Senior Pharmacy Technician Mental Health Services

We are seeking an experienced and highly motivated GPhC registered Senior Pharmacy Technician to join the Powys Teaching Health Board Pharmacy team to cover mental health services. We are looking for someone with significant hospital experience and strong communication, leadership and organisational skills who is motivated and passionate about patient care and wants to improve patient services.

Working closely with the Lead Pharmacist for Mental Health Services and the wider pharmacy team, you will play a key role in ensuring the safe, effective and person-centred use of medicines across inpatient wards, community mental health services and will provide some support to primary care colleagues around mental health medicines. This is a senior role with responsibility for medicines governance, service development and clinical support within a multidisciplinary mental health team. The post offers a permanent position of up to 37.5 hours per week, with flexibility in hours worked and in base within mid or south Powys.

Main duties of the job:

• Support a wide range of mental health services including adult and older adult mental health, learning disabilities, community mental health teams, crisis services, substance misuse and dementia care, with links to CAMHS and perinatal services.
• Ensure safe and secure handling of medicines, including controlled drugs.
• Conduct medicines reconciliation, discharge planning and patient counselling.
• Clinical prioritisation of patients and identification of high-risk cases.
• Support medicines optimisation, efficiencies and agreed therapeutic switches.
• Lead and contribute to SOPs, policies, audit and service development.
• Attend ward rounds and MDT meetings, provide medicines advice across care settings and support high standards of medicines safety and governance.

The ability to speak Welsh is desirable for this post; Welsh and/or English speakers are equally welcome to apply.

Qualifications:

• Registered Pharmacy Technician with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).
• Qualification recognised by the General Pharmaceutical Council for registration as a Pharmacy Technician, such as level 4 certificate of higher education in Pharmacy Technician practice (UEA), BTEC in Pharmaceutical Science or NVQ Level 3 in Pharmacy Services.
• Additional formal post-registration qualification such as Diploma in Pharmacy Clinical Services or recognised management or leadership qualification (e.g. ILM).
• Completion of Psych 1 CMHP course or willingness to undertake.
• Excellent understanding of pharmacy/medicines standards, legal requirements and guidelines.
• Developed critical appraisal skills.
• Effectively undertake literature searches and evidence reviews.
• Associate membership of the College of Mental Health Pharmacy (CMHP).
• Membership of the Association of Pharmacy Technicians (APTUK).
• Clinical prioritisation accreditation.
• Completion of Psych 2 CMHP course.
• Recognised leadership or managerial development course, or equivalent experience.

Experience:

• Significant recent experience of working as a Pharmacy Technician in a hospital setting.
• Dealing with complex situations.
• Working directly with clinicians and within a multidisciplinary team.
• Supervising and managing others, developing services and implementing change.
• Leading on SOP development and contribution to policy development and writing medicines guidelines and protocols.
• Educating, training, supervising and evaluating pharmacy staff, other healthcare professionals or students.
• Implementing change.
• Previous experience working in a mental health setting.
• Previous experience in undertaking audit and research.
• Experience of analysing prescribing data.
• Experience of report writing.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with an ability to communicate information clearly and concisely.
• Communicate complex and sensitive information to a range of staff groups, patients and service users.
• Manage professionally challenging conversations and situations.
• Solve problems and make effective, prompt decisions when faced with variable information and situations.
• Work as part of a team and able to both take and give direction.
• Some ability to speak, read and/or write Welsh, or an eagerness to learn.

Other:

• Ability to travel throughout Powys.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check: This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such 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.