Job description

Job responsibilities

Job Summary

Prescriptions

To deal with patients politely and efficiently.

To dispense prescriptions in line with standard operating procedures.

To deal with repeat prescription requests in line with practice protocols.

To ensure information is accurately recorded on patient's records.

To highlight any discrepancies or queries to the appropriate GP to action.

To ensure that prescriptions are completed appropriately by both GP and patient.

To record and collect prescription payments and other monies as required.

To balance cash till at end of work sessions and prepare cash sheet weekly prior to banking.

To ensure correct procedures are followed for Controlled Drugs working to the Dispensary protocols at all times.

To ensure that prescriptions are correctly endorsed.

To complete the end of the month prescription data and to ensure that FP10s are returned within the requested time restrictions to the appropriate body.

Stock

To order dispensary supplies at appropriate times from suppliers approved by the GPs.

To stock shelves ensuring that they are kept clean and tidy at all times.

To assist in annual stock checks.

To ensure that out-of date stock is disposed of correctly following the Dispensary protocols.

To ensure that only necessary stock is ordered and stored appropriately.

To liaise with third parties to obtain best purchase prices/deals for all drugs purchased.

To liaise and arrange meetings with third parties to discuss queries/costings and/or purchase of stock.

General

To have an understanding of the Drug Tariff and British National Formulary.

To complete all records accurately and legible in particular the storage and records for controlled drugs.

To follow, update and create standard operating procedures (SOPs) for all areas of dispensary practice.

To participate in audits of service provision when requested.

To ensure that the department and equipment are kept clean and tidy at all times.

To prepare invoices and PAs for submission to the Practice Manager prior to payment.

To organise, in advance, the dispensary team rota for holiday cover.

To organise sickness cover for the dispensary team rota

Personnel

To carry out such tasks as may reasonably be asked of you by the Doctors or Practice Manager.

To work as part of the dispensary team.

To maintain good working relationships.

To adhere to statutory regulations/policies and codes of practice and safety rules.

To be flexible to offer holiday and sickness cover as and when required.

To participate in staff meetings.

To have an awareness of own limitations and experience.

Educational

The postholder will participate in any training programme implemented by the Practice as part of this employment, such training to include:

Participation in an annual individual performance review, including taking responsibility for maintaining a record of own personal and/or professional development.

Taking responsibility for own development, learning and performance and demonstrating skills and activities to others who are undertaking similar work.

Training may need be undertaken outside of normal practice hours, and off site.

To identify personal development and training needs in conjunction with the manager.

To undertake any training as required.

To participate in continuing education and maintain a contemporary level of professional knowledge and skills.

Flexibility

This job description is not intended to be an exhaustive description of every duty performed by the Dispensary Lead, but rather a guide to the type and nature of the duties. In this environment flexibility in the duties undertaken and the hours worked are essential to achieve the objectives of a smooth running practice. The Dispensary Lead role may change from time to time in the light of local and national developments

Care Quality Commissioning

To be aware of the essential standards of quality and care for General Practice. To work in conjunction with the practice team to ensure that CQC standards are met and updated, as required.

Equality & Diversity

The postholder will support the equality, diversity and rights of patients, carers and colleagues, to include:

Acting in a way that recognises the importance of people's rights, interpreting them in a way that is consistent with Practice procedures and policies, and current legislation.

Respecting the privacy, dignity, needs and beliefs of patients, carers and colleagues.

Behaving in a manner which is welcoming to and of the individual, is nonjudgmental and respects their circumstances, feelings priorities and rights.

Quality

The postholder will strive to maintain quality within the Practice, and will:

Alert other team members to issues of quality and risk.

Assess own performance and take accountability for own actions, either directly or under supervision.

Contribute to the effectiveness of the team by reflecting on own and team activities and making suggestions on ways to improve and enhance the teams performance.

Work effectively with individuals in other agencies to meet patients needs.

Effectively manage own time, workload and resources.

Communication

The postholder should recognise the importance of effective communication within the team and will strive to:

Communicate effectively with other team members

Communicate effectively with patients and carers

Confidentiality

In the course of seeking treatment, patients entrust us with, or allow us to gather, sensitive information in relation to their health and other matters. They do so in confidence and have the right to expect that staff will respect their privacy and act appropriately.

In the performance of the duties outlined in this Job Description, the postholder may have access to confidential information relating to patients and their carers, Practice staff and other healthcare workers. They may also have access to information relating to the Practice as a business organisation. All such information from any source is to be regarded as strictly confidential.

Information relating to patients, carers, colleagues, other healthcare workers or the business of the Practice may only be divulged to authorised persons in accordance with the Practice policies and procedures relating to confidentiality and the protection of personal and sensitive data.

Health & Safety

All employees are subject to the requirements of the Health & Safety at Work Act. The post holder is required to ensure, as an employee, that his/her work methods do not endanger other people or themselves. The postholder will assist in promoting and maintaining their own and others health, safety and security as defined in the Practice Health & Safety Policy, to include:

Using personal security systems within the workplace according to Practice guidelines identifying the risks involved in work activities and undertaking such activities in a way that manages those risks.

Making effective use of training to update knowledge and skills.

