Senior Pharmacy Technician - Community Health Services - Virtual Ward

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We are proud to provide 'Outstanding' care and be a great place to work.

East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust provides safe, compassionate and high quality hospital and community care to the half a million people living in East Sussex and those who visit our local area.

We are one of the largest organisations in East Sussex with an annual income of £568 million and we are the only integrated provider of acute and community care in Sussex.

Our extensive health services are provided by over 7,000 dedicated members of staff working from two acute hospitals in Hastings and Eastbourne, three community hospitals in Bexhill, Rye and Uckfield, over 100 community sites across East Sussex, and in people's own homes.

In 2020 the Care Quality Commission (CQC) rated us as 'Good' overall, and 'Outstanding' for being Caring and Effective. The Conquest Hospital in Hastings and our Community Services were rated 'Outstanding' and Eastbourne DGH was rated 'Good' Our two acute hospitals have Emergency Departments and provide 24 hour a day care, offering a comprehensive range of surgical, medical, outpatient and maternity services, supported by a full range of diagnostic and therapy services.

In the summer of 2020, the Trust launched its ambitious 'Building for our Future' (BFF) programme. This once in a lifetime programme aims to redevelop and expand our hospitals at Eastbourne, Hastings and Bexhill, transforming the environment in which we provide care for generations to come.

We provide safe, compassionate and high quality hospital and community care to over half a million people living in East Sussex and those who visit our local area.

We are one of the largest organisations in East Sussex with an annual income of £650 million and we are the only integrated provider of acute and community care in Sussex. Our extensive health services are provided by over 8,000 dedicated members of staff working from two acute hospitals in Hastings and Eastbourne, three community hospitals in Bexhill, Rye and Uckfield, over 100 community sites across East Sussex, and in people's own homes.

In 2020 the Care Quality Commission (CQC) rated us as 'Good' overall, and 'Outstanding' for being Caring and Effective. Conquest Hospital and our Community Services were rated 'Outstanding' and Eastbourne DGH was rated 'Good'.

Our two acute hospitals have emergency departments and provide 24 hour a day care, offering a comprehensive range of surgical, medical, outpatient and maternity services, supported by a full range of diagnostic and therapy services. Our centre for trauma services and obstetrics is at Conquest Hospital, while our centre for urology and stroke services is at Eastbourne DGH. At Bexhill Hospital we offer a range of outpatient, day surgery, rehabilitation and intermediate care services. At Rye, Winchelsea and District Memorial Hospital we offer outpatients, rehabilitation and intermediate services. At Uckfield Community Hospital we provide day surgery and outpatient care.

In the community, we deliver services that focus on people with long term conditions living well outside hospital, through our integrated locality teams working with district and community nursing teams. Community members of staff also provide care to patients in their homes and from a number of clinics, health centres and GP surgeries.

Job overview

This is an exciting opportunity to join the Community Health Services (CHS) Pharmacy team in supporting patients cared for in our Virtual Wards within ESHT.

Virtual Wards will be a safe & efficient alternative to NHS bedded carethat is enabled by technology. Virtual wards support patients who would otherwise be in hospital to receive the acute care, monitoring & treatment they need in their own home. This includes either preventing avoidable admissions into hospital or supporting early discharge out of hospital.

Our vision at ESHT is the service to be "Clinically led, user centric, integrated model which is digitally enabled".

The post holder will be providing patient care in patients own homes, and able to travel independently across sites. You will be using technology to support and monitor patients.

We are seeking an experienced, enthusiastic, self-motivated and dynamic Pharmacy Technician with excellent communication and interpersonal skills. You will work with colleagues across the integrated care system to develop and maintain high quality, clinically driven pathways so that we are able to provide the best patient experience to our local population.

Main duties of the job

This senior pharmacy technician post is responsible for providing direct specialist support to the virtual ward pharmacy service provided to patients supported by CHIC division (Community Health and Integrated Care) community-based teams and services (excluding bedded units) including community nursing, working with the Highly Specialist Pharmacist, and other members of the CHS pharmacy team.

The postholder will be collaborating with an integrated workforce of doctors, nurses and AHPs, as well as specialist colleagues in Respiratory, Heart Failure and Frailty.

The postholder will be required to liaise with colleagues working in the virtual ward, which are expected to be across both professional and organisational boundaries.

Working for our organisation

We are proud to provide 'Outstanding' care and be a great place to work

We provide safe, compassionate and high quality care to half a million people living or visiting East Sussex. We are one of the largest organisations in East Sussex, the only integrated provider of acute and community care in Sussex. Our extensive services are provided by 7000 + members of staff working from acute hospitals in Hastings and Eastbourne, three community hospitals in Bexhill, Rye and Uckfield, over 100 community sites and in people's own homes.

In 2020 the Care Quality Commission rated us as 'Good' overall, and 'Outstanding' for being caring and effective. The Conquest Hospital and our Community Services are rated 'Outstanding'. Eastbourne DGH rated 'Good'.

In 2020, the Trust launched its ambitious 'Building for our Future' programme. This once in a lifetime programme aims to repair, redevelop and expand our hospitals, transforming the environment in which we provide care for generations to come.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please refer to the job description attached.

If you have any questions about this position please do not hesitate to contact us.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Pharmacy Technician registered with General Pharmaceutical Council
• CPD portfolio that demonstrates an ongoing commitment to personal development
• Good general education including Maths, English + Science to GCSE Standard

Experience

Essential criteria

• Minimum 5 years' experience of working in a hospital or community pharmacy In addition minimum of one year experience of working with direct patient contact and ordering of patients' specific medication either within an acute trust or a similar setting
• Providing training to pharmacy staff or other healthcare professionals

Desirable criteria

• Experience of working as a pharmacy technician in hospital dispensary/pharmacy service at B5 or above.
• Experience of working in a community pharmacy
• Previous experience in mentoring and training pharmacy staff

Skills

Essential criteria

• Experience of working closely with pharmacist(s) providing patient-based services and has a good understanding of the role.
• Demonstrates knowledge and understanding of safe pharmacy practice including Medicines legislation and professional code of ethics
• Demonstrate the ability to review a patent's medication and identify issues (e.g. concordance) and communicate with the patient (and/or relatives) and to provide recommendations to nurses, doctors or community pharmacist regarding the patient's medicine.

Patients come first at East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust.

Our vision is to be:

• The healthcare provider of first choice for the people of East Sussex.

Our mission is to:

• Deliver better health outcomes and an excellent experience for everyone we provide with healthcare services.

Our strategic objectives are to:

• Improve quality and clinical outcomes by ensuring that safe patient care is our highest priority.
• Play a leading role in local partnerships to meet the needs of our local population and improve and enhance patients' experiences.
• Use our resources efficiently and effectively for the benefit of our patients and their care to ensure our services are clinically, operationally and financially sustainable.

Our aims are that all services delivered by the Trust are:

• Safe
• Effective
• Caring
• Responsive and
• Well led

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Documents to download

• 2022 Senior Pharmacy Technician - Community Health Services (CHS) - Virtual Ward (PDF, 353.8KB)
• Guidance for Applicants - AFC (PDF, 204.0KB)