clinical governance and adherence to Trust policies and guidelines concerning medicines use

v  work closely with other staff in the directorate to ensure the delivery of an integrated pharmacy service

v  contribute to the development of the service

v  support the ‘professional development’ of assistants 

Main Duties

At all times, follow documented standard operating procedures (SOPs).  Be responsible for keeping up to date with changes to standard operating procedures 

Follow strict guidance for wearing personal protective equipment and personal hygiene 

Routinely clean and sanitise working area, ensuring it has been cleaned between shifts 

Receive prescriptions from customers/staff in accordance with dispensary procedures 

Process requests coordinated with the prescription tracker 

Support the Senior Pharmacy Technicians in the Dispensary, Senior Pharmacy Assistants and assistant teams 

Ensure ward medicines orders are dealt with in a timely manner seeking advice and guidance from the Senior Pharmacy Technician or Senior Pharmacy Assistant where queries and problems arise 

Act as a role model within pharmacy and demonstrate the ability to provide a timely and efficient service for the customers of the pharmacy service 

Undertake waste management and disposal of returned pharmaceutical products which may include hazardous material, following standard operating procedures 

Maintain the shelves and storage areas in a neat and tidy manner ensuring good rotation of stock 

Maintain accurate records of ‘To-Follows’. Liaise with the Senior Pharmacy Technician or Senior Pharmacy Assistant – Medicines Management regarding stockholding problems 

Ensure adherence to standard operating procedures 

Answer the telephone and deal with, or redirect queries appropriately with a customer friendly approach 

Liaise with a range of health care professionals, and the outpatient pharmacy to ensure the best outcome for users of the service 

Work closely with the portering team to ensure medicines are ready for delivery runs 

Ensure timely distribution of medicines to the wards and liaise with the pharmacy team and ward staff regarding supply problems in a timely manner 

Support of Medicines Management 

Liaise with the Dispensary Team Leader, Senior Pharmacy Technician - Dispensary or Senior Pharmacy Assistant on a day to day basis to support the smooth running of the dispensary 

Deal with queries, requests from customers at the Pharmacy reception and on the telephone to ensure medicines are returned to the ward or clinical area in a timely manner 

Ensure all work is logged into the dispensary correctly 

Ensure advance prescriptions are placed in the concertina file for repeat dispensing and repeat outpatient antibiotic prescriptions are dispensed and ready for the outpatient nurses to collect when required 

Greet customers of the pharmacy department politely, promptly maintaining privacy and confidentiality throughout and ensure that correct procedures are followed at all times 

Ensure that the outpatient prescription declaration is complete 

Operate within the limitations of the job role 

Ensure the delivery bags for the pharmacy dispensary are ready and labelled correctly. Ensure there are enough delivery bags in the department to ensure safe transportation of medicines 

Assist in all housekeeping duties within the Pharmacy Department 

Support and assist new starters within their training period 

Undertake general clerical duties including filing and the daily cleaning 

Maintain adequate copies of patient information leaflets (PIL) and DOAC leaflets for the dispensary on a weekly basis 

Ensure the pharmacy has adequate supply of address labels for sending stock bags out to wards 

Clinical Governance 

Support the pharmacy clinical governance agenda 

Support the investigation of incidents and complaints in the Pharmacy 

Contribute to risk assessments 

Report incidents and near misses following guidance from departmental and Trust wide policies 

Keep up-to-date with memos and emails within the department and attend meetings regularly, contributing when necessary 

Pharmacy Practice 

Deal with queries and requests from patients and staff at the Pharmacy reception and on the telephone in a timely manner 

Ensure medication is dispensed to meet agreed delivery times and to minimise waiting times for patients 

Receive prescriptions from hospital staff in accordance with dispensary procedures 

Prioritise prescriptions according to urgency. Inform ward staff of prescription progress where necessary 

Ensure that the exemption status of patients is checked in order to accurately collect prescription fees 

Be responsible for handling small amounts of money or bank card transactions for prescription charges 

Check if the money and card transactions balance after a weekend and take the money to General Office and report any discrepancies to the Senior Pharmacy Technician - Dispensary

Replenish medicines boxes for designated clinics and inform the Senior Pharmacy Technician-Dispensary if there are discrepancies 

Receive stocklists/orders from wards/departments and forward to stores for processing 

Hand out topical treatments to Infection Control Nurses, making sure stock is booked out and replenished as needed 

Order dispensary sundries from Burnley General Teaching Hospital Pharmacy Department and ensure stock is put away in a timely manner 

Top up stock in the dispensary on a weekly basis 

Replace pharmaceutical waste bins as necessary 

Communication 

Adapt your communication style to be able to share information. 

Participate in regular meetings and huddles. 

Communicate important information accurately in both written and verbal forms. 

Check the identity of a person before handing over any medicines 

Comply with current legislation, policy and good practice 

Ensure communication between all assistants and other members of pharmacy and the healthcare team 

Ability to keep information confidential 

Ensure an up-to-date audit trail is in place for items that are podded to a ward making sure that correct procedures are followed at all times 

Use Slack and e-mails; respond to queries in a timely and friendly manner. 

Answer the telephone; respond to queries in a timely and friendly manner.  

Training and Development 

Support and contribute to the training of pharmacy assistants and Student Pharmacy Technicians who are undertaking in-house training in reception duties 

Undertake, comment and perform in accordance with the pharmacy structure; Personal Development Reviews (PDR) and the development of Personal Development Plans (PDP) for staff 

Work closely with the Senior Pharmacy Technician - Education and Training and support measures to assess the competence of pharmacy assistants e.g. competency assessment framework 

Contribute to education and training in pharmacy 

Identify own training needs and maintain a portfolio of practice

Medicines and Resource Management

Support the implementation of IT solutions to improve the quality of medicines management 

Audit, Research and Development  

Support pharmacy involvement in medicines related clinical audit

Support audits and practice research within the Pharmacy Directorate 

Professional Responsibilities 

Act as an Ambassador for the Trust 

Oversee standards of behaviour and customer care so that patients, visitors and staff have a positive impression, feel confident in the professionalism of staff and feel that they are respected 

Ensure that personal actions and conduct comply with Trust safety policies, procedures and guidelines 

Promote the equality, diversity and rights of patients, visitors and colleagues 

General 

Participate in the weekend service, and Bank Holiday service on a rota basis 

Maintain satisfactory personal performance and professional standards and to achieve, where possible, agreed objectives described in the Annual Staff Appraisal system undertaken by the line manager 

Be aware of and apply relevant legislation such as Health and Safety at Work Act, COSSH, Medicines Act, GMP, GDP etc 

Nothing omitted or written here shall absolve the post holder from at all times ensuring that correct, professional techniques, ethics, attitudes and procedures are maintained by his or herself or the staff for whom he/she is responsible 

To undertake any other relevant duties, as may be required by the Clinical Director of Pharmacy 

Post holders are expected to work flexibly within their pay band. They should only be expected to carry out activities for which they are competent. Alternatively they may carry out the additional duties if they are receiving support or training in order to obtain the recognised level of competence.