Advanced Specialist Pharmacy Technician, Med Use and Safety (MUS) Team
Job overview
We are looking for an experienced pharmacy technician with good subject matter expertise in medicines governance, legislation and PGDs. You will be confident in presenting your subject matter expertise, answering written and oral queries and advising others of the options they might need to consider.You will apply your experience and knowledge to develop national PGD and protocol templates and governance advisory resources. You will build strong working networks across organisations to realise the aims of the MGDO programme.
The post is hosted by Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation trust and flexible working arrangements are available. The post is for 0.8WTE on a permanent contract. The MUS team is very keen to ensure a diverse workplace and we welcome applicants with protected characteristics.All team members are supported to further their development.
Main duties of the job
This role supports our Medicines Governance Do Once (MGDO) work programme. This develops national Patient Group Direction (PGD) and protocol templates and resources relating to medicines policy and governance principles for the NHS. The post holder will:
- have an excellent understanding of the legislation, regulation and related guidance on PGDs and other medicines mechanisms for NHS and public health services (including commissioned services) in England and how they apply in practice.
- understand the principles which underpin good medicines governance processes and be able to translate into pragmatic resources for end users.
Working for our organisation
The NHS Specialist Pharmacy Service (SPS) supports the NHS to develop best practice systems of work related to buying, making and using medicines. The service provides leadership, instructive and informative specialist input and operational support to the sourcing, supply and use of medicines across the system.Our strengths are borne out of connecting national expertise with policy teams and arm’s length bodies to ensure consistency and high standards. The service supports both regional and local connections to ensure that the service’s outputs resonate with and support local NHS organisations which deliver care to patients.
The key successes of SPS are through the development and delivery of their “Do Once and Share” methodology.
We are a well-respected team interpreting legislation and guidance for NHS organisations and practitioners in England; promoting safe patient care across the entire medicines pathway. Closely connected with front line colleagues we work with policy makers, regulators and strategic leaders, responding with agility and flexibility to share local expertise within our extensive clinical networks.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The NHS SPS Medicines Use and Safety (MUS) team is commissioned by NHS England to deliver the NHS SPS service specification. The national specification for Medicines Use and Safety includes:➢ development of national medicines governance documents including Patient Group Directions (PGDs); ➢ national provision of medication safety and optimisation support and resources; ➢ a programme of events that provide networking opportunities to share knowledge, skills and exemplar practice.
The post holder will work with the programme leads in the MUS team to deliver the workstreams associated with the service. The post holder will be expected to work on PGD development, deliver resources to support the safe use of medicines and assist with networking events.
The post holder will have an excellent understanding of clinical governance and be able to translate this into providing support to the key deliverables of the MUS function
The post holder will use their good understanding of the legislation, regulation and related guidance on PGDs and other medicines mechanisms to answer routine queries received from national stakeholders, commissioners and providers across England.In addition, they will develop resources that can be used by healthcare professionals to improve medication governance in organisations and systems.
The post holder will support the medication safety outputs of the team including answering medication safety queries received from stakeholders including Medication Safety Officers (MSOs)
The post holder will champion the role of the pharmacy technician within the networking leadership programme, including presenting at large (up to 1000 delegates) online and face to face events.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria- BTEC/NVQ3 in Pharmaceutical Science or equivalent
- Registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council
- Mandatory CPD to maintain fitness to practice
- Accredited Checking Technician qualifcation
- Qualification in Quality Improvement, Leadership, Project Management or similar
Experience
Essential criteria- Significant post qualification experience in more than one sector
- Experience in multidisciplinary working
- Experience of project management
- Experience of pharmacy procedure development
- Experience of staff and/or service management
Skills/Other
Essential criteria- Excellent leadership skills with evidence of being an effective team player
- Highly developed skills in communicating and influencing service users and multi-professional audiences at local, regional or national level
- Planning and change management
- Coordinates, undertakes and supports medication safety audits and research
- Demonstrable record of completing projects to time
- Experience of implementing quality improvement projects
Please ensure you check the email account (including junk/spam boxes) from which you apply regularly as we will use this to contact you regarding your application.
Posts advertised to ‘internal staff’ are open to employees of hospitals within University Hospitals of Liverpool Group and you should confirm your employment within your application form.
Only those applicants who demonstrate clearly how they meet our person specification will be shortlisted for interview.
We reserve the right to close any vacancies from further applications when we have received a minimum number of applications from which to make a shortlist. Please ensure you apply without delay if you wish to be considered for this role.
Candidates applying for the role of Healthcare Assistant on the staff bank should note that due to the nature of the role, workers must be aged 18 or above when commencing in post. Applicants are therefore welcome from those aged over 18 or within 3 months’ of their 18^th birthday.
The Trust is committed to promoting a healthy work-life balance and achieve fair, equitable and consistent practice. We welcome flexible working requests and will consider a variety of flexible working arrangements from day one of your employment.Not all roles are suitable for every flexible working opportunity all of the time. Flexible working options may include reduced hours, compressed hours, fixed shifts, time back in lieu and home working.
The Trust is committed to promoting equality and diversity; we value the contribution of individual talent, skills, knowledge and experience and aim for a workforce demography representative of the local community. We encourage applicants from the following groups that are currently under-represented in our workforce black, Asian and minority ethnic, lesbian, gay, bisexual and Transgender (LGBTQ+), disabled, male and age 16-24.
Trust policy requires that the cost of submitting & processing the successful applicant/s DBS application be recovered via salary deduction following start in post. The amount of £23 (standard disclosure) or £43 (enhanced disclosure) will be deducted from salary, in manageable monthly instalments for up to 3 months following commencement of employment.Bank posts require upfront payment. DBS applications submitted from 2nd December will be subject to the new DBS fee of £26.50 (standard) and £54.50 (Enhanced).
From April 2017, Skilled visa applicants and their adult dependant(s) will be required to provide a criminal record certificate from each country they have lived in consecutively for 12 months or more in the past ten years.
Applicants requiring sponsorship may wish to determine the likelihood of obtaining sponsorship for this position by assessing themselves against the criteria on the gov.uk website - https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa.
This organisation has a zero-tolerance approach to the abuse of children, young people and vulnerable adults. All staff must ensure they adhere to the organisations safeguarding children and adults’ policy and comply with the Local Safeguarding Children and Adult Board procedures.
Staff should be mindful of their responsibility to safeguard children and adults in any activity performed on behalf of the organisation in line with the requirements of statutory guidance and legislation.
All employees (and volunteers)are expected maintain their safeguarding knowledge and skills by completing mandatory safeguarding training which includes understanding and recognising the signs of abuse and neglect and taking appropriate action.
As an organisation, we have adopted the Merseyside Domestic abuse workplace scheme which supports our staff who are experiencing Domestic Abuse /any forms of sexual violence.
If you have any personal requirements that will enable you to participate in our recruitment process please contact a member of the Recruitment Services by phone on 0151 706 4666 at the earliest opportunity to ensure that measures can be put in place to enable your application for this post.
Please note: new entrants to the NHS will commence on the first pay point of the relevant band.