Using appropriate infection control procedures, maintaining work areas in a tidy and safe way and free from hazards.

To report accidents and untoward incidents in accordance with current legislation and Practice procedures.

To carry out risk assessments as and when required (DSE/Manual Handling/Fire/COSHH).

General Terms and Conditions

All employees are employed on an initial assessment basis.

All employees must comply with the practices opportunities policy, and must not discriminate on the grounds of race, colour, ethnic or national grounds, sex, marital status, disability or any other grounds that cannot be shown to be justifiable.

This Job Description may be reviewed in the light of changed service needs and developments. Any changes will be fully discussed with the post holder. The post holder may be required to carry out other duties appropriate to the grade of the post.

Ashley Surgery operates a nonsmoking policy.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• GCSE Grade A to C in English & Maths
• Qualified to at least NVQ Level II Dispenser/Buttercups Level II support staff for Dispensing Assistants

Skills

Essential

• Ability to provide excellent quality customer service
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills

Desirable

• EMIS and Docman experience

Experience

Essential

• Previous experience working within a dispensing GP surgery or pharmacy is essential for this role.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such 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.

Employer details

Employer name

Ashley Surgery

Address

The Old School

School Lane

Ashley

TF9 4LF

United Kingdom

Employer's website

http://www.ashleysurgery.nhs.uk (Opens in a new tab)

Job description

Job responsibilities

Employed by Newcastle South Primary Care Network, the postholder will work as part of a multidisciplinary team of Pharmacists, Pharmacy Technicians, Care Coordinators, Social Prescribers, Health and Wellbeing Coach, Dietician, Mental Health Practitioners, and First Contact Physiotherapist.

The PCN is made up of five practices with a patient population of over 43,000 patients.

Scope and Purpose of Job Description

The following Job Description is intended to describe the general nature and level of work and is not intended to serve as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required. Duties may vary from time to time dependent upon factors such as workload, staffing levels, new legislation, and changes in technology or policy, in this event appropriate training will be provided.

Job Purpose

The purpose of the role is to lead improvements to maximise safe, cost-effective best practice in prescribing to improve the quality of patient care. The post holder will help patients to get the nest from their medicines by switching medications to agreed and approved protocols, improving repeat prescribing processes in General Practice, including promotion of repeat dispensing and online ordering, minimising clinical risk and aiming to reduce wasted medicines.

The postholder will practice as an independent prescriber, working with and alongside the general practice team, holding face to face consultations including for long term conditions within scope of competence.

In addition, the post holder will be responsible for encouraging the development of better understanding of the principles of medicines optimisation throughout the practice teams and promoting good practice in line with therapeutic developments. This will involve assisting the PCN in achieving national requirements and utilisation of medicines optimisation initiatives.

Job Responsibilities

1. Clinical

1.1 Letter from Secondary Care

Review letters from secondary care that recommend a change in medication.

Update the patients list of repeat medications.

If appropriate, communicate with the patient (or the person responsible with their care) and their nominated pharmacist.

If necessary, issue a prescription.

1.2 Prescription Queries

Resolve queries from the prescribing team.

Request for medication not on the patients repeat list.

Request for medication that is not available.

The patient appears to be over or underusing medication.

1.3 Medication Reviews

Review the records of patients whose repeat medication has reached the review date.

Check that biological and laboratory measurements are up to date and within target.

Minimise polypharmacy.

Optimise prescription duration.

Check that doses are appropriate to age, renal and hepatic function.

Consider patient capacity and concordance.

Consider the possibility of prescription drug addiction.

If necessary, advise patient of need for consultation with nurse or doctor.

Issue a prescription.

1.4 MHRA Alerts

Monitor the MHRA and respond to alerts as necessary.

Run a computer search on the drug involved.

Arrange appropriate information to go the patients involved and update their records.

Repeat the search after a suitable time interval.

1.5 Repeat Prescribing

Ensure the effective implementation of repeat dispensing by:

Identifying patients suitable for repeat dispensing.

Work closely with prescribers and community pharmacies.

Issue medication for future repeat prescribing within scope of competence as an independent prescriber.

1.6 External Stakeholders

Provide patients on treating self-limiting conditions through face to face or remote consultation with referral to community pharmacy services as appropriate.

Build rapport and work with relevant ICB team members to achieve local incentives with includes antimicrobial stewardship, cost effective prescribing and medicine safety management in line with local formulary and guidance.

1.7 Assist with minor illness clinics

2. Management

Initiate and implement ideas to improve acute and repeat prescribing.

Support the doctors and nurse practitioners in maintaining good prescribing.

3. Administration

Maintain accurate and clear clinical records.

Be familiar with the current QoF, LES and DES requirements.

Initiate and participate in practice audit.

Contribute to the smooth running and future development of the practices.

4. Professional Development

Pursue self-directed learning: identifying areas of weakness and taking steps to improve.

Complete significant event forms when these occur.

Maintain continued education by attendance at appropriate courses and study days as agreed with the PCN Leadership Team.

Maintain registration with the GPHC.

Adhere to the GPHC code of professional conduct.

