Pharmacy Technician Clinical Services

at  The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust

The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre (CCC) provides excellent cancer care to patients in the North West (including North Wales and the Isle of Man). We have 3 site locations; the central Liverpool site and hub sites in the Wirral and Aintree. Inpatient services, including 4 wards (Solid tumour and Haematology), stem cell transplant service and the regional Teenage and Young Adult unit (supported by the Teenage Cancer Trust), are located at our Liverpool site.
It is an exciting time for The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, we are looking for a band 5 clinical services technician to join our ward team of pharmacists and technicians within our large, diverse and friendly pharmacy team.
The job role will be full time Monday to Friday with rotational Saturdays and Bank holidays.
The post holder will deliver quality care at ward level through the
implementation of an efficient medicines management system and
perform a range of medicine supply functions as appropriate in order to provide seamless pharmaceutical care for patients.
Ward support duties will not be directly supervised and involve taking comprehensive patient drug histories and reconciliation of medicines at admission, ordering medicines and coordinating issue of additional medication and counselling patients at discharge. Provide a patient-focused pharmacy service at ward level in order to improve the quality of care, reduce risk and promote cost-effective use of medicines.
Implement and monitor cost containment measures in order to reduce waste and achieve savings on medicines.
To supervise rotational ward technicians and student technicians when on ward placement.
The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust is one of the UK’s leading providers of non-surgical cancer treatment, caring for a population of 2.4 million people across Cheshire & Merseyside, North Wales, the Isle of Man and parts of Lancashire.
Our flagship specialist cancer hospital in Liverpool opened in June 2020, supported by our hospital on the Clatterbridge Health Park in Wirral providing outpatient cancer treatment and supportive care, and our radiotherapy treatment centre on the Aintree Hospital site.
Together, working across three sites and operating specialist chemotherapy clinics in four of Merseyside’s district hospitals, we are able to deliver a comprehensive range of inpatient care, advanced radiotherapy, chemotherapy and other systemic anti- cancer therapies including gene therapies and immunotherapies. We also deliver a pioneering Treatment at Home and Work service; are the only facility in the UK providing low-energy proton beam therapy to treat rare eye cancers and host the region’s Teenage and Young Adult Unit, (supported by the Teenage Cancer Trust).
Working with leading experts from The University of Liverpool and the Cancer Research UK Liverpool Cancer Trials Unit we strive to stay at the forefront of novel treatments and techniques to deliver more effective and personalised treatments than ever before.
Job Description
Communication
Responsible for checking the patients own medication against the prescription chart, discussing the medication with the patient (or carer where appropriate) to ascertain how they currently take their medication
To liaise with other healthcare providers to confirm patients current medication list e.g. G.P. surgeries, Nursing Homes, Hospices etc.
To provide complex information and advice to patients on their medication to ensure that they are fully informed and able to comply with their treatment regime when they are discharged, these patients may have barriers to understanding.
Effectively handle informal/verbal complaints from ward staff or patients in the first instance before appropriate referral to line manager if necessary
Deal with queries and complex issues from patients and other hospital staff
Obtain accurate medication histories for patients on admission by liaising with the patient and/or primary care setting in order to support decisions about continued care
Planning and Organisational Skills
The post holder is required to constantly make decisions around prioritising own work load in order to provide an efficient medicines management service
To work under pressure and with several competing demands
Prioritise workload and analyse situations to resolve problems
Provide information to patients/carers and other service users on routine medicine enquiries Identify problems with the administration of medicines to patients e.g. patients with swallowing difficulties or unable to take medication orally, impaired vision and other compliance issues and act on them in the appropriate manner
Responsibility for Patient and Client Care
Implement and maintain the patients own medication scheme and self-medicating scheme as appropriate
Responsible for ordering further supplies of medication as per standard operating procedures (SOP’s), sending the patients own medicines (POM)to PharmaC for relabeling if necessary, and sending for destruction POMs that are no longer required or are unsuitable for use (and replacing those items with a new supply)
Counsel patients in order to provide effective and appropriate advice to patients on medication use in order to ensure understanding of their medication including benefits of their medication and possible side-effects. These may be patients with certain barriers e.g. hearing problems, language issues etc.
Initiate supply of non-stock items for one-stop dispensing i.e. ordering medication labelled ready for discharge and ensuring storage and availability in each patients bedside locker
Responsibility for Policy and Service Development
Identify patient problems regarding lack of availability of medicines for individual prescriptions, seeking advice on suitable alternatives or agreed delivery timetable
Accurately assess Patients Own Medicines to ensure that they are of a suitable standard and quality for use
Responsibility for Financial and Physical Resources
Responsible for ordering and maintaining supply of patient medicines on the wards. Responsible for the monitoring of medicine/ward stock usage on wards
