Pharmacy Technician - Yeovil, Somerset (Medical Centre Base)

Symphony Health Care Services is looking for a Pharmacy Technician to work within our Primary Care Network (PCN) multidisciplinary healthcare team, based in Yeovil, Somerset. You will work with a diverse range of people from different cultural and social backgrounds. The ability to work confidently and effectively in a varied, and sometimes challenging environment is essential.

The successful candidate will have excellent interpersonal and communication skills, and be organised, patient and empathetic. They will have experience of working in health, social care or other support roles including direct contact with people, families or carers.

This exciting opportunity offers a supportive environment within a leading primary care provider, with the chance to make a real difference to patient care. A role that values innovation, efficiency, and collaboration. This is a permanent, full-time vacancy of 37.5 hours per week. Job share opportunities will be considered - please state in your application. The rate of pay for this role is £15.64 per hour, plus the option to join the NHS pension, plus many other employee benefits.

This role is fundamental in supporting Yeovil Primary Care Network in providing safe, effective and efficient systems for medicines reconciliation on transfer of care, and to support the repeat prescribing systems. You will help patients to get the best from their medicines by supporting systems to improve the continuity of care, supporting improvements to streamline the repeat prescribing processes, minimising clinical risk and reducing waste. You will also be enrolled on and actively participate in a recognised post-registration pharmacy technician educational pathway.

You will be based at our Oaklands Surgery in Yeovil, but may work across our other medicines management hubs and practices as and when required, to meet the needs of the service.

Symphony Healthcare Services was established in 2016 as part of the award-winning Symphony Programme Vanguard, developing new models of care. We now support 16 practices across Somerset providing care for over 100,000 patients. Symphony has developed a model where each practice is encouraged to operate autonomously, but as a subsidiary of NHS Somerset Foundation Trust (SFT), and with the backing and economies of scale from a central support team (particularly for HR, finance, corporate and strategic management matters).

Providing NHS services is at the heart of what we do. Our vision is to ensure that primary care is sustainable for patients and practices in Somerset, and we aim to be a national exemplar for primary care provision. We work closely with our practice teams to support, develop and transform patient care and working practices with innovation and technology at our core.

Symphony welcomes applications from people of all backgrounds and underrepresented groups. When undertaking recruitment and selection for our services, Symphony is committed to equality of opportunity for all. Symphony offers an NHS or NEST Pension, a fantastic range of employee benefits and salary sacrifice schemes, along with flexible working from day of employment and an agile approach to home/office-based working (where applicable).

We look forward to hearing from you and receiving your application.

• To support the practice pharmacist and clinical teams, including:
• Support the practice pharmacist with medicines reconciliation in accordance with practice protocols and to update patients' medical records and prescriptions.
• Carry out medication switches, dose optimisation and medicines synchronisation to ensure safe and cost-effective prescribing.
• Initiate repeat prescribing (eRD) for appropriate patients.
• Provide advice to GPs, staff and patients in changes to prescribing in order to support the improvement of prescribing safety, quality and cost effectiveness.
• Participate in medication audits and QOF quality improvement projects.
• Support practices to meet QOF indicators.
• Support patient safety with high-risk drug monitoring and other safety scorecard indicators.

Qualifications:

• Professional registration with GPhC.
• Meets the specific qualification and training requirements as specified by the GPhC criteria to register as a Pharmacy Technician.
• Enrolled in, undertaking or qualified from, an approved training pathway. For example, the Primary Care Pharmacy Educational Pathway (PCPEP) or Medicines Optimisation in Care Homes (MOCH); BTEC/NVQ level 3 or equivalent in pharmaceutical sciences.

Experience:

• At least 2 years practical experience of working as a pharmacy technician in primary care, community or secondary care setting.
• Experience of providing pharmaceutical and prescribing advice.
• Practical experience of computerised recording systems.
• Good clinical pharmacy knowledge.
• Experience of prescriptions processes and systems.
• Experience of audit and quality improvement projects.
• Enrolled on a recognised pharmacy technician educational pathway.
• Good communication skills, written and oral.
• IT and Keyboard skills.
• Ability to follow procedures and work to deadlines.
• Ability to handle situations of potential conflict.
• Ability to work on own initiative.
• Ability to work as part of a team.
• Excellent interpersonal skills.
• Influencing and negotiating skills.
• Ability to plan and organise.

Special Requirements:

• Knowledge of the General Practice environment.
• Knowledge of prescribing systems relating to GP practice, community.

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.