Are you an experienced Pharmacy Technician looking for your next challenge within an Outstanding CQC rated Community Trust?
Do you have a passion for delivering high-quality pharmaceutical care to patients with long-term conditions, frailty, and complex medication needs? If so, we'd love to hear from you.
We are seeking a Band 6 Specialist Pharmacy Technician to provide patient-centred medicines optimisation and management across Community Services in Luton and Bedfordshire. This role focuses on supporting patients with long term conditions, frailty, and complex polypharmacy to achieve the best possible outcomes from their medicines.
You will have:
Current GPhC registration as a Pharmacy Technician
Significant experience in medicines management, with an understanding of its application in community settings
Broad pharmaceutical knowledge
Knowledge of pharmacy legislation and medicines-related regulations
Strong clinical reasoning and decision-making skills
What We Offer:
Flexible working opportunities
Excellent NHS and Trust-specific benefits
A supportive, innovative Trust rated highly by both the CQC and our staff
Opportunities to influence and shape service development
Ongoing support for professional and career development
Apply today and join EEC in making a difference to patients across our communities.
'Should we receive a high number of applications we reserve the right to close this vacancy at any point after 06/07/2026'
Job Purpose
To improve patient outcomes through safe and effective use of medicines, reducing medicines-related harm and avoidable admissions, and supporting reduction in medicines waste.
To work autonomously with a defined caseload, undertaking home visits, discussing medicines with patients during clinic visits, and supporting the multidisciplinary team (MDT), escalating complex issues appropriately to the Specialist Pharmacist – Healthcare at Home or Service Lead as appropriate.
To provide structured support within specialist clinics such as tuberculosis (TB) services, supporting directly observed therapy (DOT), monitoring adherence to anti-tuberculous regimens, and contributing to MDT management of complex infectious disease pathways.
To supervise medicines adherence, and to provide training and guidance as appropriate to encourage patients to take ownership and manage their medicines.
To communicate clear and accurate medicine related information, both verbal and written to patients/carers and other health professionals.
To promote effective medicines management, escalating poor practice and medication concerns as well as sharing best practice.
Rated ‘Outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission, we are proud to provide high quality innovative services across most of the east of England that enable people to receive care closer to home and live healthier lives.
There’s one reason why our services are outstanding – and that’s our amazing staff who, for the seventh year running, rated us incredibly highly in the national staff survey.
If you share our passion for innovative and high-quality care delivery, then please submit your application and join us on our exciting journey as a leading-edge specialist community provider. All are welcome to apply and our promise to you is a culture which prioritises staff engagement and development.
Main Duties and Responsibilities
Provide medicines management support to specialist community clinics (e.g. TB, respiratory, diabetes, anticoagulation, heart failure), including medication review, patient counselling, adherence monitoring, identification of medicines-related risks and contribution to clinical pathways.
Assess, plan, implement and evaluate medicines management interventions in patients’ homes or in clinics run by the Community Services.Identify and address reasons for non-adherence and develop tailored concordance strategies.
Maintain accurate documentation of activity, recommendations and outcomes in line with trust standards, inclusive of computer and patient held records.
Support safe transfer of care between healthcare settings by addressing medicine-related barriers to discharge and continuity.
Work in partnership with a range of muti-disciplinary and organisational personnel within both secondary and primary care, adopting a collaborative approach, together with the patient, their family and carers, as well as colleagues including GPs, community pharmacy, and wider MDT.
Support TB services through monitoring adherence, recognising adverse effects of anti-tuberculous therapy, and escalating concerns to the specialist team.
Provide specialist advice and practical support to patients and carers regarding medicines use, empowering them to manage their medicines and encouraging independence and self-reliance.
Devise and provide individualised, structured medication counselling programmes taking a holistic view of the patients and /or informal carers, social situation and health and social support networks, particularly for those identified as being at risk of medication related problems. This will include the purpose of medication, potential side effects and their management and when to seek help.
Provide counselling and demonstration of inhalers, insulin pens and other medical device techniques with particular focus on long-term condition self-management and optimisation of chronic therapies.
Deliver patient education through a range of formats, including group forums and structured educational sessions.
Provide medicines related advice and training as appropriate to MDT colleagues and care providers.
Act as liaison between the community and acute sector in relation to the pharmacy pathway for the patient when required.
Complete complex assessment, contribute to care plans in the community ensuring adequate liaison for safe discharge /transfer and seamless service.
Support admission avoidance and early intervention for patients with long-term conditions through proactive medicines optimisation, particularly in high-risk groups (e.g. frailty, respiratory disease, diabetes) by contributing to rapid assessment and appropriate medication support for patients to remain in the community.
