Ward Medicines Assistant
Work in an organisation that supports its staff and focuses on staff experience as much as it does the experience of its patients? You can live and breathe in an area that has the cleanest air, cost effective living, great nightlife, some of the best schools with a wealth of history available on your doorstep.
Sound too good to be true? Well it isn’t, this is what you get when you work for Northumbria Healthcare and, this is…the Northumbria Way!
What the Northumbria Way means for you:
- Extensive staff health and well-being programme including access to our specialist Wellbeing Hub
- Support and connection through a variety of Staff Network groups
- A range of flexible working opportunities
- Generous annual leave and pension scheme
- Access to lease car and home electronics scheme (qualifying criteria applies)
- Opportunities to improve your professional development through our vast training programmes
- On-site nursery places via salary sacrifice
- Access to savings scheme via salary sacrifice with Northumberland Community Bank
Our teams deliver care from hospitals, a range of community venues and people’s homes. Our hospitals include a specialist emergency care hospital (the first of its kind in England), three general hospitals and community hospitals. In the community we deliver a wide range of community and public health services.
We lead in innovation and quality, having opened the Northumbria Healthcare Manufacturing and Innovation Hub during the Covid-19 pandemic and have recently launched our Community Promise – a pledge to make a real impact not just in healthcare but on the wider factors that affect people’s lives, such as education, employment and the economy.
If Northumbria Healthcare sounds like somewhere you could belong we would love to hear from you. Visit our website to catch up on our latest news.
Whilst Northumbria Healthcare are a highly innovative organisation, the use of Third Party Artificial Intelligence (AI) presents a risk to the integrity of our Recruitment & Selection processes. If you use AI, and it poses a risk to the integrity your individual recruitment process, we may withdraw your application at any stage of the process.
Job overview
Trainee Pharmacy Dispensing Assistant/Ward Medicine Assistant
Our Ward Medicine Assistants are a vital part of the nursing and clinical pharmacy teams, assisting in safe supply of medications and facilitating in the discharge of patients. This is a fantastic opportunity to join our clinical teams working alongside nursing and pharmacy staff to deliver a comprehensive, patient centred and high-quality pharmacy service.
This post is ideal for qualified pharmacy dispensing assistants who are looking for patient facing roles where development is encouraged. We also provide training for those applicants who do not have their NVQ level 2 in pharmacy services. The role provides an excellent gateway to career development in nursing, allied health professional careers and pharmacy.
Band 2 Trainee Pharmacy Dispensing Assistant
Annex 20 applies: This post falls within the provisions of Agenda for Change Annex 20 - Development of Professional Roles, whereby upon completion of an agreed set of competencies you may move onto the next pay band without the need for an application for a post at a higher level.
Please note we reserve the right to close this vacancy prior to the closing date once the required number of suitable applications have been received.
Main duties of the job
Ward Medicines Assistants provide an essential link between clinical and dispensary-based pharmacy services whilst supporting nurses to care for patients at a ward level. Successful candidates will undertake activities at ward level but also within the pharmacy department contributing to the efficient and effective delivery of medicines to patients, e.g. medicines supply, drug administration and dispensing medication.You will also utilise our clinical systems e.g. Medchart and Nerve Centre to assist nursing staff and patients. Working hours at present are 8.30am to 17:00.
Working for our organisation
We manage three major locality hospitals at North Tyneside, Wansbeck and Hexham, plus a number of smaller community hospitals and clinics from Tynemouth to Berwick on Tweed, in addition to the Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital. We also care for people in their homes and provide services from facilities in local communities such as health centres.We give people greater choice and control over their care to help them to live independently at home and avoid hospital admission where appropriate. High quality patient care is at the heart of everything we do and we strive to ensure every single patient and service user has an exceptional experience with us.
We have one of the most extensive patient experience programmes of any trust in England.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
To contribute to the delivery of a comprehensive and modern ward pharmacy service.
Undertaking activities in the dispensary and also at ward level which contribute to the efficient and effective delivery of medicines to patients e.g. medicines supply, drug administration, and dispensing medication.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria- Good standard of literacy and numeracy equivalent to GCSE grade C or above in English Language and Mathematics
- Minimum of NVQ Level 2 in Pharmacy Services, or equivalent, supported by a base level of theoretical knowledge and appropriate underpinning knowledge training e.g. that provided by NPA, Buttercups or other accredited in-house programmes or a recognised pharmacy dispensing qualification (Boots, NPA) and relevant training/experience
Skills and Abilities
Essential criteria- Ability to maintain a disciplined approach to work
- Must be able to demonstrate the English language proficiency level required for this post
Other
Essential criteria- It is an essential requirement of the role that the post holder has a valid driving licence and is either a car owner and able to use the car for work purposes
Experience and knowledge
Essential criteria- Experience in a similar role
- Experience of computer stock control systems.
Applicants who are members of the Armed Forces, and those who have a disability that requires support in the work place (two ticks pledge) and who meet the essential criteria will be interviewed under the Trust's interview guarantee scheme.
We recognise the positive value of diversity and inclusion and are committed to a workforce that is diverse, equal and inclusive. We welcome and encourage job applications from people of all backgrounds. We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates as BAME people are currently under-represented in our workforce as well as other under-represented groups such as LGBT+ and disabled candidates.We are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer, a Stonewall Diversity Champion, we have a Gold award from the Defense Recognition Scheme, and we are delighted to support Apprenticeships, Age Posi+ive and are a mindful employer.
If you require any reasonable adjustments to attend interview please make the recruitment team aware as soon as possible by calling our HR Recruitment Team on 0191 203 1415 option 2.
Applicants who meet the Fit and Proper Person Requirements (FPPR) will require additional pre-employment checks in line with CQC and NHS England statutory guidance.
Make sure to read the ‘applicant guidance notes’ before submitting your application and make sure you know everything there is to know before joining our fantastic trust!
Please note that it is a requirement of this Trust that all successful applicants pay for their own DBS certification if a DBS check is required for the post. The method of payment is a salary deduction from your first monthly pay.