Senior Pharmacy Technician Clinical Services

Your role will involve working with the Chief Pharmacy Technician (Clinical Services) to manage and develop our technical ward services team.
This role requires excellent organisational and interpersonal skills, alongside sound knowledge of clinical ward services. Relevant experience and good written and verbal communication skills are also essential.
You will also support the Chief Pharmacy Technician (Clinical Services) to manage and co-ordinate the technical staff on wards, implement omnicell systems at ward level and manage the satellite dispensaries on wards.
In addition, you will be required to provide medicines management cover to clinical ward services; completing medicines reconciliation, discharge planning and final accuracy checking of prescriptions.
The department operates a 7 day service to the Medical Care Group. Participation in the late night working, weekend and Bank Holiday rotas will also be required.
Interview Date - Week Commencing 25th November 2025, + To support the Chief Pharmacy Technician Clinical Services to develop and manage the clinical pharmacy technical ward services.
+ To support the Chief Pharmacy Technician Clinical Services, manage the ward-based dispensers, students, technicians, and accuracy checking pharmacy technicians
+ To support the Senior Technician Training and Education Clinical Services to deliver training to ward based dispensers, students, technicians, and accuracy checking pharmacy technicians' teams for clinical ward services.
+ To provide a specialist clinical technical service/specialist advice to patients at ward level including medicines optimisation
+ To complete audits and procedures for technical clinical ward services
+ To support the Chief Pharmacy Technicians management of the Omnicell systems at ward level
+ To participate in the department rota to ensure a pharmacy service is provided efficiently over 7 days, + To work under the supervision of the Chief Pharmacy Technician Clinical Services to manage the operational provision of pharmacy services to wards and provide cover in their absence.
+ Plan and manage own workload working independently.
+ To work with the Chief Pharmacy Technician Clinical Services to performance manage band 5 pharmacy technicians and other staff allocated to ward services within the department including:
- The recruitment and selection process of pharmacy technicians and assistants
- Ensure all direct line reports have an annual appraisal and appropriate personal development plan which is in line with the strategic objectives of the department, ensure this is reviewed and updated in regular 1:1's
- The conducting and recording of 'return to work' interviews and managing sickness absence for band 5 technicians according to the Trust sickness absence policy.
- To liaise with the Human Resource Department concerning disciplinary and grievance matters for staff in ward services.
- To organise and conduct disciplinary meetings with ward services staff in accordance with Trust procedures.
+ Provide pastoral and emotional support to the team when necessary.
+ To supervise and support pre-registration pharmacists and pre-registration pharmacy technician's and pharmacy students allocated to ward services.
+ To collate performance data for the Chief Pharmacy Technician Clinical Services to present to the Pharmacy Leadership Team.
+ To write procedures for pharmacy ward technical services
+ Assist the Chief Pharmacy Technician in the investigation of complaints including providing suitable responses and ensuring remedial action is taken where appropriate.
+ To manage annual leave, time owing and related issues forward based technical staff.
+ Prepare weekly rotas for the band 5 technicians and ward services dispensing staff to ensure adequate service provision. To re-assess and adjust staffing according to irregular or unpredictable workloads, whilst aiming to keep the service within acceptable limits.
+ To be responsible for the organisation of staffing for the ward technical staff when emergency or voluntary rota staffing is required and in the case of additional activity during the weekend and/or evenings, relating to ward services.
+ To liaise with medical, nursing, portering and other staff regarding the pharmacy service and any related problems.
+ Approval of bank and agency staff hours worked on e roster.
+ To be responsible for developing and delivering detailed information to inform decisions on configuration of the Omnicell systems.
+ To be responsible for the installation, training, and operation of the Omnicell drug vending machines based on wards.
CLINICAL & PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES
+ To perform final accuracy checking on prescriptions and inpatient requisitions which have been clinically verified by a pharmacist in accordance with Trust procedures and ensure dispensing errors are corrected by the appropriate member of staff.
+ Labelling and dispensing of medication as required including the accurate input of data into the pharmacy JAC computer system, extemporaneous dispensing, and blister packs.
+ To provide a specialist clinical technical service to a designated ward, in accordance with professional, departmental and Trust policies. This will include:
- the taking of a comprehensive medication history for new patients as soon as possible after admission using multiple sources of information
- Close liaison with external organisations e.g. nursing homes/community pharmacies, other hospitals, and GP practices
- Assessment of patients own drugs for reuse.
- Accurately transcribe medicines from EPMA to ICE discharge identifying any discrepancies to the ward doctor and ward pharmacist
- Processing of TTO's at ward level in a timely manner to maintain patient flows in the Trust.
- Ordering medication in a timely manner to avoid missed doses, particularly of critical medicines.
- Monitoring for adverse drug reactions and submit 'yellow cards' to the CSM where appropriate.
- Counselling and educating patients on how to correctly take their medicines including advice on side effects and appropriate storage.
- Identify unintentional nonadherence to medicines and intervene where appropriate.
- Follow up patients to ensure interventions put in place have been successful.
