Deputy Chief Pharmacy Technician - Clinical Services
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Job overview
We are seeking a dynamic and experienced Deputy Chief Pharmacy Technician to lead the operational management of our pharmacy technical ward services on the Whiston, St. Helens and Newton sites.
This role involves managing the ward-based pharmacy technical team, overseeing training and education, and providing specialist clinical technical services to patients. The successful candidate will play a crucial role in medicines optimisation, policy development, and the implementation and management of Omnicell systems.
This role requires excellent organisational and interpersonal skills, alongside expert knowledge of clinical ward services. Relevant experience and good written and verbal communication skills are also essential.
The department operates a 7 day service. Participation in the late night working, weekend and Bank Holiday rotas will also be required.
If you are passionate about improving patient care and have the skills and experience required for this role, we would love to hear from you.
Main duties of the job
The Deputy Chief Pharmacy Technician - Clinical Services is responsible for leading the operational management of pharmacy technical ward services across the Whiston, St.Helens and Newton sites of MWL.
This role involves managing the ward-based pharmacy technical team, overseeing training and education, and providing specialist clinical technical services to patients.
Key responsibilities include developing and implementing policies for medicines optimization, managing the Omnicell systems, and ensuring efficient pharmacy service delivery over a 7-day rota.
The role also includes performance management, recruitment, and ensuring compliance with mandatory training and professional registration for the team.
Additionally, the Deputy Chief Pharmacy Technician plays a crucial role in clinical tasks such as final accuracy checking of prescriptions, medication history taking, and patient counselling.
They are also involved in administrative duties, including preparing staff rotas, managing annual leave, and conducting disciplinary meetings.
The role requires collaboration with various healthcare professionals to ensure effective service delivery and involves leading audits, research projects, and continuous professional development initiatives.
The position demands strong leadership, organizational, and communication skills to support the pharmacy team and enhance patient care.
Working for our organisation
Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 9000 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.
We strongly believe that the communities we serve should all have access to Five Star Patient Care.
Our services:
Acute Care
Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.
Primary Care
Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.
Community Services
Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation, freeing up space for more unwell patients.We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.
Specialist Regional Services
We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.
Achievements:
- Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
- Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
- National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
KEY DUTIES- To lead on the strategic development of pharmacy technical ward services, including
- Production of business plans to develop and improve the service where appropriate
- Monitor performance and develop and implement improvements
- Plan and manage own workload and to work independently and use acquired knowledge and experience to interpret the pharmacy ward services standards and relate them to the work of the department to achieve the expected outcome.
- Performance manage band 5 and 6 pharmacy technicians and other staff allocated to ward services within the department including, responsibility for:
- The recruitment and selection process of pharmacy technicians and assistants
- Ensure all direct line reports have appropriate risk assessments completed
- Ensure all direct line reports have an annual appraisal and appropriate personal development plan which is in line with the strategic objectives of the department, ensure this is reviewed and updated in regular 1:1’s
- To liaise with the Human Resource Department concerning disciplinary and grievance matters for staff in ward services
- To organise and conduct disciplinary meetings with ward services staff in accordance with Trust procedures.
- Provide pastoral and emotional support to the team when necessary
- To supervise and support foundation year pharmacists and pre-registration pharmacy technician’s and pharmacy students allocated to ward services
- Be a member of the department wider pharmacy leadership team and to undertake duties required
- To provide the pharmacy leadership team with key performance data
- To be responsible for developing writing and implementing procedures and policies for pharmacy ward technical services
- Assist the Chief Pharmacy Technician in the investigation of complaints including providing suitable responses and ensuring remedial action is taken where appropriate
- To manage annual leave, time owing and related issues for ward based technical staff
- Prepare weekly rotas for the band 5 technicians and ward services dispensing staff to ensure adequate service provision. To re-assess and adjust staffing according to irregular or unpredictable workloads, whilst aiming to keep the service within acceptable limits
- To be responsible for the organisation of staffing for the ward technical staff when emergency or voluntary rota staffing is required and in the case of additional activity during the weekend and/or evenings, relating to ward services.
- To co-operate with other section heads in the provision of staffing within the Pharmacy department, and problem solve staffing issues between different areas of the pharmacy, ensuring the provision of the most efficient Pharmacy service.
- To liaise with medical, nursing, portering and other staff regarding the pharmacy service and any related problems.
- To be responsible for the recruitment of locum technician staff and act as a signatory to approve time sheets totalling more than £1000 per month
- Approval of bank and agency staff hours worked on e roster
- To assist the Chief Pharmacy Technician & Deputy Chief Pharmacist - Operations in the production of any necessary capital bids.
- To be responsible for the development, of the Omnicell systems across the wards in the Trust, leading pharmacy staff based on all sites. This also involves working with senior nursing staff, clinical governance leads and other stakeholders.
