Job description

Job responsibilities

JOB DESCRIPTION

JOB TITLE Dispenser

REPORTS TO Practice Manager

Job Summary

To prepare and dispense accurately, safely and promptly under the doctors overall supervision

To project a positive and friendly image to patients and other visitors and deal with queries in a professional, courteous and efficient manner

Duties and responsibilities

The duties and responsibilities to be undertaken may include any or all of the items in the following list. Duties may be varied from time to time under the direction of the Practice Manager, dependent on current and evolving practice workload and staffing levels:

To work within the practices guidelines, policies and standard operating procedures

To be aware of the health and safety of others in the working environment. To comply at all times with the practices health and safety policies and procedures/infection control procedures

Dispensary role

To prepare and dispense accurately, safely and promptly under the doctors overall supervision

To dispense medication, as required by the doctors in the practice and to arrange for their checking using the bar coder, or if unable to use the bar coder, by a second member of staff checking the drugs, ensuring that any drugs requested which are not on repeat prescription are not issued without the doctors consent

To second check other dispensers routine items which have not bar coded, noting that any unusual items or where unsure the doctors should be asked to check

To receive, record and dispense repeat medication requests and, where the medication review is overdue to bring to a doctors attention

To use judgement when issuing repeat prescriptions with regard to frequency of use, noting any under/overuse and highlighting any issues to the doctor and following the repeat prescription Standard Operating Procedure

To deal with queries using the patient task system

To ensure stock is not outdated before use

Not to dispense medicines to unauthorised persons, whoever they may be, without the doctors consent

To dispense and record private prescriptions, as authorised by the doctor, and their payments

To fully observe all legal requirements relevant to dispensing practice, including controlled drugs

End of month prescription submissions

Stock control

Ensure the dispensary is kept properly stocked and that drugs are ordered in via the wholesaler computerised link, as appropriate, to fill prescriptions

Checking goods in as and when they are delivered

To keep the emergency drug cupboard stocked up and order further supplies as necessary

Returning incorrect goods to the wholesaler promptly

Stocking shelves, refrigerators and other storage areas using rotation method

Storing controlled drugs as per practice policy

Removing out of date stock from the shelves, refrigerators and other storage areas

Disposal of returned unused medicines as per practice policy

Finance

To collect all due prescription charges/check patient exemption and ensure that the patient declaration on the reverse of the FP10 is duly filled in and signed by the patient, where required

To ensure that all monies received are entered in the till

To produce an end of day till receipt and store with daily takings in the safe

To give all monies to Finance Manager or Practice Manager/Assistant Practice Manager in her absence

To put float in till on a daily basis and ensure sufficient change

Housekeeping/maintenance

To maintain work areas in a tidy and safe way and free from hazards

To ensure that all dispensary equipment is kept clean and report any faults to the Practice Manager

To check and maintain the refrigerator temperature log on a daily basis and immediately report any change outside recommended limits to the Practice Manager, Assistant Practice Manager or doctor

To ensure as far as reasonably possible, the safety and security of the dispensary and contents under the doctors supervision

To ensure the safety of all who enter the dispensary

Other

To report significant events

To take prompt action in response to any drug alerts

Person Specification

Experience

Desirable

• Experience of working in a GP practice
• Experience of EMIS web
• Experience in a customer or patient-facing role

Qualifications

Essential

• Good standard of general education
• NVQ Level 2 in Pharmacy Service Skills (or equivalent recognised dispenser qualification)

Skills

Essential

• Excellent communication skills
• IT skills
• Time management and the ability to work to deadlines
• Problem solving skills
• Interpersonal skills

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

Madeley Practice

Address

Moss Lane

Madeley

Crewe

CW3 9NQ

United Kingdom

Employer's website

https://www.madeleypractice.co.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)