As a Pharmacy technician my role within Primary care is still fairly new.
Pharmacy Technicians must undertake extra qualifications to practise as a technician. This usually lasts 2 years and is done through a work placement. They also need to be registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) and complete additional yearly learning to continue to practise. It is a developing role and an excellent career.
You may see a pharmacy technician when you collect your regular medication at your local community pharmacy, they may offer a blood pressure check or give you some advice about an over-the-counter medicine you may want to try.
In a hospital you may see a technician at the point of discharge if you have a stay with them or need a prescription after seeing a specialist, but our role within primary care is developing continually.
I am part of a wider team within the practice and deal with a variety medication related queries
.I aid the admin team with issuing repeat medications from your repeat when you order or make more complex decisions with your GP. I also have a role in patient safety, checking drug alerts and making plans and actions when there is an issue with a medication.
I have a role in planning and actioning audits to ensure patients are getting the best out of their care, reducing carbon emissions and saving money for the NHS.
With my community experience I am used to dealing with out-of-stock medication and am in a good place to be able to offer alternative advice to your GP or contact the suppliers directly for supply dates and updates.
In the future you may see us in a more face to face capacity in a clinic as we become able to offer blood pressure checks and inhaler technique checks at your GP surgery. This with other exciting plans are happening across the country.
Clinical Pharmacists form part of our multi-disciplinary workforce and work alongside our GPs. They assist in providing an efficient service to our patients, assisting the GPs with their prescribing related workload and improving patient satisfaction.
Through our Primary Care Network we have contracted with Prescribing Care Direct to provide this service to St Leonards.
Our named Pharmacists are Umar Ahmed and Shahbaz Mirza. You may receive a phone call from one our Pharmacists if there is a query on your medication or you have recently been discharged from hospital on new medication. They are able to offer advice and guidance on acute prescription requests as well as on-going repeat medication queries.
Prescribing Care Direct ensure that they have checked Proof of qualifications/ training certificates relating to the role and that continued professional registration is in place.
Clinical supervision is also provided by Prescribing Care Direct.