- Monitoring for adverse drug reactions and submit 'yellow cards' to the CSM where appropriate.
- To participate in patient counselling and communicate complex information effectively to other grades of staff and patients and if appropriate use demonstrational techniques in the use of medicines to patients, carers, and other health care professionals, ensuring they understand fully any advice or instructions provided.
+ To provide appropriate advice to doctors, nurses and other professionals as required.
+ Report any drug errors you detect to the Head of Pharmacy or their deputy. Ensure that the appropriate error form is completed.
+ Return unwanted or patients own Controlled drugs from the wards in accordance with the departmental policy and the Misuse of Drugs Act
+ To participate in Continuing Professional Development as per department policy and national guidelines from the General Pharmaceutical council
TEACHING & TRAINING RESPONSIBILITIES
+ To provide induction training on ward services for newly recruited staff.
+ To deliver training and education forward-based pharmacy technical services staff, including assessing their competence in the following:
- Assessment of patients own drugs for suitability to reuse.
- Medication history taking
- Transcribing of discharge prescriptions
- Patient counselling
- Accuracy checking of discharge prescriptions.
- Ward based training for pharmacy student technicians, pre-registration pharmacists and pharmacy assistants.
+ To assist the Chief Pharmacy Technician Clinical Services in the development and management of the satellite dispensaries ensuring all staff are appropriately trained and competent to undertake their duties to ensure safe and effective working practices to improve patient flows within the Trust.
+ To assist the Chief Pharmacy Technician Clinical Services to provide training for the use of the Omnicell systems to both pharmacy and ward-based staff.
+ To comply with the GPhc requirements for continuing professional development
RESEARCH & AUDIT
+ To collate ward services audits, including planning, collating results, writing reports, and presenting findings to stakeholders.
+ To work with the Chief Pharmacy Technician analysing the ward services key performance Indicators.
+ To participate in locally any regional / national audits relating to ward services
+ To ensure risk assessments are carried out within the ward technical services and to act on any Risk Management issues highlighted.
Thank you for considering an application to work for Mersey West Lancashire NHS Trust. You are part of an exciting and forward-thinking NHS Trust who are one of the best places to work for in England.
Given sometimes we receive a high volume of applications to work for us, please be aware, that we may close a vacancy earlier than stated should a sufficient number of applications be received from which a shortlist can be confirmed. Therefore, you are advised to apply at your earliest convenience.
The Trust may contact you during the recruitment process for your feedback on your experience. We always aim for continuous improvement in our practice.
Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion
We actively cultivate a professional environment of fairness, equality, dignity, and respect for all individuals. We welcome individuals from all backgrounds and value the unique skills, perspective and experience you bring. We are grounded in the belief that diversity enhances our collective strength, fostering innovation and excellence within our workforce. We welcome all applications irrespective of people's race, disability, gender, sexual orientation, religion/belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity and in particular those from under- represented groups.
As a Disability Confident Leader, we commit to offering an interview to all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form.
If you are having difficulty completing an online application, or require any disability reasonable adjustments, to the application process, please contact [email protected]
We also commit to offering an interview to all armed forces veterans who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form.
The Trust operates anonymous shortlisting where no personal information about you, including your name or personal details are shared with the recruiting manager. No equality information is shared at any time during the recruitment process with the recruiting manager or other people involved in the decision-making process.
The equality monitoring information you provide is used in the following situations: to review our recruitment practices; where a job is limited to a specific person to verify their eligibility to apply; and to offer disability reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process.
Certificate of Sponsorship
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).
Following the recent update on UK immigration policy for those on a Health and Care Visa or Skilled Worker Visa, please click here to check your eligibility before applying for this post as we may be unbale to provide sponsorship.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
If this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 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.
Please note if applicable, applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs are deducted from salary following appointment.
If you have not already done so, you are therefore encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service to which a small annual fee of £13 per year applies.
Flexible Working
We actively support flexible working patterns throughout MWL. Changes made to the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook mean that:
· All employees have the right to request flexible working from day one of employment.
· There is no limit on the number of requests they can make.
· Employees have the right to make requests, have them considered, regardless of the reason.
At Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, we will consider requests for flexible working. We would also encourage you to also discuss flexible working options at interview stage.
Working for Team MWL
Staff recognition is especially important to us; as well as performance reviews and appraisals, we recognise staff through Employee of the month. Along with supporting you to achieve your career goals we offer a generous pension scheme, unsocial hours payments (where applicable), 27 days annual leave on commencement (pro rata) and access to a range of NHS discounts. Our Staff Health and Wellbeing programme offer a variety of services.
The Trust is a non-smoking across all our sites. Failure to follow this rule could lead to disciplinary action. For more information, see the Smoke Free NHS website
The Trust will not accept applications which are found to be AI generated.
Additional Information
Before applying, we encourage you to review the Trusts Values and Behaviours which are We are KIND, We are OPEN, We are INCLUSIVE, which can be found here.
An applicant guide to help and support you with your application and what to expect during your recruitment journey can be accessed in the supporting documents.
Good luck with your application. We hope to welcome you to Team MWL very soon.

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