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Job summary

Main area
Pharmacy
Grade
NHS AfC: Band 3
Contract
Permanent: Must participate in evening, weekend and bank holiday rota
Hours
  • Full time
  • Part time
37.5 hours per week (Part time working Thursdays and Fridays 3rd day negotiable)
Job ref
409-7023048
Employer
Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
Whiston Hospital
Town
Prescot
Salary
£24,071 - £25,674 per annum, pro rata
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
08/04/2025 23:59
Interview date
24/04/2025

Employer heading

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust logo

Pharmacy Dispensing Assistant

NHS AfC: Band 3

After applying via NHS Jobs, your submitted application will be imported into our preferred Third-party recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs. You will not be able to track the progress of your application or receive messages through the NHS Jobs website, and furthermore, as an employer, we will not be able to respond to any e-mails sent to us via the NHS Jobs website. By applying for this post you are agreeing to "name of trust" transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are appointed to a post information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.

Job overview

We are looking for enthusiastic and motivated Pharmacy Dispensing Assistants to join our existing Dispensary Team.  Dispensing Assistants are key members of the team and your duties will include routine labelling and dispensing of prescriptions for both inpatients and outpatients, dispensing of Controlled drugs, and the involvement in the effective management of returned medicines from within the Trust. You will also take part in a rotation to work with our ward-based Pharmacy Technicians to provide dispensing services at ward level.

You will need to take part in our weekend and evening rotas providing a 7 day a week service to the Trust

This is a challenging and rewarding job and you will need the following skills:

A professional approach,
Excellent communication skills
You should work well in a team and be proactive in your own job role,
Attention to detail, and working accurately and to a high standard,
Knowing when to refer to an experienced or senior member of staff.
Current experience of working within a pharmacy is essential and candidates must have completed an NVQ Level 2 in Pharmacy Services, or a GPhC recognised equivalent.

Main duties of the job

To perform routine dispensing duties and maintain safe systems of working.

To maintain safe systems of working

To co-operate will all Pharmacy staff in the provision and development of an efficient and effective pharmaceutical service for the patients of Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Trust.

Working for our organisation

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 9000 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.

We strongly believe that the communities we serve should all have access to Five Star Patient Care.

Our services:

Acute Care

Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.

Primary Care

Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.

Community Services

Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation, freeing up space for more unwell patients. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.

Specialist Regional Services

We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.

Achievements:

  • Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
  • Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
  • National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

  • KEY DUTIES

    ·        To assist in the receipt of prescriptions accurately according to safe working practices.

    ·        To dispense prescriptions accurately according to safe working practices.

    ·        To participate in the ATO dispenser rota through areas of the inpatient and outpatients’ dispensaries throughout the Trust.

    ·        To dispense controlled drug prescriptions and maintain records accordingly.

    ·        To take payment for prescriptions from patients according to the departmental procedure.

    ·        To maintain an accurate balance of cash in the dispensary till and cash up at the end of each day.

    ·        To participate in ward and clinic pharmacy services primarily to maintain and control stocks.

    ·        To request stocks and special line items to fulfil prescriptions and ward top ups.

    ·        To assist in the preparation and assembly of supplies for delivery to wards and departments.

    ·        To provide information to patients relating to the dispensed prescriptions and ensure they understand their treatment.

    ·        To answer telephone and face to face queries of a routine or basic technical nature from a wide range of staff groups, patients and the public, either in the pharmacy or on the ward and refer appropriate queries to the relevant member of the Pharmacy team.

    ·        To co-operate with the provision of necessary staffing within the pharmacy dept and participate in staff rotation to other sites e.g. St Helens.

    ·        To extemporaneously dispense medicines using specific equipment (e.g. fume cupboards and weighing balances) and taking protective measures. Weighing and measuring must be accurate as there are narrow margins for errors.

    ·        To dispense cytotoxics drugs.

    ·        To assist other members of staff in the performance of an efficient and cost-effective service.

    ·        To answer phone calls and queries from patients, medical staff and all other users of the Trust.

    ·        To accurately produce labels for dispensing using the JAC computer system.

    ·        To attend and participate in study days and courses as necessary.

    ·        To provide individual dose dispensing and blister packing services for patients who have difficulty with normal medicines packaging.

    ·        To participate in the stock control of medicines under the supervision of the dispensary senior and chief technicians.

    ·        To assist in the correct storage and turnover of stock including expiry date checks and leech storage.

    ·        To participate in all Saturday, Sunday, evening, on-call and bank holiday rotas in response to the changing needs of the Pharmacy service.

    CLINICAL & PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

    ·        To maintain own continuing Professional development.

    ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSIBILITIES

    ·        To be responsible for the accurate input of data into the pharmacy JAC computer system for all duties requiring its use e.g. labelling, ordering and stock control

    TEACHING & TRAINING RESPONSIBILITIES

    ·        To assist in the training of ATOs, ATO dispensers, student pharmacy technicians, pre-registration pharmacists, work experience students and other new pharmacy staff.

    RESEARCH & AUDIT

    ·        To carry out and assist in audit research projects to improve and develop the service provision.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria
  • Completion of recognised dispensing qualification
  • NVQ Level 2 Pharmacy Services qualification

Knowledge & Experience

Essential criteria
  • Experience working in a Pharmacy
  • Experience of Working with computer systems
Desirable criteria
  • Experience in using the JAC Pharmacy Computer System

Skills

Essential criteria
  • Good verbal and communication skills both face to face and using telephones
  • Ability to talk to patients, staff and other senior health professionals
  • Ability to work accurately and efficiently with good attention to detail
  • Good administration skills including record-keeping
  • Ability to concentrate for long periods of time and able work under pressure
  • Hardworking with a determination to overcome obstacles and understand the importance and context of the role.
  • Self-motivated team player with the ability to motivate the team performance to achieve objectives

Other

Essential criteria
  • Supportive of colleagues of all grades
  • Ability to participate in the departmental rota for late and weekend working

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Nursing TimesApprenticeships logoDisability confident leaderArmed Forces Covenant Gold AwardNavajo - Merseyside and CheshireCare quality commission - OutstandingDying to Work CharterStep into healthHappy to Talk Flexible WorkingNHS Rainbow Badge - BronzeDefence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) - GoldPeople Promise

Applicant requirements

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Documents to download

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Lynda Hughes
Job title
Senior Pharmacy Technician
Email address
[email protected]
Telephone number
01512904289
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