Job summary
- Main area
- Pharmacy
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 6
- Contract
- 12 months (fixed term)
- Hours
- Full time
- Part time
- Flexible working
 
- Job ref
- 249-7523640
- Employer
- Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Great Western Hospital
- Town
- swindon
- Salary
- £38,682 - £46,580 per annum pro rata
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 14/11/2025 23:59
Employer heading
 
	
Specialist Senior Pharmacy Technician - Antimicrobials
NHS AfC: Band 6
Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is a unique organisation, serving as the sole integrated provider in the Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon, and Wiltshire system. Our scope extends beyond boundaries as we oversee adult community services in Swindon and provide acute care from the Great Western Hospital.
Our 5,500 staff have 1.2m patient contacts a year, with 13,000 operations carried out in our Theatres, around 4,000 babies born, and our emergency attendances are now well over 100,000 per year. Those numbers only tell part of our story about what an exciting time it is to join Great Western Hospitals.
We are cultivating a culture that fosters our ambitions, prioritising equality, diversion, inclusion, wellbeing, and leadership. We aim to create an environment where every member of our team can truly thrive.
The Trust is a Disability Confident Employer; all applicants who have a disability can opt to be considered under the guaranteed interview scheme, which means that, providing they meet the minimum essential criteria for the post, they will be offered an interview. We are also proudly accredited as a Veteran Aware organisation and have signed The Armed Forces Covenant.
If we receive a high volume of applications, we may close adverts prior to the published closing date. Therefore, we advise you to complete and submit your application as soon as possible.
Job overview
We are excited to advertise the role of Specialist Senior Pharmacy Technician - Antimicrobials in our clinical pharmacy team.
This role will be pivotal in supporting the trust's antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) programme. The post holder will work within the AMS pharmacy team, linking in with Microbiologists and the Infection Control Team to optimise infection management across the trust.
This role will work closely with the pharmacists at ward level to manage the clinical needs of patients on wards to provide the very best patient centred care.
The Pharmacy Department at the Great Western Hospital is at the heart of the Trust's programme to move forward and transform itself. By embracing technology, diversity, new ways of working and an improvement mindset built into all of us, Medicines Optimisation and Pharmacy services are at the heart of patient care.
We welcome applications from pharmacy technicians working in all healthcare settings who hold the transferable knowledge and skills required for the role. We will provide the training and guidance for those professionals transitioning into a career in acute healthcare.
Main duties of the job
- Ensure that antimicrobial therapy for patients within Great Western Hospitals NHS trust is safe, cost-effective, up-to-date and complies with the Trust Antibiotic Policy/Treatment guidelines and BSW formulary choices. Embedding a culture of antibiotic stewardship following the DH principles of ‘Start smart then Focus’ and working to achieve other national stewardship guidelines and CQUINs.
- Working with antimicrobial pharmacists, consultant microbiologists and the Infection Control Team to ensure there is a coordinated approach to antimicrobial monitoring and control within the Trust.
- Auditing Antimicrobial prescribing across the hospital
- Line manage staff as appropriate
- Provide medicines management support on wards
Working for our organisation
Our STAR values – Service, Teamwork, Ambition and Respect – are a golden thread running through everything we do. These values serve as a guiding principle, driving us towards our vision of delivering great joined up services to our local community. Whether at home, in the community, or within the hospital, our goal is to empower individuals to lead independent and healthier lives.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
- Monitoring antimicrobial expenditure, advising on cost data and producing reports relating to aspects of antimicrobial expenditure and usage for the Trust and the ICB using in-house electronic reporting systems.
- Assisting in antimicrobial related education and training of pharmacy staff, independent prescribers and nursing staff as appropriate.
-  Actively involved in promoting Trust-wide and National educational campaigns related to antibiotic use.
 Actively involved in national and local antibiotic research work, working together with antimicrobial pharmacists, clinicians and microbiologists as required.
- Running and reviewing electronic antimicrobial prescribing reports on a daily basis and as required to support clinical review of antimicrobials and stewardship initiatives. Working with electronic prescribing (EPMA) team to ensure full usage of the system to support safe antimicrobial prescribing including development of electronic antimicrobial protocols.
- Maintaining such documentation and records of work as may be required
- To act as secretary for the monthly Antibiotic working group organising agendas and recording minutes of the meetings.
- To play an active role, initiating and leading on projects to meet CQUIN initiative targets
Please see the attached job description for full details
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- NVQ / QCF Level 3 in Pharmacy Services or equivalent plus accredited underpinning knowledge (BTEC in Pharmaceutical Science or equivalent)
- Registered as a Pharmacy Technician with the General Pharmaceutical Council
- Accredited Checking Technician qualification or be eligible and willing to work towards accreditation (to be achieved within 12 months of starting on regional course).
- Regionally accredited medicines management qualification or be eligible (1 years post qualification) and willing to work towards accreditation. Qualification to be achieved within 12 months of starting on regional course.
- NVQ assessor to A1 standard or equivalent or working towards this qualification
Desirable criteria
- NVQ Level 4 in Management or equivalent knowledge and experience in Pharmacy management role
- Member of Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK
- Supervisory qualification
- Training or teaching qualification
- NVQ verifier or able to work towards and willing to undertake training which will take up to 12 months to complete
Experience
Essential criteria
- Extensive post qualification working as a Pharmacy Technician
- Experience of organising and managing in busy and potentially stressful environments
- Experience of leading teams and staff management
- Project / Audit work
Desirable criteria
- Recruitment and selection
- Managing meetings
- Knowledge of JAC, refine and define the hospital pharmacy computer system
- Procedure development
- Previous involvement in antimicrobial stewardship work.
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
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Jon Urch
- Job title
- Lead Pharmacist - AMS
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 01793 605031
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