Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Procurement

The post-holder will manage and organise the daily ordering of medicines from the wholesalers to all stock holding sites. Adhering to local policy and procedures such as reorder levels. Adjustments will be made if necessary to reflect the current trend in usage.

Run the monthly ROQ and ROL report and adjust reorder levels and quantities. Turn off unused items where appropriate.

Maintain stock control including ordering (adhering to the agreed national and local contracts) and receiving of goods (including sundries).

The post holder will need to add/import new items and turn on previously turned off items if necessary.

Check contracts for the appropriate Wholesaler and create a dispensing label template for new items.

The post-holder will assess situations concerning availability of prescribed medicines and refer non-standard prescriptions/requests to the appropriate senior member of staff.

Liaise with wholesalers directly to investigate and solve supply problems or needs and that, if an alternative is sourced for necessity, keep the appropriate senior member of staff informed of any issues.

Procurement and processing of controlled drugs in compliance with controlled drug regulations.

Provide information on procurement – e.g. advice to staff (in pharmacy, wards and partner organisations) regarding delivery schedules/shortages.

Liaise with suppliers regarding invoicing and credit claim issues.

Investigate invoice/pricing queries and refer such issues to the appropriate senior member of staff.  Liaise with suppliers in these matters and request credits from wholesalers when necessary.

Organise delivery/collection of pharmaceuticals to outlying teams ensuring correct transport methods such as the cold chain are maintained.

Support with the contract changes to ensure the ordering files on Ascribe are correct and maintained, making necessary changes in accordance with local, regional and national contracts under the direction of the appropriate senior member of staff.

Treat all commercial information in confidence.

Support the provision of pharmacy activity reports relating to medicines cost and usage as per the monthly schedule or upon request using the range of data sources available.

Act upon losses and gains report in a timely manner to review stock value adjustments.

Act upon medicine recalls and shortages as needed ensuring prompt action, ensuring all relevant staff are informed, goods are located and returned, claiming appropriate credit. Update Medicine Optimisation database.

Aid the review, implementation and up-dating of SOPs within the Pharmacy Team and propose changes to practices and procedures for own work area including Procurement.

Follow all departmental Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and the Trust’s Standing Financial Instructions.

Use Define, Exend and Exend Plus to identify & analyse prescribing trends and cost saving opportunities

Process off Contract Claims as required.

Identify means to avoid unnecessary wastage including occasional transfer of goods between Trust dispensary and clinic/team bases.

Investigate stock discrepancies informing the appropriate senior member of staff of the outcome.

Support senior member of pharmacy staff with the overall procurement of medicines.

Support the clinical pharmacist and ward teams with the management of drug shortages

Maintain the security of stock of drugs, prescriptions, confidential information and materials for production of dispensed pharmaceutical products.

Required to attend necessary procurement meetings, including the West Midlands Pharmacy Procurement Sub-group.

Prescription processing

The post holder will dispense and/or supervise the dispensing of medication to inpatients/outpatients, adhering to the current departmental policies and standard operating procedures with regard to the legality, interpretation of the prescription and the accuracy of the dispensing. Other factors in the process are the timeliness of the dispensing, the provision of information and the referral of any queries related to the above to a pharmacist. Provision of information includes counselling patients, either at the pharmacy or on the ward, to ensure they understand when and how to take their medicines and any additional information related to their prescription they may require.

The post holder will be expected to take on the role of accuracy checking technician (ACT), i.e. checking for accuracy prescriptions dispensed by other members of the dispensing staff which have previously been checked for clinical appropriateness by a Pharmacist.

Ward / Departmental Supply and Requisitions

The post holder will satisfy themselves that the requisition is from a qualified member of the Nursing staff, is unambiguous and ensure that the correct drug is packaged and entered onto the computer appropriately.

The post holder will request that each ward supplies a concise list of all qualified staff signatures for cross-reference purposes within the department on a regular basis.

The post holder will also ensure that the items ordered are sent securely, complying with storage conditions, with due timeliness to the requisitioning ward.

Support the provision and coordination of the trust pharmacy led medicines reconciliation service in designated areas.

Self-Medication

Certain clinical areas within the Trust request that their patients take control of their own medication within the ward environment under varying degrees of supervision. The post holder will be expected to be aware of the ward policies and procedures for this and if necessary, liaise with the staff or prescriber, as appropriate, to ensure that prescriptions for these patients are current, legal, legible and unambiguous.

The post holder will be required to consult information sources and provide medicines information in line with the scope of the post.

The post holder will be involved in the dispensing of the patient prescriptions to ensure their arrival on the wards at the required time.

Medicines Information

The post holder will have basic patient counselling skills regarding the use and storage of medicines, they should also be aware of the legislation regarding the provision of information on every drug issued to the patient. Where there is uncertainty, the post holder will liaise with the pharmacist with a view to obtaining suitable information for the patient.

Medication queries can arise from various groups of service users and fellow health professionals: these include Doctors, Nurses, Patients, Carers, Community Pharmacies, etc. The post holder will be confident in accepting queries from these sources and ensure a timely response either from themselves, if appropriate, or by referral to a pharmacist if necessary.

Clinical Role

Provides advice to service users/carers on medicines prior to discharge, as requested by the pharmacist, and in line with departmental procedures

Provides support to ward staff and pharmacists in medicines reconciliation on admission and discharge, in accordance with departmental procedures.

Work with clinical teams to ensure seamless transfer of patient care which will include attending ward hand over meetings, conducting one to one meetings with patients when necessary together with provision of TTOs, liaising with consultants, community pharmacists, GPs and CMHTs regarding ongoing supplies of medication.

To support ward staff with use of the Trust Electronic Prescribing and Medicines Administration (EPMA) system.

To highlight medicine management incidents using the Trust Incident Reporting System and develop corrective/ preventative action plans with management e.g. fridge incidents, missing orders and dispensing/ administration errors.

Record and communicate details of all personal medicines management interventions.

Participate in the Medicines Management Audit programme. i.e. drug storage / CD audit.

Take active part in safe and efficient patient discharge process, including Discharge Medication Service (DMS).