How long have you worked in pharmacy?
I have been in my current role as senior pharmacy technician for omnicells for two years, but I have been at the trust in pharmacy for nine years in total, where I have had a number of clinical roles such as medicines management technician for trauma and orthopaedics.
What qualifications did you need and where did you receive them?
A level three qualification in the principals and practices for pharmacy technicians.
This qualification is currently done as a mixture of in-house training and one day a week at college, done remotely.
This qualification is for two years after which you are eligible to register with the General Pharmaceutical Council as a pharmacy technician.
There are other routes to become a pharmacy technician such as the Buttercups programme, but the in-house course is the one I completed.
Tell us something about your role people might not be aware of
The role of a pharmacy technician has advanced significantly at South Tees in recent years to more specialist roles.
For example, I carry out commonly known pharmacy technician duties, such as medicines reconciliation and accuracy checking of dispensed medication, but I am primarily the systems manager for the Omnicell automated drugs cabinets at South Tees.
This involves managing accounts, training staff, doing reports and optimisation projects and I’m currently project managing the next rollout of cabinets to another 31 areas across the trust.
I am also involved in a leadership role, taking part in senior decision-making processes and line managing a team of staff.
What do you like about working at South Tees in pharmacy?
I love the variety of work that we do to make medicines safer for our patients.
Our department has a keen interest in developing its staff and giving people opportunities to progress and seek out personal development.
I like working in a multidisciplinary team on the ward including doctors, nurses, pharmacists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and pharmacy ATOs/assistants.
At South Tees pharmacy I feel supported by my colleagues to do my work to the best of my ability and the positivity around patient safety promotes a fantastic working environment.