- To be responsible for developing and delivering detailed information to inform decisions on configuration of the Omnicell systems
- To be responsible for the installation, training and operation of the Omnicell drug vending machines based on wards.
- To perform final accuracy checking on prescriptions and inpatient requisitions which have been clinically verified by a pharmacist in accordance with Trust procedures and ensure dispensing errors are corrected by the appropriate member of staff
- Labelling and dispensing of medication as required
- To provide a specialist clinical technical service to a designated ward, in accordance with professional, departmental and Trust policies. This will include:
- The taking of a comprehensive medication history for new patients as soon as possible after admission using multiple sources of information
- Close liaison with external organisations e.g. nursing homes/community pharmacies, other hospitals and GP practices
- Accurately transcribe medicines from EPMA to ICE discharge identifying any discrepancies to the ward doctor and ward pharmacist
- Processing of TTO’s at ward level in a timely manner to maintain patient flows in the Trust
- Ordering medication in a timely manner to avoid missed doses, particularly of critical medicines
- Monitoring for adverse drug reactions and submit ‘yellow cards’ where appropriate
- Counselling and educating patients on how to correctly take their medicines including advice on side effects and appropriate storage
- Identify unintentional nonadherence to medicines and intervene where appropriate
- To participate in patient counselling and communicate complex information effectively to other grades of staff and patients and if appropriate use demonstrational techniques in the use of medicines to patients, carers and other health care professionals, ensuring they understand fully any advice or instructions provided.
- To provide appropriate advice to Doctors, nurses and other professionals as required
- Lead and co-ordinate technical support to the clinical trials pharmacist to ensure GCP standards are met
- Report any drug errors you detect to the Chief Pharmacist or their deputy.
- Liaise with appropriate healthcare professionals within local care providers to ensure the effective and efficient use of resources across the primary/secondary care interface.
- Return unwanted or patients own Controlled drugs from the wards in accordance with the departmental policy and the Misuse of Drugs Act
- To participate in Continuing Professional Development as per department policy and national guidelines from the General Pharmaceutical council
- To participate in a rota which enables the department to provide a full 7-day service
- To participate in the on call, Saturday, Sunday, Bank Holiday and emergency duty rotas
- To participate in the department late night and locking up rota and ensure the safe custody of all pharmacy keys in your possession both on and off site
- To undertake any other related duties which may be require
- To develop and provide induction training on ward services for newly recruited staff. This will include preparation and delivery of presentations when necessary
- To lead on and be responsible for the development, delivery of training and education for wardbased pharmacy technical services staff, including assessing their competence in the following
- Assessment of patients own drugs for suitability to reuse
- Medication history taking
- Transcribing of discharge prescriptions
- Patient counselling
- Accuracy checking of discharge prescriptions
- Ward based training for pharmacy student technicians, pre-registration pharmacists and pharmacy assistants
- To lead on developing the extending roles of the pharmacy technician and assistant technical officers, allowing pharmacists to have an increased clinical role
- To lead on and develop training for pharmacy technical staff to ensure clinical trials are carried out according to GCP standards
- To lead and be responsible for the development and management of the satellite dispensaries ensuring all staff are appropriately trained and competent to undertake their duties to ensure safe and effective working practices to improve patient flows within the Trust
- To lead on and be responsible for the development and implementation of training for the use of the Omnicell systems to both pharmacy and ward-based staff
- To ensure appropriate records are kept of staff training and competence and implement a program for re assessing competence at appropriate intervals
- To participate in the delivery of training for all other relevant staff including technicians, support workers, pharmacists and pre-registration pharmacists
- To be responsible for the Continuing Professional Development of all technical staff within ward services, according to the requirements of the General Pharmaceutical Council, in order to comply with the requirements for entry on to the technician register
- To participate and represent the department in the regional meetings of the Education and Training Development Forum for Pharmacy Technicians
- Assist the sites Clinical Pharmacy Services Manager in the training and education of junior pharmacists, pre-registration graduates, undergraduates, and pharmacy technicians
- Assist senior pharmacists in undertaking education program for nursing staff, junior and senior doctors as part of the Trust education and training progra
- To lead in development and delivery of the continuous ward services audits, including planning, collating results, writing reports and presenting findings to stakeholders.
- Effectively communicate the results of research / audit work and negotiate the implementation of any necessary change with all appropriate staff across the Trust.
- To lead on the audit and monitoring the trust Omnicell systems to ensure they are used appropriately and highlight any risks to Clinical Pharmacy Services Manager
- To be responsible for analysing the ward services key performance Indicators and provide regular updates to the pharmacy management team.
- To identify, develop, implement and analyse any required systems of internal audit, which may have an impact outside the pharmacy, and to present reports as and when necessary.
