Pharmacy Technician Clinical Services

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Job Description

Communication

1. Responsible for checking the patients own medication against the prescription chart, discussing the medication with the patient (or carer where appropriate) to ascertain how they currently take their medication
2. To liaise with other healthcare providers to confirm patients current medication list e.g. G.P. surgeries, Nursing Homes, Hospices etc.
3. To provide complex information and advice to patients on their medication to ensure that they are fully informed and able to comply with their treatment regime when they are discharged, these patients may have barriers to understanding.
4. Effectively handle informal/verbal complaints from ward staff or patients in the first instance before appropriate referral to line manager if necessary
5. Deal with queries and complex issues from patients and other hospital staff
6. Obtain accurate medication histories for patients on admission by liaising with the patient and/or primary care setting in order to support decisions about continued care

Planning and Organisational Skills

7. The post holder is required to constantly make decisions around prioritising own work load in order to provide an efficient medicines management service
8. To work under pressure and with several competing demands
9. Prioritise workload and analyse situations to resolve problems
10. Provide information to patients/carers and other service users on routine medicine enquiries Identify problems with the administration of medicines to patients e.g. patients with swallowing difficulties or unable to take medication orally, impaired vision and other compliance issues and act on them in the appropriate manner

 Responsibility for Patient and Client Care

11. Implement and maintain the patients own medication scheme and self-medicating scheme as appropriate
12. Responsible for ordering further supplies of medication as per standard operating procedures (SOP’s), sending the patients own medicines (POM)to PharmaC for relabeling if necessary, and sending for destruction POMs that are no longer required or are unsuitable for use (and replacing those items with a new supply)
13. Counsel patients in order to provide effective and appropriate advice to patients on medication use in order to ensure understanding of their medication including benefits of their medication and possible side-effects. These may be patients with certain barriers e.g. hearing problems, language issues etc.
14. Initiate supply of non-stock items for one-stop dispensing i.e. ordering medication labelled ready for discharge and ensuring storage and availability in each patients bedside locker

 Responsibility for Policy and Service Development

15. Identify patient problems regarding lack of availability of medicines for individual prescriptions, seeking advice on suitable alternatives or agreed delivery timetable
16. Accurately assess Patients Own Medicines to ensure that they are of a suitable standard and quality for use

 Responsibility for Financial and Physical Resources

17. Responsible for ordering and maintaining supply of patient medicines on the wards. Responsible for the monitoring of medicine/ward stock usage on wards
18. Providing a medicines management service that is cost effective and ensures waste to be at a minimum on the wards
19. To work closely with the specialist clinical pharmacists to promote the safe and cost-effective use of medicines in order to optimise patient care, reduce waste, promote adherence to clinical guidelines and support effective medicines management
20. To be available to witness the monthly controlled drug check with the ward pharmacist and aid with destruction of patients own controlled drugs that are no longer required as per SOPs

 Responsibility for Human Resources

21. Provide training for new pharmacy staff regarding medicines management service on the wards this also includes training ward staff, nurses, doctors and other healthcare professionals.
22. To deliver mandatory training on controlled drugs to ward staff and new starters as required by the work force department.
23. To be available to interview potential staff as required by senior management.
24. To review new starters at the end of their 6 month probationary period and submit a report to senior staff.
25. To perform annual appraisals with staff as deemed necessary by senior management
26. To perform absence management as required by senior management as per the management policy

 Responsibility for Information Resources

27. Effectively counsel patients in order to facilitate the safe and effective use of medication using the agreed procedure
28. Liaise with the specialist clinical pharmacist/ward staff to review ward stocks in order to ensure stock levels are accurate and appropriate, amend/add stocks as necessary to ward profile using relevant documentation following SOP’s
29. Technical functions on the wards include taking drug histories using a variety of sources and undertaking medicines reconciliation, within 24 hours following NICE guidelines The post holder must be able to read and interpret medical notes in order to clarify medication problems, this may involve discussions with GP’s, community pharmacist, nursing and residential homes, hospices and pharmacy, nursing and medical staff at other hospitals in order to understand conflicting information
30. Access summary care records via the NHS smart card and document appropriately in the patients ward notes
31. Responsible for identifying and investigating any discrepancies and communicating findings to pharmacists and doctors , and record interventions on the trust computer system within own limitations
32. Responsible for general medicine ‘housekeeping’ on the ward e.g. returning unwanted medications, keeping control of general ward stock levels and the cost effective use of medicines
33. Be a role model for technical staff and actively promote the role of the pharmacy technician
34. Effectively communicate with internal and external customers including patients/carers, pharmacy staff and healthcare
35. Carry a ward phone whilst on duty and answer promptly dealing with any queries and questions and prioritise work accordingly

 Responsibility for Research and Development

36. Participate in the audit of the medicines management service and clinical audit as appropriate i.e. POM scheme, discharge times and intervention data
37. To participate in and develop the pharmacy ward based service, training pharmacy and ward staff in the systems operated, sharing best practice and seeking out new developments
38. To assist with the development, maintenance and implementation of policies and procedures

Leadership

39. To lead, manage and train the rotational Ward Technician and Student technicians as they rotate onto the wards
40. To perform their return to work following a sickness absence and their appraisals

 Freedom to Act

41. Follow relevant procedures for medicines management in order to deliver the service in a safe and effective manner
42. Responsible for the provision of the medicines management service to ward areas, which involves working in clinical areas unsupervised
43. To ensure that medicines in clinical areas are stored safely and securely according to hospital policy and are in date and suitable for use 44. Follow relevant procedures for medicines management in order to deliver the service in a safe and effective manner 45. Responsible for the provision of the medicines management service to ward areas, which involves working in clinical areas unsupervised

 Physical Effort

46. All of the above duties involve adherence to departmental and trust polices and standard operating procedures. They also involve concentration, meticulous attention to detail and light physical effort for long periods in a busy environment

 Mental Effort

47. To routinely participate in and analyse the results of audit relating to the medicines management service e.g. patients own medicines scheme, discharge times and intervention data to ensure the service is viable, cost effective and can be extended as necessary
48. Co-ordinate the discharge medication, bring together POM’s and newly dispensed items in advance of patient discharge and support the planning of patient discharge with respect to medication, including the transcription of requests for dispensing

 Emotional Effort

49. The post holder will regularly come into contact with emotional and unpleasant circumstances e.g. terminally ill patients, complaints and verbally abusive customers on the wards
50. Wards visited include patients receiving chemotherapy regimes, having cardiac arrests, respiratory failure or who have emotional and physical dependencies i.e. alcohol or drugs

 Working conditions

51. The ordering of medication and assessment of medication are carried out at the patients bedside so if a patient is seriously ill or injured the technician will be exposed to this
52. Extremely rare exposure to deceased patients whilst visiting wards
53. Whilst performing medicines management duties daily on the ward the technician is in the vicinity of body fluids i.e. urine, faeces, sputum, vomit and blood

This job description is not intended to be an exhaustive list of duties, but it aims to highlight the typical key responsibilities of the post. It may be reviewed from time to time to ensure that it relates to the job as then being performed, or to incorporate required changes. This process will be conducted in consultation with the post holder in line with the Trust Job Evaluation Policy and Process.