Contribute to safer discharge from hospital, care home or on other transfer of care to avoid problems associated with medicines.
Provide domiciliary visits to review medication-taking activities in patients identified as being at high risk of medicine related problems that have been recently discharged from acute care.
Accept referrals from other healthcare professionals for patients deemed to be at risk from their medicines.
Work with patients and residential homes to contribute to safe medicines management.
Contribute to overall patient health and social care though identification of non-medication related or safeguarding issues and refer by the appropriate processes.
Report medicine-related incidents and contribute to investigation and group wide learning from these events.
Escalate complex or recurrent incidents/risks to the Specialist Pharmacist - Healthcare at Home or service lead as appropriate.
Support with developing and maintaining Standard Operating Procedures and other documents relevant to the role and wider trust as required.
Contribute to service improvement activity, audit and evaluation under the direction of the Specialist Pharmacist - Healthcare at Home and in collaboration with Community Service Leads.
There is also a requirement to be able to handle sensitive and potentially difficult patient issues, lone working, and for travel across Luton and Bedfordshire.
Communication
To communicate effectively with EEC staff, hospital colleagues, patients, their family/carers, as well as colleagues in primary care, integrated care board, community pharmacy and social care.
To facilitate clear and effective communication channels between patients, relatives, carers and professional community colleagues to ensure seamless patient care
To communicate, provide and receive sensitive patient medical information, taking into account peoples backgrounds, cultures and personal preferences.
The post holder will be expected to effectively and respectfully communicate information regarding prescribed medicines to patients and carers. They will need to explain the reasoning for and purpose of each medicine to the patient, and the risks of not taking them as prescribed. There may be communication difficulties, which may require the application of different strategies.
To make an accurate record of their activities, plans and strategies in the clinical record.
The important relationships job holder must maintan:
o Patients and families
o Range of hospital personnel
o Full range of Community health services teams, including safeguarding
o Team and administrators
o General Practitioners
o Primary Care Network personnel
o Community pharmacy staff
o Local Authority personnel, including social services
o Domiciliary care agencies
o Integrated Care Board
Budgetary Responsibility
The post-holder will be expected to support the cost-effective use of medicines and avoid waste wherever possible.
To support the services to ensure the security and appropriate use of stocks of drugs and other devices used for pharmaceutical purposes.
To improve patient care, reduce medication related problems, avoidable hospital admissions and reduce drug costs and waste.
To be alert to hoarding of unused medicines and work with the patient and the prescriber to reduce the wastage associated with this. They should be aware of, and be able, to guide to enable appropriate destruction of waste medicines.
People Management
Maintaining own professional development and requirement to take part in appraisal and KSF process
To provide guidance and advice to colleagues within and outside the Trust in regard to the safe management of medicines. This may involve liaising with care agencies, or healthcare support workers. Training of healthcare support workers will be required.
To be involved in the checking of transcribing of medication and records of medicines administered by others in a diplomatic and non-judgmental way, in order to ensure safe patient care. This may include those administered by care agency staff.
Research & Development Activity
To participate in research and audit to identify education, training needs and areas for service development relevant to the organisation.
To work collaboratively with other members of the Pharmacy Team to develop and share best practice and integrate research evidence into practice to enhance the quality of service provision
Clinical and Practice Governance
Work in accordance with Trust policies and mandatory training relevant to own role, including medicines management, safeguarding, information governance, infection prevention and equality and diversity.
Observe and maintain strict confidentiality with regards to any patient/family/staff/records and information in line with the requirements of the Data Protection Act.
Any data that is taken/shared as part of a phone call or transported, faxed, or transferred electronically must be undertaken with regard to the Trust Information Governance and Information Security policies.
The post holder must adhere to the Trust risk assessment and risk management processes. The post holder
must adhere to infection control policies and procedures including specific consideration of communicable diseases such as TB where relevant to the role.
Be aware of Health & Safety issues relevant to the Trust’s working environment and report as appropriated to the designated Health & Safety Officer in accordance with Trust policy.
Maintain safe systems of working accordance with relevant Medicines Act and Health and Safety legislation, and to ensure that defects, which may affect Safety at Work, are brought to attention of appropriated manager.
It is a condition of your employment that you are currently registered with your professional body, and it is your responsibility to maintain your professional registration.
Undertake mandatory training and any other training relevant to the role as required by East of England Community Health and Care NHS Trust.
The post holder must participate in clinical and safeguarding audits as required
Provide patients and their families /carers with information on standards they should expect from the team
The post holder is required to participate in relevant emergency preparedness process for their team
