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Job summary

Main area
Pharmacy - Paediatrics
Grade
NHS AfC: Band 5
Contract
Permanent
Hours
Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Shift Pattern: 9am-5.30pm Monday to Friday, with 9am-5pm for rostered weekends and bank holidays. Late duty as per roster 9.30am-6pm)
Job ref
196-LIS8399
Employer
Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
Evelina London Children's Hospital
Town
London
Salary
£34,089 - £41,498 p.a inclusive of HCA
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
07/05/2024 23:59

Employer heading

Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust logo

Senior Paediatric Pharmacy Technician - Dispensary

NHS AfC: Band 5

Guy’s and St Thomas’ is among the UK’s busiest and most successful NHS foundation trusts. We provide a full range of hospital and community services for people in south London and as well as specialist care for patients from further afield including cancer, renal, orthopaedic, respiratory and cardiovascular services.

Guy’s is home to the largest dental school in Europe and a £160 million Cancer Centre opened in 2016. As part of our commitment to provide care closer to home, in 2017 we also opened a cancer centre and a kidney treatment centre at Queen Mary’s Hospital in Sidcup. St Thomas’ has one of the largest critical care units in the UK and one of the busiest emergency departments in London. It is also home to Evelina London Children’s Hospital.

Evelina London cares for local children in Lambeth and Southwark and provides specialist services across south east England including cardiac, renal and critical care services. We lead a number of specialist service networks aiming to ensure children are treated locally where possible, but have access to specialist expertise when they need it. Our community services include health visiting, school nursing and support for families of children with long-term conditions. 

Our adult community services teams deliver care at the heart of the local communities we serve, working in partnership with GPs, local authorities and other healthcare and voluntary sector organisations. Working with our partners in Lambeth and Southwark, we are focusing on new ways of working to improve care for local patients.

In February 2021 the Royal Brompton and Harefield joined Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, bringing together world-leading expertise in the care and research of heart and lung disease. Our merger provides a once in a generation opportunity to build a lasting, world-renowned heart and lung centre, providing the highest quality care for patients and conducting world-leading research.

We have a reputation for clinical excellence and high quality teaching and research. We are part of King’s Health Partners, one of eight accredited UK academic health sciences centres. In partnership with King’s College London we have dedicated clinical research facilities including an MHRA accredited Phase I clinical trials unit.

Patients are at the heart of everything we do and we pride ourselves on ensuring the best possible patient experience as well as safe, high quality care. We are proud to have one of the lowest mortality rates in the NHS. Following a comprehensive Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection in 2019 we maintained our overall rating of ‘good’. Our adult community services achieved a rating of ‘outstanding’.

The commitment of our 23,500 staff is key to our success. We are one of the largest local employers and we aim to develop and support all our staff so they are able to deliver high quality, safe and efficient care. The 2019 NHS staff survey results show that we have one of the most engaged and motivated workforces in the NHS. We know this has a positive impact on the care provided to our patients.

We have one of the most ambitious capital investment programmes anywhere in the NHS.



Job overview

We are looking for an experienced, enthusiastic and motivated pharmacy technician to join our dispensary team within Evelina London Pharmacy. You will play a role the delivery of pharmaceutical care to a diverse group of paediatric patients. You will work in a structured environment providing support to the wider team to meet key directorate targets.

Your role will be to support the Principal Paediatric Pharmacy Technician in providing a safe, efficient and accurate dispensary service. Including the dispensing and checking of prescriptions, counselling of patients/carers, maintenance of stock and associated documentation.  Assist in the supervision and training of pharmacy staff working within the Evelina London dispensary.   Deputise for the dispensary Principal Paediatric Pharmacy Technician Pharmacy in their absence.

Main duties of the job

  • Provide a safe and efficient supply of pharmaceutical products to patients.  Including dispensing/checking of screened prescriptions and counselling to patients/carers.
  • Stock control and inventory management.
  • Assisting in the supervision and training of junior members of the team.
  • Undertaking audit and project work.
  • Deputise for the Principal Paediatric Pharmacy Technician.

Excellent interpersonal skills in a multidisciplinary environment

Effective communication and organisational skills

The ability to work independently and as part of a team

The flexibility to adapt to changing demands

The ability to work to precise timescales and deadlines

Good working knowledge of hospital pharmacy processes.

Computer literate and have a keen eye for detail.

You will already possess an accredited checking pharmacy technician (ACPT) qualification or be enrolled and working towards the qualification.

For all pharmacy technician posts you require to have successfully completed an NVQ Pharmaceutical Services Level 3 or equivalent and be registered as a Pharmacy Technician with the General Pharmaceutical Council.

Working for our organisation

Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust comprises five of the UK's best known hospitals - Guy's, St Thomas', Evelina London Children's Hospital, Royal Brompton and Harefield - as well as community services in Lambeth and Southwark, all with a long history of high quality care, clinical excellence, research and innovation.

The Pharmacy departments of Guys and St Thomas' provide safe and effective pharmaceutical ward and dispensary services to the many inpatients and outpatients of the Trust's many specialities.

