EPR - Digital Pharmacy Technician

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Key Working Relationships

All users of digital medicine management systems such as EPR ,

Senior project members and other departmental staff,

Third parties such as the Department of Health, and EPR supplier

Key staff in the Information and Communication Technology Department.

External providers of digital medicine management systems, software houses, automation developments, helpdesks, etc.

National IT networks for the development of digital medicine management software, supplier user groups, and relevant project leads within and outside the Trust,

IT project teams,

Trust subsidiary companies (Innovate and SWFT Clinical Services Ltd,)

Other members of local ICB

Duties & Responsibilities

• Engage in the JEPR-Oracle project by:
• Engage with wider project team,
• Assist with reviewing and comparison of datasets and requirements from existing and future systems,
• Implement agreed actions to achieve project objectives
• Work across multiple sites to promote and implement project
• Assist and support with training and go-live support as part of project rollouts

To provide digital medicine management support to the Pharmacy department as a whole, including:

• Assisting in the identification and resolution of user issues with specialised pharmacy digital medicine management software,
• Maintaining specialised pharmacy software to ensure that the department is able to provide an uninterrupted service to the wider Trusts,
• Maintaining specialised pharmacy hardware, including robotic dispensing and storage solutions,
• Analyse information to diagnose the cause of complex faults in pharmacy IT systems, and liaising with helpdesks/support providers & pharmacy managers to plan and implement solutions to these,
• Commissions work from the Trust ICT Department, to solve problems with Pharmacy systems which do not relate to specialist applications or cannot speedily be resolved,
• Provide cross-site pharmacy IT support to Trust subsidiary and STP Pharmacy departments when needed,
• Prepares, validates and disseminates routine data reports required by finance and contracts managers, lead pharmacists, pharmacy managers, external customers, procurement specialists, creditor and debtor payment staff, and clinical departments undertaking audit.
• Responding to complex queries or urgent queries on an ad-hoc basis.
• Where queries cannot be answered with standard reports, obtaining information from pharmacy systems through the creation of bespoke reports using a variety of data sources and reporting systems.
• Analysing and validating commercially sensitive and confidential data and other outputs in relation to requests for pharmacy information for accuracy, legibility and compliance with legal requirements, prior to dissemination.
• Supporting the overall operation and technical competency of the computer systems and equipment in Pharmacy, and any systems outside of Pharmacy which impact the provision of medicines management or storage. o Ensuring appropriate records are maintained.
• Promoting good communication to ensure efficient working throughout the department. o Delivering induction and refresher training to Pharmacy and nonPharmacy staff in the appropriate use of specialised software in the areas of Medicines Management and of Pharmacy.
• Supporting junior colleagues 
• To assist in the development of pharmacy services by:
• Contributing to the planning of IT requirements to fulfil future Pharmacy service needs and Trust information needs in line with strategy, and participate in the actions needed to implement this,
• Contributing to the creation and maintenance of relevant policies and procedures regarding the appropriate and correct use of Pharmacy IT software and hardware,
• Maintaining an awareness of current developments in, and the use of, IT in pharmacy services (robotic storage, procurement systems, electronic prescribing, etc.) by liaising with relevant bodies, outside agencies, special interest groups and other pharmacy departments,
• Assisting with the development of IT projects for the department and being able to advise the Pharmacy Manager and senior Trust staff on the application of such.
• Adapting existing systems to improve departmental workflow.
• Influencing software houses and hardware suppliers to meet the Trust’s needs when developing software and systems through participation in national networks and user groups.
• Assisting in the installation of approved software upgrades to ensure that the most recent release is in place and full benefit is being gained from our systems. Normally this will need to be done outside normal working hours.
• Taking part in periodic stocktakes to prove the validity of the stock management function of the systems and satisfy the requirements of internal and external auditors
• Providing audit data to validate Trust processes in line with local and national policy

General

In addition, contribute to weekends, bank holiday and other departmental rotas

To undertake other duties as required by your line manager in accordance with this grade of post.