Lead Pharmacy Technician – Dispensary in Bedford

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a highly motivated and enthusiastic individual to join us as the Lead Pharmacy Technician - Dispensary, overseeing the Dispensary service at Bedford Hospital. This is a 12-month fixed‑term position. This is a demanding role that requires strong leadership and organisational skills, along with the ability to prioritise and manage your own workload independently. The post holder will also act as line manager for a number of staff within the Pharmacy department. This is an excellent time to join the team as we continue to expand our Senior Dispensary Team. The successful candidate must be registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council as a Pharmacy Technician and hold Accredited Checking Technician status.

Main duties of the job:

• Lead and manage the coordination and organisation of the day‑to‑day work of the pharmacy dispensary team, as directed by the Principal Pharmacy Technician – Dispensary.
• Prioritise workload and reassign dispensary staff to appropriate areas as needed, ensuring flexibility across technical duties.
• Work collaboratively with the Principal Pharmacy Technician – Dispensary to promote a strong team approach to service delivery.
• Take accountability for the quality of your own work and the daily performance of staff within your area of responsibility.
• Support the planning, implementation and evaluation of service developments.
• Line‑manage designated members of the Dispensary Team as assigned by the Principal Pharmacy Technician – Dispensary.
• Oversee the day‑to‑day operation of the electronic controlled drug management system, acting as the system manager.
• Serve as the Dispensary lead for the Prescription Tracking System (PTS), resolving any issues or problems that arise.

About us:

Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust provides hospital services to a growing population of around 700,000 people living across Bedfordshire and the surrounding areas across two busy hospital sites in Bedford and Luton. Both hospital sites offer key services such as A&E, Obstetrics‑led Maternity and Paediatrics. You will be joining a friendly, high‑performing Trust committed to ensuring the health and wellbeing of staff. As one of the largest NHS Trusts in our region you will have access to a programme of high quality training and development to help you grow your career. The Trust continues to be committed to delivering the best patient care using the best clinical knowledge and technology available. We not only recruit based on qualifications and experience – we recruit individuals who demonstrate the behaviours which underpin our Trusts core values. We achieve this by using values‑based recruitment. We are dedicated to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone, we are committed to promoting equality and diversity, and creating a culture that values differences.

Please note that vacancies may close prior to the advertised closing date when sufficient number of applications have been received. All new staff will be subject to a probationary period covering the first 6 months in post. Travel between hospital sites may be required. Please review all documents attached to ensure you familiarise yourself with all requirements of the job.

Job responsibilities:

• To ensure excellence in standards of customer care maintaining a strong patient focus.
• To supervise and manage the day‑to‑day activities of the dispensary and when required, seek support from the Principal Pharmacy Technician – Dispensary.
• To manage the technical elements of the dispensing process carried out by the team of pharmacists, technicians, pre‑registration technicians, senior pharmacy assistants and trainee pharmacists.
• To personally receive prescriptions into dispensary including ensuring prescription charges are collected where appropriate.
• To participate in the labelling and dispensing of inpatient, outpatient, controlled drugs, day case prescriptions and discharge prescriptions in accordance with the departmental procedures.
• To support staff in any problem solving that arises including contacting other healthcare professionals.
• To be the named line manager for a number of staff as determined by the Principal Pharmacy Technician – Dispensary.
• To monitor near‑miss dispensing error rates and report and devise strategies to resolve any problems or training gaps identified.
• To participate and support the Principal Pharmacy Technician – Dispensary in the investigation of dispensary related incident reports (near‑miss and trust‑wide).

Qualifications:

• Registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC)
• BTEC National Diploma in Pharmaceutical Science, NVQ level 3 Pharmacy Services or equivalent
• Accredited accuracy checking technician
• Educational supervisor for ACPT
• Leadership and Management qualification or equivalent experience

Experience:

• Competence in medication counselling of patients
• Experience of dispensary services and service development
• Formulation of standard operating procedures
• Customer orientated experience
• Training, mentoring and supervision of staff
• Staff recruitment
• Significant hospital experience of a range and level relevant for the post
• Experience of Team Leading
• Conducting and supervising audits

Knowledge:

• Up to date knowledge of current legislation and accepted standards of practice, pharmaceutical guidance and Medicines Optimisation
• Good IT literacy skills to be able to use computers in all aspects of the job including a working knowledge of Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Teams and other commonly used applications
• An understanding of incident reporting and risk management systems
• To be able to deal with complaints from patients and other healthcare staff
• Understanding of importance of monitoring quality of service and clinical audit skills

Personal Skills:

• Strong team working skills and ability to work effectively with other teams
• Good verbal and written communication skills
• Able to thrive on development/change
• Ability to lead a team
• Self‑motivated and organised

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.