The post holder must demonstrate their commitment to upholding the Trust values, within which we carry out our roles:

Put patients first - consider the patient's needs and wishes in all that they do

Take pride in what they do - strive for highest standards on own work and challenge colleagues to do the same

Respect others - patients, visitors and colleagues. Actively give and receive feedback

Strive to be the best - in terms of patient care & teamwork

Act with integrity - maintain the privacy & dignity of patients, work with integrity and be trustworthy, be accountable for own work

 

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Duties and Responsibilities

Operational

  • Participate in the timely, accurate and cost-effective dispensing of medicines against outpatient and inpatients prescriptions.
  • Participate in the final check of clinically screened prescriptions by a pharmacist.
  • Participate in the provision of counselling and advice to patients/carers on the use of their/child’s medication.
  • Participate in the dispensing and checking of controlled drugs. Ensuring appropriate storage, accuracy and record keeping is followed.
  • Participate in the dispensing and checking of clinical trial prescriptions as required.
  • Ensure that procedures relating to good dispensing practice are followed, and encourage and maintain high standards and orderly methods of working.
  • Encourage and support compliance with the paediatric formulary and dispensary policies.
  • Participate in the Omnicell service by completing cycle counts as required.
  • Participate in the medicines management service to inpatients if required.
  • Responsible for the maintenance of dispensary documentation.
  • Assist in the collection and preparation of workload, quality and financial indicators.
  • Assist in project work as required.

Stock Control

  • Supervise stock and consumable management in the dispensary, including stock checks, stock rotation, expiry date checks and relevant documentation.
  • Participate in the problem solving of incorrect stock levels, generated by stock checks and adhoc queries.
  • Responsible for the management of medicine waste and medication returns. Ensuring recycling and destruction procedures are adhered to.
  • Participate in the investigation and required actions of drug alerts/recalls and out of stocks.

Management and Supervision

  • Assist in the supervision of the day to day running of the dispensary as required by the Principal Paediatric Pharmacy Technician.
  • Assist in the supervision of pharmacy assistants, pre-reg trainee pharmacy technicians, qualified technicians and junior pharmacists in the dispensary.
  • Deputise for the Principal Paediatric Pharmacy Technician when required.

Training and Education

  • Complete the clinical trials accreditation as required.
  • Undertake CPD and to attend courses in practice areas where needs are identified.
  • Participate in the department performance review scheme by attending regular review sessions with the Principal Paediatric Pharmacy Technician.
  • Participate in the induction and training of volunteers, pharmacy assistants, pre-registration trainee pharmacy technicians, qualified technicians, trainee pharmacists and junior pharmacists.
  • Participate in the assessments and appraisals of the pharmacy assistants, pre-registration trainee pharmacy technicians and qualified technicians.

Other Duties

  • Participate in the departmental performance review development scheme by attending regular review sessions with the Principal Paediatric Pharmacy Technician - Dispensary.
  • Participate in the various departmental rotas, including weekend, bank holiday and late night rotas.
  • Undertake any other duties requested by the Pharmacy Operations Manager and Principal Paediatric Pharmacy Technician.
  • Work in line with trust policies and procedures.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria
  • NVQ Pharmacy Services Level 3 plus an accredited underpinning knowledge
  • Completion of or working towards a recognised Accredited Checking Pharmacy Technician (ACPT) qualification
  • Registered as a pharmacy technician with the General Pharmaceutical Council
Desirable criteria
  • Practice/Educational Supervisor qualification
  • Supervisory/leadership and management qualification
  • Medicine management accreditation

Experience

Essential criteria
  • Working in a busy hospital dispensary
  • Supervising and mentoring staff
  • Checking of medicines in a hospital pharmacy
Desirable criteria
  • Supervising the day to day running of a dispensary
  • Working in a children's hospital dispensary

Skills

Essential criteria
  • Demonstrated ability to dispense accurately to set standards
  • Demonstrated ability to dispense clinical trials
  • Demonstrated ability to counsel and give advice to patients/their carers on their/child’s medications
  • Demonstrated ability to final check of clinically screened prescriptions
  • Demonstrated ability to work to set procedures
  • Demonstrated ability to work accurately under pressure
  • Demonstrated ability to prioritise and organise routine daily tasks using own initiative, whilst supervising the team
  • Demonstrated ability to, plan, organise and deliver, training and assessment.
  • Demonstrated ability to motivate self and others
  • Demonstrated ability to communicate routine, more complex and sensitive information effectively using clear written and spoken English and overcome barriers to understanding
  • Demonstrated effective customer service skills
  • Demonstrated pharmacy computer and IT skills
  • Demonstrated accurate numeracy skills, without using a calculator, including
  • Demonstrated ability to clearly and accurately complete complex routine and non-routine documentation
Desirable criteria
  • Delivering induction and training e.g. Train the Trainer or equivalent
  • Demonstrated ability to write standard operating procedures
  • Demonstrated ability to undertake recruitment and selection of pharmacy staff
  • Demonstrated ability to conduct appraisals/ performance development reviews (PDR)
  • JAC pharmacy computer system
  • Demonstrated ability to manage stock inventory

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Timewise helps businesses to attract and develop the best talent through flexible working.Care quality commission - GoodDisability confident employer

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

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Agnieszka Sadowska-Koszela
Job title
Principal Paediatric Pharmacy Technician
Email address
[email protected]
Telephone number
0207 188 9152
Additional information

Alternatively please contact: 

Patricia Hayes
Pharmacy Operations Manager
[email protected]

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