Providing a medicines management service that is cost effective and ensures waste to be at a minimum on the wards
To work closely with the specialist clinical pharmacists to promote the safe and cost-effective use of medicines in order to optimise patient care, reduce waste, promote adherence to clinical guidelines and support effective medicines management
To be available to witness the monthly controlled drug check with the ward pharmacist and aid with destruction of patients own controlled drugs that are no longer required as per SOPs
Responsibility for Human Resources
Provide training for new pharmacy staff regarding medicines management service on the wards this also includes training ward staff, nurses, doctors and other healthcare professionals.
To deliver mandatory training on controlled drugs to ward staff and new starters as required by the work force department.
To be available to interview potential staff as required by senior management.
To review new starters at the end of their 6 month probationary period and submit a report to senior staff.
To perform annual appraisals with staff as deemed necessary by senior management
To perform absence management as required by senior management as per the management policy
Responsibility for Information Resources
Effectively counsel patients in order to facilitate the safe and effective use of medication using the agreed procedure
Liaise with the specialist clinical pharmacist/ward staff to review ward stocks in order to ensure stock levels are accurate and appropriate, amend/add stocks as necessary to ward profile using relevant documentation following SOP’s
Technical functions on the wards include taking drug histories using a variety of sources and undertaking medicines reconciliation, within 24 hours following NICE guidelines The post holder must be able to read and interpret medical notes in order to clarify medication problems, this may involve discussions with GP’s, community pharmacist, nursing and residential homes, hospices and pharmacy, nursing and medical staff at other hospitals in order to understand conflicting information
Access summary care records via the NHS smart card and document appropriately in the patients ward notes
Responsible for identifying and investigating any discrepancies and communicating findings to pharmacists and doctors , and record interventions on the trust computer system within own limitations
Responsible for general medicine ‘housekeeping’ on the ward e.g. returning unwanted medications, keeping control of general ward stock levels and the cost effective use of medicines
Be a role model for technical staff and actively promote the role of the pharmacy technician
Effectively communicate with internal and external customers including patients/carers, pharmacy staff and healthcare
Carry a ward phone whilst on duty and answer promptly dealing with any queries and questions and prioritise work accordingly
Responsibility for Research and Development
Participate in the audit of the medicines management service and clinical audit as appropriate i.e. POM scheme, discharge times and intervention data
To participate in and develop the pharmacy ward based service, training pharmacy and ward staff in the systems operated, sharing best practice and seeking out new developments
To assist with the development, maintenance and implementation of policies and procedures
Leadership
To lead, manage and train the rotational Ward Technician and Student technicians as they rotate onto the wards
To perform their return to work following a sickness absence and their appraisals
Freedom to Act
Follow relevant procedures for medicines management in order to deliver the service in a safe and effective manner
Responsible for the provision of the medicines management service to ward areas, which involves working in clinical areas unsupervised
To ensure that medicines in clinical areas are stored safely and securely according to hospital policy and are in date and suitable for use 44. Follow relevant procedures for medicines management in order to deliver the service in a safe and effective manner 45. Responsible for the provision of the medicines management service to ward areas, which involves working in clinical areas unsupervised
Physical Effort
All of the above duties involve adherence to departmental and trust polices and standard operating procedures. They also involve concentration, meticulous attention to detail and light physical effort for long periods in a busy environment
Mental Effort
To routinely participate in and analyse the results of audit relating to the medicines management service e.g. patients own medicines scheme, discharge times and intervention data to ensure the service is viable, cost effective and can be extended as necessary
Co-ordinate the discharge medication, bring together POM’s and newly dispensed items in advance of patient discharge and support the planning of patient discharge with respect to medication, including the transcription of requests for dispensing
Emotional Effort
The post holder will regularly come into contact with emotional and unpleasant circumstances e.g. terminally ill patients, complaints and verbally abusive customers on the wards
Wards visited include patients receiving chemotherapy regimes, having cardiac arrests, respiratory failure or who have emotional and physical dependencies i.e. alcohol or drugs
Working conditions
The ordering of medication and assessment of medication are carried out at the patients bedside so if a patient is seriously ill or injured the technician will be exposed to this
Extremely rare exposure to deceased patients whilst visiting wards
Whilst performing medicines management duties daily on the ward the technician is in the vicinity of body fluids i.e. urine, faeces, sputum, vomit and blood
This job description is not intended to be an exhaustive list of duties, but it aims to highlight the typical key responsibilities of the post. It may be reviewed from time to time to ensure that it relates to the job as then being performed, or to incorporate required changes. This process will be conducted in consultation with the post holder in line with the Trust Job Evaluation Policy and Process

Please refer the Job description for details