Pharmacy Assistant Technical Officer in Huyton

We want talented and enthusiastic people from all backgrounds to join #TeamMWL, with us you can learn, grow and develop yourself and your career, realising your true ambitions and aspirations. Whatever you're looking for in your career, you'll find it here at MWL.

Main area: Pharmacy

Grade: NHS AfC: Band 2

Contract: Fixed term: 12 months (Must participate in evening, weekend and bank holiday rotas)

Hours: Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Must participate in evening, weekend and bank holiday rotas)

Job ref: 409-8023937

Site: Whiston Hospital

Town: Prescot

Salary: £25,272 per annum, pro rata

Salary period: Yearly

Closing: 08/07/2026 23:59

Job overview: We are looking for an enthusiastic, flexible and well-motivated individual to join our existing Pharmacy team. The successful candidate will rotate between Pharmacy stores and Whiston and St Helens Hospital dispensaries, and participate in our evening, weekend and bank holiday rotas. Attention to detail is essential, as is an ability to work accurately in a fast-paced environment with other members of the Pharmacy team. Good communication skills and a willingness to learn is important. Candidates ideally should possess NVQ Level 2 Pharmacy Service skills or a GPhC recognised equivalent qualification, however training can be provided. A good standard of education (to GCSE level) would be advantageous.

Main duties of the job:

• To participate in the ATO rota through areas of the stores dispensaries and wards.
• To assist in the receipt of prescriptions.
• To participate in pharmacy services to wards and clinics primarily to maintain and control medicines.
• To assist in booking in and auditing prescriptions, using the latest software.
• To prepare and assemble supplies of medicines for delivery to wards and departments.
• To assist in the receipt, storage and issue of stock including the maintenance of manual and computerised records.
• To assist in the provision of a ward topping up service, supplying stock medication to wards on a weekly basis.
• To co‐operate with the provision of necessary staffing within the pharmaceutical service and participate in staff rotation to other sites e.g. St Helens.
• To assist in the preparation and assembly of resuscitation and anaphylaxis boxes.
• To participate in stock control of medicines within the pharmacy department under the supervision of the dispensary manager or senior technician.
• Regularly handle or process cash or cheques when dealing with outpatients prescriptions.
• To comply with the legal and other requirements related to the purchase, supply, use, safe custody and destruction of drugs both within the Pharmacy and in all other areas of the Trust.
• To comply and ensure that all other pharmacy staff under his/her control comply with the Health and Safety at work act, COSHH Regulations, Display Screen Equipment Regulations, Data Protection Act and other appropriate legislation during daily activities.
• To participate in the Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holiday rotas.
• To participate in evening and on‐call rotas in response to the changing needs of the service.
• To assist with basic counselling of outpatients in accordance with pharmacy procedures and under the supervision of a pharmacist or Pharmacy technician.
• To answer telephone and face to face queries of a routine or basic technical nature from a wide range of staff groups, patients and the public, either in the pharmacy or on the ward, and refer appropriate queries to the relevant member of the pharmacy team when necessary.
• To liaise with various members of the Pharmacy team and ward staff when solving supply problems and ensuring the best service to patients.
• To ensure safety of drugs awaiting collection by nursing staff and other responsible persons.
• To participate in individual performance review and continuing education programmes in order to maintain and improve standards of service.
• To be responsible for the accurate input of data into the Pharmacy JAC computer system for all duties requiring its use e.g. Ordering and stock control.
• To assist in the completion and filing of departmental documents.
• To record any information and assist in the compilation of any data necessary.
• To act as a role model and assist in the training and induction of other members of the technical staff.
• To undertake and achieve the NVQ level 2 – Pharmacy service skills qualification in accordance with GPhC guidance.

Working for our organisation: Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 10,500 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites. We strongly believe that the communities we serve should all have access to Five Star Patient Care.

Person specification:

• Qualifications: NVQ level 2 Pharmacy service skills – or GPhC recognised equivalent, or must be willing to undertake qualification and complete within 18 months of commencing employment.
• Knowledge and Experience: Experience of working with Computer systems; Experience of working in a Hospital pharmacy; Experience in using the CMM (JAC) Pharmacy system.
• Skills: Good communication skills; Ability to talk to patients, staff and other Health care professionals; Ability to express items clearly, both face to face and using telephones; Ability to work accurately and efficiently with good attention to detail; Understand importance and context of role; Self‐motivated with the ability to motivate others; Ability to work under pressure; Works well as part of a team; Presents a professional image/appearance; Supportive of colleagues of all grades; Good physical fitness for duties including manual handling, items up to approx 15kg, standing and walking; Good organisational skills with the ability to prioritise.
• Other: Ability to travel between sites; Able to participate in the evening and weekend rotas.

Thank you for considering an application to work for Mersey West Lancashire NHS Trust. MWL is an exciting and forward‐thinking NHS Trust who are one of the best places to work for in England.

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion: We actively cultivate a professional environment of fairness, equality, dignity, and respect for all individuals. We welcome individuals from all backgrounds and value the unique skills, perspective and experience you bring. We are grounded in the belief that diversity enhances our collective strength, fostering innovation and excellence within our workforce. We welcome all applications irrespective of people's race, disability, gender, sexual orientation, religion/belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity and in particular those from under‐represented groups.

As a Disability Confident Leader, we commit to offering an interview to all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form.

If you are having difficulty completing an online application, or require any disability reasonable adjustments, to the application process, please contact Recruitment@merseywestlancs.nhs.uk.

We also commit to offering an interview to all armed forces veterans who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form.

The Trust operates anonymous shortlisting where no personal information about you, including your name or personal details are shared with the recruiting manager. No equality information is shared at any time during the recruitment process with the recruiting manager or other people involved in the decision‐making process.

The equality monitoring information you provide is used in the following situations: to review our recruitment practices; where a job is limited to a specific person to verify their eligibility to apply; and to offer disability reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process.

Certificate of Sponsorship: Following the recent update on UK immigration policy for those on a Health and Care Visa or Skilled Worker Visa, please check your eligibility before applying for this post as we may be unable to provide sponsorship.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check: If this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions. Please note if applicable, applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs are deducted from salary following appointment. If you have not already done so, you are therefore encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service to which a small annual fee of £13 per year applies.

Flexible Working: We actively support flexible working patterns throughout MWL. Changes made to the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook mean that: All employees have the right to request flexible working from day one of employment. There is no limit on the number of requests they can make. Employees have the right to make requests, have them considered, regardless of the reason. At Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, we will consider requests for flexible working. We would also encourage you to also discuss flexible working options at interview stage.

Working for Team MWL: Staff recognition is especially important to us; as well as performance reviews and appraisals, we recognise staff through Employee of the month. Along with supporting you to achieve your career goals we offer a generous pension scheme, unsocial hours payments (where applicable), 27 days annual leave on commencement (pro rata) and access to a range of NHS discounts. Our Staff Health and Wellbeing programme offer a variety of services.

The Trust is a non‐smoking across all our sites. Failure to follow this rule could lead to disciplinary action. For more information, see the Smoke Free NHS website.

You will be expected to undertake the Trusts' commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. You must ensure that your application, including personal statements and behaviour examples, are truthful and factually accurate. Please note plagiarism can include presenting the ideas and experience of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own. The Trust will not accept applications which are found to be AI generated and will check all applications against AI detection software.

Additional Information: Before applying, we encourage you to review the Trusts Values and Behaviours which are We are KIND, We are OPEN, We are INCLUSIVE.

Good luck with your application. We hope to welcome you to Team MWL very soon.