Pharmacy Technician in Cheltenham

This is an exciting opportunity to join our award-winning PCN Pharmacy team and help deliver a patient-focused service that supports NHS priorities. You will support medicines optimisation through working with colleagues to prioritise medication reviews, promote safe, effective and cost-conscious prescribing, and empower patients to manage their health, medicines and long-term conditions.

This role offers the chance to shape the future of General Practice healthcare and advance the pharmacy profession. You will work collaboratively within a supportive team that shares knowledge, tackles complex queries together, and encourages professional growth, while also working independently and recognising your limits.

We are looking for a GPhC registered pharmacy technician with good clinical knowledge and an understanding of evidence-based healthcare. It is advantageous, but not essential, to have completed the CPPE Primary Care Pharmacy Education Pathway and have experience in primary care/GP practice working.

You will excel if you have:

• Strong organisation and prioritisation skills
• Flexibility and resilience under pressure
• A proactive, adaptable approach

In return, we can offer you a flexible and supportive working environment which values both your personal wellbeing and professional development. If you are passionate about helping people get the most from their medicines and want to contribute to a sustainable NHS, we would love to hear from you.

Main duties of the job include supporting the ongoing work within Cheltenham Central PCN, delivering medicines optimisation and offering high quality, safe and cost-effective medicines and patient-centred care. You will work closely with the PCN Lead Pharmacists and Lead Technician to tailor the delivery of network priorities and targets with a practice-based focus.

You will work with the wider pharmacy technician and pharmacist team to support in the provision of a consistent and reliable pharmacy service to our PCN practices, 5 days per week. Main duties include medicines reconciliation, supporting with the provision of medicines information and advice to patients and colleagues, audit and quality improvement work, monitoring medicines to ensure safe prescribing and ensuring the practices are CQC compliant.

We are a future-focused team and are keen to see proactivity as we develop the pharmacy technician role. Our aim is to expand on the patient-facing services that the pharmacy team and pharmacy technicians can provide to support NHS healthcare and delivery of NHS (local and national) targets.

About us: Cheltenham Central PCN consists of 5 GP practices serving a population of over 50,000 people. Our well-established pharmacy team of 7 Pharmacists and 3 Pharmacy Technicians benefit from experienced joint Lead Pharmacists, who will support you both professionally and personally to help embed you into the role.

We have a forward-thinking and supportive PCN Leadership Team, who champion the benefits Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians can bring to General Practice. With teaching practices within the PCN, there is a positive learning environment with the opportunity to teach various members of the MDT. We have generous leave benefits and consider flexible working, aiming to optimise work-life balance whilst providing a high quality and reliable service.

Our team are supportive of one another, embrace our diversity, and constantly learn from each other. We benefit from a fresh and modern joint working space, allowing the team to consult colleagues for help. We champion face-to-face clinics and developing our clinical skills via access to clinic rooms, where available, whilst managing the day-to-day medicines management workflow (medication requests, clinical letters and queries and discharges).

If you enjoy a sociable, friendly and collaborative team, as well as autonomous working, helping to develop other professionals and up-skill yourself, then this is the environment to grow your talents and strive to work to the top of your professional capabilities and beyond.

Job responsibilities include working within the Cheltenham Central PCN, which includes 5 practices across Cheltenham, to support the Clinical Pharmacy team in ensuring that medicines management processes within these practices are optimised to achieve highly effective, safe and patient-centred prescribing.

The post holder will be a Pharmacy Technician, who acts within their professional boundaries, supporting and working alongside a team of Pharmacists and other Pharmacy Technicians. In this role they will be supported by the Lead Clinical Pharmacists and Lead Technician who will develop, manage and mentor them.

The post holder will work as part of a multi-disciplinary team in a patient-facing role, with opportunities to work with the Leads to develop the role of the Pharmacy Technician to further advance patient-facing roles. This is alongside the duties required of the pharmacy team in terms of managing medications reconciliation and requests as detailed.

Alongside the Clinical Pharmacists, the post holder will provide support to general practice staff dealing with prescription and medication queries. They will help support the repeat prescription process, support with dealing with acute prescription requests, and carry out medicines reconciliation on transfer of care. They will help implement systems for safer prescribing, providing expertise in clinical medicines advice while addressing both public health and social care needs of patients in the GP practice within their competence.

Alongside the Clinical Pharmacists, the post holder will ensure that the practice integrates with community and hospital pharmacy to help utilise skill mix, improve patient outcomes, ensure better access to healthcare and help manage workload. The role is pivotal to improving the quality of care and operational efficiencies so requires motivation and passion to deliver excellent service within general practice.

The post holder will ideally have undertaken the CPPE Primary Care Education Pathway. However, if they do not hold these qualifications then training will be provided and supported.

Main Duties and Responsibilities include undertaking medicines reconciliation in accordance with practice protocols and updating patients' medical records/prescribing accordingly. To support the achievement of the practices prescribing Quality and Outcomes Framework targets (QOF), and Local and National Incentive schemes (e.g. Primary Care Offer).

To provide advice to GPs, staff and patients in changes to prescribing to support the improvement of prescribing safety, quality and cost effectiveness. To take a proactive approach to the safe handling of prescriptions, including assessment of risk and making recommendations for improvement.

To participate in medication audits and prepare evidence-based resources and information to support the implementation of rational cost-effective prescribing. To support the Practice Based Clinical Pharmacist to provide medication reviews.

To respond to medication queries from patients and staff in a professional manner referring to the appropriate GP in accordance with practice protocols. To advise on the sourcing and safe management of medicines as appropriate.

Collaborating with the Lead Pharmacist with development for standard operating procedures to support and underpin efficient, consistent and high-quality work.

Person Specification includes experience of working as a qualified, registered pharmacy technician in primary care, community or hospital pharmacy and knowledge of good clinical pharmacy knowledge including terminology.

Excellent communication skills, verbal and written, with the ability to adjust communication style and content to suit the audience. Good time keeping, self-motivated and proactive, with continued commitment to improve skills and ability in new areas of work.

Adaptability, flexibility and ability to cope with uncertainty and change, along with an appreciation of the nature of primary care prescribing, concepts of rational prescribing and strategies for the improvement of prescribing.

Influencing and negotiating skills, computer literate with an ability to use the required GP clinical systems (desirable) and Microsoft office packages (essential).

Qualifications include professional registration with GPhC, BTEC/NVQ level 3 or equivalent in pharmaceutical sciences (essential) and postgraduate qualifications of a relevant nature e.g. completion of the CPPE Primary Care Education Pathway (desirable).

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.