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Job summary

Main area
Cancer
Grade
NHS AfC: Band 6
Contract
Permanent
Hours
Full time - 37.5 hours per week
Job ref
220-WHT-3144
Employer
Whittington Health NHS Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
Whittington Hospital
Town
London
Salary
£44,806 - £53,134 per annum inclusive of HCAs
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
30/06/2025 23:59

Employer heading

Whittington Health NHS Trust logo

Specialist Pharmacy Technician - Production

NHS AfC: Band 6

Covid-19 Vaccination 

Getting vaccinated, and getting a booster, remains the best defence against COVID-19.
We encourage and support  staff to get  COVID-19 vaccine and a booster dose as and when they are eligible. 

Please note in order to progress your application, your data will be processed by our 3rd party recruitment providers – North London Partners Shared Service, who conduct recruitment activities on behalf of Whittington Health NHS Trust.

For our current apprenticeship vacancies, please go to https://www.gov.uk/apply-apprenticeship and use Keyword ‘Whittington’

By applying for this role, you accept in the event you are successful that your personal data may be transferred from the Trust to another NHS organisation where your employment transfers within the NHS. This is in accordance with the streamlining programme which is aimed at saving you time and improving efficiencies within the NHS when your employment transfers.

 


 

Job overview

We are seeking a motivated and enthusiastic individual for this exciting post to support the Pharmacy Aseptic Services in the provision of chemotherapy to patients within the Trust. 

We are looking for a qualified technician to join our small friendly team. You will have recent aseptic experience, excellent communication skills, and an excellent knowledge of Good Manufacturing Practice. You will also have experience of leading a team, staff supervision, training others and work planning. 

The Department is hugely supportive and actively encourages creative thinking to improve services, patient experience and to develop new roles, drawing on strengths and experiences of the team. 

Main duties of the job

Please see the Job Description and the Persons Specification for further details about the job role. If you are unable to access the PDF, the details of the job description can also be found in the 'Detailed Job Description and Main responsibilities' section.

Working for our organisation

Whittington Health serves a richly diverse population and works hard to ensure that all our services are fair and equally accessible to everyone. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the way we look after our staff.  We aim to employ a workforce which is as representative as possible of this population, so we are open to the value of differences in age, disability, gender, marital status, pregnancy and maternity, race, sexual orientation, and religion or belief.  The Trust believes that as a public sector organisation we have an obligation to have recruitment, training, promotion and other formal employment policies and procedures that are sensitive to these differences. We think that by doing so, we are better able to treat our patients as well as being a better place to work.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Key tasks will include the following:

To assist and supervise, to a high quality, the provision of a chemotherapy compounding service and ensure the safe accurate provision of supportive medication. To support the roles of and work under the supervision of the Chief Technician & Accountable Pharmacist.

Main duties

  • To manage and co-ordinate all aspects of the day-to-day delivery of technical sterile and non-sterile services from the production unit. 
  • To ensure aseptic duties are carried out according to national standards and in line with recognised guidance governing aseptic practice. 
  • To ensure appropriate monitoring is carried out in the unit for regulatory requirements to be met, ensuring prompt escalation and appropriate corrective action taken when necessary. 
  • To write, develop, and assure implementation of policies and standard operating procedures (SOPs).
  • To ensure SOPs are adhered to and production records and training documents are completed appropriately. 
  • To supervise the work of the technical services team within the production unit, ensuring daily capacity is monitored according to SOPs, to ensure appropriate staffing levels.
  • To supervise the work of the technical services team to ensure that all products are prepared in accordance with current guidelines.
  • To ensure that all activities, documentation, and procedures within the unit meet current legislation such as GMP, GCP, Health and Safety and COSHH.
  • To ensure and supervise the safe handling of cytotoxic, hazardous, and toxic materials.
  • To be responsible for stock control for consumable items, drugs, and raw materials and the appropriate charging of all outgoing items.
  • To assist the Chief Pharmacy Technician – Production with the ordering of outsourced products including chemotherapy, TPN, and other Specials from commercial suppliers, and to ensure appropriate stock levels of these are maintained. 
  • To assist the Chief Pharmacy Technician – Production, in collecting data for the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) reports, and Quality Indicators (QIs). 
  • To assist in the internal and external audits of the aseptic service, and the subsequent approved action plans. 
  • To assist in the production aspects of clinical trials in liaison with the clinical trials team, and Good Clinical Practice (GCP).
  • To prepare aseptic products within the isolator according to approved local SOPs, maintaining personal aseptic technique and validations.
  • To promote and encourage reporting and learning from near-misses and errors within the service.
  • To investigate errors in the unit, make recommendations and implement approved changes to practice in order to reduce the likelihood of reoccurrence.

Please see the Job Description and the Persons Specification for further details about the job role. 

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria
  • NVQ3
  • Professional registration as a Pharmacy Technician with the GPhC
Desirable criteria
  • ACPT and/or PAAP accreditation
  • Management/Leadership qualification
  • Other courses and qualifications related to Technical Services

Skills

Essential criteria
  • Able to work well in a team
  • Able to train others
  • Problem solving skills
  • Computer/IT skills
  • Clear and literate writing skills
  • Attention to detail
  • Ability to contribute to planning of service developments, and to manage change
Desirable criteria
  • Experience with using Chemocare and/or CMM (JAC)
  • Experience of providing education and training to pharmacy staff, nursing staff and doctors.

Experience

Essential criteria
  • Recent hospital or aseptic unit experience
  • Experience of manufacturing aseptically prepared products in an isolator, including validations
  • Proven track record in leading a team, managing time and managing resources to deliver timely outcomes.
  • Experience and knowledge of the safety aspects of handling cytotoxics and other hazardous products.
  • Proven track record of maintaining good relationships with team members and the wider healthcare team.
  • Proven track record in leading a team, managing time and managing resources to deliver timely outcomes

Knowledge

Essential criteria
  • Knowledge of cytotoxic handling
  • Knowledge of all legislation relating to the procurement, storage, supply, and use of medicines
  • Knowledge of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)
  • Working knowledge of pharmacy procedures, practices and legislation including Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH)
Desirable criteria
  • Knowledge of Good Clinical Practice (GCP) in relation to clinical trials.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

No smoking policyPositive about disabled peopleDisability confident leaderInvestors in PeopleImproving working livesCare quality commission - GoodDisability confident committed

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

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

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Joshni Seery
Job title
Chief Technician - Technical Services
Email address
[email protected]
Telephone number
02072883259
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