Maintain a safe and therapeutic environment for all workers, carers and patients. Ensure that all statutory regulations (eg Health and Safety, Control of Substances Hazardous to Health) are implemented.

Promote a professional approach at all times by attire and attitude to patients and staff both in and out of the Practice.

5. Code of Conduct

All staff are required to work in accordance with the code of conduct for their professional group (e.g. Nursing and Midwifery Council, Health Professions Council, General Medical Council, NHS Code of Conduct for Senior Managers).

6. Health, Safety and Welfare

In accordance with the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 you have a duty to take reasonable care to avoid injury to yourself and to others by your work activities.

The post holder will assist in promoting and maintaining their own and others Health, Safety, Welfare and security as defined in the Practices Health & Safety Policy and in accordance with The Health and Safety at Work Act to include:

Using personal security systems within the workplace according to practice guidelines.

Identifying the risk involved in work activities and undertaking such activities in a way that manages those risks.

Making effective use of training to update knowledge and skills.

Using appropriate infection control procedures, maintaining work areas in a tidy and safe way and free from hazards.

Managing risks and reporting.

You will be issued with an identity badge which you must wear at all time on site.

You are responsible for the security of any keys, smartcards, passwords, etc., issued to you.

7. Infection Control

It is the responsibility of all staff, whether clinical or non-clinical, to familiarise themselves with and adhere to current policy in relation to the prevention of the spread of infection.

Clinical staff, on entering and leaving clinical areas and between contacts with patients, must follow the practices handwashing policy. Staff are required to communicate any infection risks to the practice manager.

8. Equality and diversity

The post-holder will support the equality, diversity and rights of patients, carers and colleagues, to include:

Acting in a way that recognizes the importance of people's rights, interpreting them in a way that is consistent with practice procedures and policies, and current legislation.

Respecting the privacy, dignity, needs and beliefs of patients, carers and colleagues.

Behaving in a manner which is welcoming to and of the individual, is non-judgmental and respects their circumstances, feelings priorities and rights.

9. Clinical Governance and Risk Management

The PCN believes everyone has a role to play in improving and contributing to the quality of care provided to our patients. As an employee of the PCN you are expected to take a proactive role in supporting the PCN and Practices clinical governance agenda by:

Taking part in activities for improving quality such as clinical audit.

Identifying and managing risks through incident and near miss reporting and undertaking risk assessments.

Following polices, guidelines and procedures.

Maintaining continued professional development.

Clinical staff making entries into patient health records are required to follow any standards of record keeping.

10. Information Quality Assurance

As an employee of the PCN it is expected that you will take due diligence and care in regard to any information collected, recorded, processed or handled by you during the course of your work and that such information is collected, recorded, processed and handled in compliance with PCN and Practice requirements and instructions.

11. Freedom of Information

The post holder should be aware of the responsibility placed on employees under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and is responsible for helping to ensure that the PCN and Practices comply with the Act when handling or dealing with any information relating to PCN or Practice activity.

12. Communication

The post-holder should recognise the importance of effective communication within the team and will strive to:

Communicate effectively with other team members.

Communicate effectively with patients and carers.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Undergraduate degree or MSc in Pharmacy Hold or be working towards a Postgraduate Diploma Independent prescribing qualification.

Behavioural competencies and skills

Essential

• Minimum of 2 years post-qualification experience.
• An appreciation of the nature of GPs and general practice.
• An appreciation of the nature of primary care prescribing, concepts of rational prescribing and strategies for improving prescribing. Excellent interpersonal, influencing and negotiating skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrates the ability to communicate complex and sensitive information in an understandable form to a variety of audiences (e.g. patients).
• Is able to plan, manage, monitor, advise and review general medicine optimisation issues in core areas for long term conditions.
• Able to obtain and analyse complex technical information.
• Recognises priorities when problem solving and identifies deviations from the normal pattern and is able to refer to seniors or GPs when appropriate.
• Able to work under pressure and to meet deadlines.
• Produce timely and informative reports.
• Gain acceptance for recommendations and influence/motivate/ persuade the audience to comply with the recommendations/agreed course of action where there may be significant barriers.
• Work effectively independently and as a team member.
• Demonstrates accountability for delivering professional expertise and direct service provisions.
• Is able to recognise personal limitations and refer to more appropriate colleague(s) when necessary.
• Demonstrates self-development through continuous professional development activity.
• Can follow legal, ethical, professional, and organisational policies / procedures and codes of conduct.

Desirable

• Good IT skills.

Experience

Essential

• Minimum of 2 years post-qualification experience In depth therapeutic and clinical knowledge and understanding of principles of evidence-based healthcare.

Other

Essential

• Self-motivation.
• Adaptable and Flexible.
• Full driving licence.
• Professional indemnity insurance (if not covered by practice policy).

Professional Registration

Essential

• Mandatory registration with General Pharmaceutical Council.

Desirable

• Membership of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.
• A member of or working towards Faculty membership of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such 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.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details

Employer name

North Staffordshire GP Federation

Address

Newcastle South PCN

And all practices within

ST5 2BQ

United Kingdom

Employer's website

https://www.northstaffordshiregpfederation.nhs.uk (Opens in a new tab)