Job summary

We are seeking an enthusiastic and experienced Band 5 Pharmacy Technician to undertake a four-month secondment to lead and coordinate the Pharmacy Discharge Team and discharge medicines service.

This is an excellent development opportunity for an internal Pharmacy Technician who is looking to broaden their experience and take on additional responsibility within the pharmacy service.

The successful candidate will provide day-to-day coordination and oversight of the discharge team, ensuring that the service is organised, responsive and focused on supporting safe and timely patient discharge. You will work closely with pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, dispensary colleagues, ward teams and the wider multidisciplinary team to identify and resolve issues that may delay discharge.

The role will require a proactive and organised individual who can effectively manage competing priorities, support colleagues and identify opportunities to improve the discharge service.

Main duties of the job

We are looking for a registered Band 5 Pharmacy Technician with good experience of hospital pharmacy practice and a strong understanding of the discharge medicines process.

The successful candidate will be organised, approachable and confident in coordinating colleagues and managing competing priorities. You will be able to work calmly under pressure and make effective decisions to support a busy and time-critical service.

About us

Please submit your application as soon as possible, as we reserve the right to close adverts once sufficient applications have been received.We recognise that AI tools can support application writing; however, candidates are asked to keep their use to a minimum. Responses should reflect your own experience, skills and knowledge, as over-reliance on AI-generated content may result in generic answers that do not accurately represent your abilities.University Hospitals of Northamptonshire (UHN) brings together Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust. As a group, we are committed to improving services for our communities through collaboration, modernising care delivery and striving for excellence. Working together enables us to share expertise, strengthen services and create greater opportunities, and there may be a requirement to work across sites depending on service needs.Our Excellence Values are Compassion, Accountability, Respect, Integrity and Courage. UHN welcomes applications from all backgrounds and is committed to an inclusive working environment. We are proud signatories of the Armed Forces Covenant and hold the Gold Award under the Employer Recognition Scheme. Candidates who identify as members of the Armed Forces community and meet the essential criteria will be guaranteed an interview.

Job responsibilities

Discharge Medicines Service

• Proactively identify and fast-track TTOs across the KGH site.
• Oversee the safe and efficient processing of discharge prescriptions.
• Ensure discharge medicines are prepared and supplied within agreed service standards and timeframes.
• Liaise with ward teams to prioritise urgent and time-critical discharges.
• Work closely with pharmacists to resolve prescription queries and medication-related issues.
• Ensure appropriate communication and handover of medication information to patients and relevant healthcare professionals.
• Monitor service pressures and respond flexibly to changing patient demand.

Quality Improvement and Service Development

• Monitor the performance and effectiveness of the discharge service.
• Identify areas for improvement and work with the pharmacy team to implement practical changes.
• Contribute to the development and review of discharge procedures and working practices.
• Support the collection and review of relevant service data and activity information.
• Promote safe working practices and compliance with local policies, procedures and professional standards.
• Contribute to pharmacy service developments and improvement projects during the secondment.

Person Specification

Experience

Essential

• Post qualification experience in hospital setting with an in-depth knowledge of departmental policies and procedures for each working area
• Broad technical and pharmaceutical knowledge relating to promotion of high quality, effective and cost effective use of medicines
• Final accuracy checking experience

Desirable

• Experience of audit

Educations, Training and Qualifications

Essential

• Registered with the GPHc as a pharmacy technician or about to be qualified in next 6 months
• Educated BTEC in Pharmaceutical Science and NVQ 3

Skills

Essential

• Able to offer advice on the safe storage and administration of drugs
• Sound Knowledge of pharmacy technical processes
• High degree of accuracy and good attention to detail
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

Desirable

• Knowledge of legal/regulatory environment for medicines and clinical trials

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.

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

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