- To participate and co-ordinate locally any regional/ national audits relating to ward services
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria- Professional knowledge acquired through successful completion of UK Pharmacy technician training e.g. BTEC / NVQ LEVEL III, appropriate level Pharmacy Technician apprenticeship training
- Registered with General Pharmaceutical Council
- Accredited Checking Pharmacy Technician
- Leadership/Management qualification or equivalent experience
Knowledge and Experience
Essential criteria- Substantial post registration experience within hospital pharmacy working at a senior level
- Working with pharmacy computer systems
- Knowledge of current developments in pharmacy and key drivers for the NHS
- Knowledge of quality & safety Governance frameworks
- Demonstrable evidence of continuous quality improvement
- Demonstrable evidence of managing change within a clinical and technical environment
- Experience of managing a large team including all levels human resource management
- Experience of resolving user concerns efficiently and effectively
- Experience of research and audit
- Experience of policy and procedure writing
Skills
Essential criteria- Coaching / facilitation
- Staff development and empowerment
- Demonstrable time management, written and oral communication skills
- Visionary and able to motivate and influence others
- Standard setting
- Computer literate
- Demonstrable problem identification and solving skills with an ability to prioritise effectively
- Risk management skills
- Experience of policy and procedure writing
Ability
Essential criteria- Influential and able to work across professional boundaries
- Flexibility
- Manage complex and competing issues staying calm under pressure
- Lead through empowerment
- Able to cope with and diffuse stressful situations
- Inspire others
- Able to command respect of multi-disciplinary teams
- Able to evaluate and benchmark quality care
- Tenacious with good attention to detail
Professional and Ethical Practice
Essential criteria- Ability to manage own on-going personal and professional development
- Track record of delivering high standards of care
- Patient centred approach to care
- Demonstrate personal & professional pride in pharmacy and the NHS
Thank you for considering an application to work for Mersey West Lancashire NHS Trust. MWL is an exciting and forward-thinking NHS Trust who are one of the best places to work for in England.
Given sometimes we receive a high volume of applications to work for us, please be aware, that we may close a vacancy earlier than stated should a sufficient number of applications be received from which a shortlist can be confirmed. Therefore, you are advised to apply at your earliest convenience.
The Trust may contact you during the recruitment process for your feedback on your experience. We always aim for continuous improvement in our practice.
Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion
We actively cultivate a professional environment of fairness, equality, dignity, and respect for all individuals. We welcome individuals from all backgrounds and value the unique skills, perspective and experience you bring. We are grounded in the belief that diversity enhances our collective strength, fostering innovation and excellence within our workforce.We welcome all applications irrespective of people’s race, disability, gender, sexual orientation, religion/belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity and in particular those from under- represented groups.
As a Disability Confident Leader, we commit to offering an interview to all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form.
If you are having difficulty completing an online application, or require any disability reasonable adjustments, to the application process, please contact [email protected]
We also commit to offering an interview to all armed forces veterans who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form.
The Trust operates anonymous shortlisting where no personal information about you, including your name or personal details are shared with the recruiting manager. No equality information is shared at any time during the recruitment process with the recruiting manager or other people involved in the decision-making process.
The equality monitoring information you provide is used in the following situations: to review our recruitment practices; where a job is limited to a specific person to verify their eligibility to apply; and to offer disability reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process.
Certificate of Sponsorship
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years.Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
Following the recent update on UK immigration policy for those on a Health and Care Visa or Skilled Worker Visa, please click here to check your eligibility before applying for this post as we may be unable to provide sponsorship.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
If this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 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.
Please note if applicable, applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs are deducted from salary following appointment.
If you have not already done so, you are therefore encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service to which a small annual fee of £13 per year applies.
Flexible Working
We actively support flexible working patterns throughout MWL. Changes made to the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook mean that:
- All employees have the right to request flexible working from day one of employment.
- There is no limit on the number of requests they can make.
- Employees have the right to make requests, have them considered, regardless of the reason.
At Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, we will consider requests for flexible working. We would also encourage you to also discuss flexible working options at interview stage.
Working for Team MWL
Staff recognition is especially important to us; as well as performance reviews and appraisals, we recognise staff through Employee of the month. Along with supporting you to achieve your career goals we offer a generous pension scheme, unsocial hours payments (where applicable), 27 days annual leave on commencement (pro rata) and access to a range of NHS discounts.Our Staff Health and Wellbeing programme offer a variety of services.
The Trust is a non-smoking across all our sites. Failure to follow this rule could lead to disciplinary action. For more information, see the Smoke Free NHS website
You must ensure that your application, including personal statements and behaviour examples, are truthful and factually accurate. Please note plagiarism can include presenting the ideas and experience of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own.
The Trust will not accept applications which are found to be AI generated and will check all applications against AI detection software.
Additional Information
Before applying, we encourage you to review the Trusts Values and Behaviours which are We are KIND, We are OPEN, We are INCLUSIVE, which can be found here.
An applicant guide to help and support you with your application and what to expect during your recruitment journey can be accessed in the supporting documents.
Good luck with your application. We hope to welcome you to Team MWL very soon.