Job responsibilities
Job description of Primary Care Network Clinical Pharmacist
Responsible to: All 5 practices
Accountable to: PCN Clinical Director
Salary: TBA depending on qualifications and experience
Position Description
The post holder is a pharmacist, who acts within their professional boundaries, supporting and working alongside a team of a pharmacist and pharmacy technicians in general practice. In this role they will be supported by a GP who will develop, manage and mentor them.
The post holder will work as part of a multi-disciplinary team in a patient-facing role. The post holder will take responsibility for areas of chronic disease management within the practice and undertake clinical medication reviews to proactively manage patients with complex polypharmacy.
The post holder will provide primary support to general practice staff with regards to prescription and medication queries. They will help support the repeat prescription system, deal with acute prescription requests, and medicines reconciliation on transfer of care and systems for safer prescribing, providing expertise in clinical medicines advice while addressing both public and social care needs of patients in the GP practice (s).
The post holder will provide clinical leadership on medicines optimisation and quality improvement and manage some aspects of the quality and outcomes framework and enhanced services.
The post holder will ensure that the practice integrates with community and hospital pharmacy to help utilise skill mix, improve patient outcomes, ensure better access to healthcare and help manage workload. The role is pivotal to improving the quality of care and operational efficiencies so requires motivation and passion to deliver excellent service within general practice.
The post holder will be supported to develop their role to become a non-medical prescriber and to complete the CPPE primary care pharmacy education programme if not completed already.
Job responsibilities
To support, train and oversee the prescription team staff involved in the preparation of repeat prescriptions and to participate in the preparation/issue of repeat prescriptions if necessary in order to ensure high quality safe and timely repeat prescribing. Also support with the training of pre-registration pharmacists as necessary.
To support the Practice Pharmacist(s) and Pharmacy Technicians with medicines reconciliation in accordance with practice protocols and to update patients medical records / prescribing accordingly and work with patients, hospital and community pharmacies to ensure patients receive the medicines they need post discharge.
To support the achievement of the practices prescribing Quality and Outcomes Framework targets.
To contribute to the review and development of repeat prescribing protocols/standard operating procedures to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of repeat prescribing systems and safe use of medications.
To provide advice to GPs, staff and patients in changes to prescribing to support the improvement of prescribing safety, quality and cost effectiveness.
To support and train other members of the wider healthcare team.
To participate in medication audits.
To assist in the appropriate monitoring and management of prescribing budgets and to liaise with the Medicines Management Team at Croydon CCG
To prepare evidence based resources and information to support the implementation of rational cost-effective prescribing and local prescribing incentive schemes.
To support the Practice Based Clinical Pharmacist(s) to provide medication reviews, patient information leaflets and medicine awareness to patients.
Assist in the monitoring of high risk medications.
To take a proactive approach to the safe handling of prescriptions, including assessment of risk and making recommendations for improvement.
To support patient safety monitoring using systems such as PINCER and ECLIPSE.
To respond to medication queries from patients and staff in a professional manner referring to the appropriate GP/ pharmacist where appropriate.
To advise on the sourcing and safe management of medicines as appropriate.
To assist the practice pharmacist(s) and Pharmacy Technicians in acting upon medication safety alerts in an appropriate time frame.
To help plan, develop and support the introduction of new working processes within the practice to optimise the quality of prescribing.
Responsibility for administration
Other duties and responsibilities to be undertaken may include any or all the items in the following list:
Taking messages and passing on information as appropriate.
Computer data entry/data allocation and collation, processing and recording information in accordance with practice procedures.
Initiating contact with and responding to requests from patients, other team members and associated healthcare professionals and providers.
Helping to maintain a positive, patient focussed culture.
Any other duties commensurate with this position.
Duties will vary from time to time under the direction of the Partners / Senior Management Team / Clinical Pharmacist(s) dependent on current and evolving practice workload and staffing levels.
Specific responsibilities and duties to GPNET5
Structured medication reviews:
- Patient groups to cover - Care Home - Nursing and residential care homes
- Complex patients - these include those on 10 medications or more, Severe frailty, recurrent falls, housebound/isolated
- Medicines commonly associated with medication errors.
- Recent discharges with medication changes.
- Complex pain patients on multiple analgesics, aiming to minimize risks and prescribing errors.
Audits: Aim - to assess prescribing quantity, frequency, shared care protocols in records, bloods up to date. Areas to audit;
- DMARDs 3-6 monthly
- NOACs - -3- 6 monthly
- Controlled Drugs or drugs causing dependency - monthly
- NSAIDs - once a year
- Lithium- 6 monthly
- Sodium Valproate in female at risk of pregnancy - once a year
- Inhalers- 3-6 monthly, aim is to increase low carbon inhalers
- Antibiotics prescribing - data provided by CCG/SWL
- Atrial fibrillation - Chadvasc, Hasbled assessments, CVA risks reduction - yearly
- Nationally identified low priority medicines (OTCs) - 6 monthly
Knowledge, Skills and Experience Required
Completion of an undergraduate degree in pharmacy and registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council
Minimum of 3 years experience as a pharmacist, demonstrated within a practice portfolio.
Have experience and an awareness of common acute and long-term conditions that are likely to be seen in general practice
May hold or be working towards an independent prescribing qualification.
Recognises priorities when problem-solving and identifies deviations from normal pattern and is able to refer to seniors or GPs when appropriate
Able to follow legal, ethical, professional and organisational policies/procedures and codes of conduct
Involves patients in decisions about prescribed medicines and supporting adherence as per NICE guidelines.
NB: it is anticipated level of qualification held may vary according to the level of position and the components of the role being carried out, see person specification for details