Lead Clinical Pharmacist (PCN) - MATERNITY COVER

Job responsibilities

Job Summary

To support the effective delivery of patient care in GP Practices within the PCN by utilising pharmaceutical skills to embed the principles of medicines optimisation within the wider practice teams, ensuring safe patient care through regular review and monitoring of patients based on clinical need and supporting demand management through consultation with patients as appropriate

To provide clinical leadership on medicines management and quality improvement as well as managing some aspects of the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF), Enhanced Commissioning Framework (ECF), Improvement and Investment Fund (IIF) and Enhanced Services

The post holder will provide supervision, mentorship and line management to the appointed clinical pharmacists, Pharmacy Technicians and locum Clinical Pharmacists working across the PCN GP Practices

The post holder will work as part of a multidisciplinary team in a patient facing role, based either remotely or within a member GP Practice, but working for all GP Practices across the PCN at all times as required

This post is part of the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme for PCNs funded by NHS England and includes funded access to the Primary Care CPPE Pathway for any further modules required to complete the pathway

Core Activities

The post holder will ensure that the Practices integrate with community and hospital pharmacy to help utilise the 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 work closely with the ICB Medicines Optimisation team, community pharmacists and hospital pharmacists to support an integrated hub approach to prescribing

The post holder will be passionate about achieving excellence in care and will be supported in terms of clinical learning and professional development

The post holder will be expected to travel between PCN Practices, patients homes and meetings across the PCN

Key priorities

• Provide leadership and line management to the PCN Clinical Pharmacy team
• Provide supervision, coaching and mentorship to the appointed Clinical Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians working across the PCN GP Practices
• Ensure optimum benefit for prescribed medication through high levels of compliance and concordance achieved by support for the patient and carers
• Provide professional input to PCN Practice teams and network multidisciplinary teams working to improve patient outcomes and reduce avoidable admission to hospital
• Liaise across providers to ensure accurate and effective medication management
• Provide direct care to patients with long term conditions, minor ailments and other clinical areas within the scope of practice
• Support the care of complex patients in their own homes or in nursing or residential accommodation as part of a multidisciplinary team
• Provide professional leadership on matters relating to medicines optimisation and quality improvement
• Monitor and manage the effectiveness of the Clinical Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians activities in the Practices
• Support with planning of courses and training
• Following through HR processes, appraisals, flexible working requests etc, appraisals, probationary reviews etc, HR queries, recording absences, performance management
• Support with locums, overarching supervision, reviewing claims etc, support with setup
• Working and developing relationships with practicesto achieve the best from the pharmacist team performance
• Pharmacy team collaboration and team building, sharing good practice, pastoral support
• Good communication with the PCN leadership team, practices and clinical pharmacy team, ICB prescribing teams, community pharmacy ICB lead
• Attending PCN meetings as a CP representative and cascading relevant info to CP team
• Representing the PCN as a pharmacy lead at meetings such a ICB prescribing meeting, polypharmacy meetings
• Network building with other clinical pharmacy PCN teams
• Supporting with proposals, inductions and planning new recruitments including interviews and shortlisting
• Work with practices, support with any queries, offering advice
• Strategic pharmacy planning and working independently
• Complex pharmacy/pharmaceutical queries offering advice on matters when or if required.

Clinical duties

• Provide face to face clinical medication reviews for patients with single or multiple longterm conditions including patients on multiple medications, focussing on single conditions as appropriate
• To plan and organise own workload, including audit and project work, care home visits, MDT meetings and training sessions for members of the Practice team, patients, and carers.
• Run clinics where medicines are the main interventions e.g. anticoagulant monitoring clinics.
• Review daily Pathology results and act on results.
• Act across the interface liaising with other providers i.e. secondary care, community pharmacy and care/nursing homes as necessary to ensure safe transfers of care.
• Provide support to patients to maximise the benefit from their medication
• Provide medication reviews to complex patients in their place of residence
• Manage a case load of patients presenting with common or selflimiting minor aliments within the scope of practice signposting to appropriate community services
• Provide telephone support for patients with medication queries
• Discuss patients with complex needs at the local MDT meetings and refer to the named professional in line with recommendations
• Provide professional telephone and email advice and support to patients and their carers
• Reconcile the medications of patients whose care is transferred back to primary care in a timely and effective manner liaising with patients and other providers to ensure patients receive appropriate medication on discharge
• Proactively engage with patients whose care has been transferred to reduce potential re-admission including identifying and rectifying unexplained variation
• To maintain full and complete records of all patient contacts using appropriate clinical templates and coding
• Provide feedback and seek advice from GPs for patients where the post holder has clinical concerns around competence to safely manage their medications

Medicines management and repeat prescribing

• Carry out structured medicines optimisation reviews in care homes associated with the PCN working with all stakeholders in the multidisciplinary team to ensure optimal patient care and reduction of unplanned hospital admissions
• Review the ongoing need for medication and make suitable recommendations to the registered GP or amend within the scope of practice
• Manage requests to prescribe medication from specialists in line with East & North Hertfordshire formulary and locally agreed guidelines
• Monitoring patients with complex long-term conditions such as hypertension, diabetes and COPD, ensuring that medication is optimised, titrated, monitored and complied with
• Work with practices to ensure safe and effective systems for the repeat prescribing of medication making recommendations on the reduction of potential wastage
• Set up systems to ensure the effective and continuous supply of medication to high risk patients
• Act as a source of medicines information for all of the practice team and patients (e.g. around doses, side effects, adverse events, possible alternatives e.g. around out of stocks).
• Implement changes to medicines in line with MHRA alerts, produce withdrawal and other local or national guidance
• Advise patients on effective techniques required for the use of medication delivered by devices
• Refer patients to their community pharmacist for support with using their medicines (e.g. Medicines Use Review or New Medicines Service).
• Update patient medication records in line with incoming clinical correspondence
• Reconcile medicines following hospital discharge, amend medication lists and contact patients/ carers regarding such changes, as appropriate, to ensure patients receive the medicines they need post discharge.
• Make appropriate prescribing decisions and/or recommendations based on clinical information obtained during consultation or in the patients record.
• To contribute to the reduction of medicine wastage within practices across the PCN, resulting in improved budget performance for both the practice and the wider CCG area.

Audit and risk stratification

• Participate in the effective care planning and management of high-risk patients as part of the multidisciplinary team
• Participate in audit activities in practices and with groups of practices to optimise the use of prescribing resource
• Make recommendations based on the outcomes of audit and shared learning activities
• Proactively identify and recall patients due for medication review ensuring all appropriate monitoring tests performed
• Contribute to reductions in medicine related hospital admissions and readmissions by supporting patients to get the best outcomes from their medicines and identifying and addressing medicines related issues.
• Work across the PCN as required to ensure a consistent approach with regards to medicines optimisation and safe, effective, high quality patient care.

Supervision and mentorship

• Provide an appropriate induction programme for newly appointed / junior clinical pharmacists.
• Develop the role of the clinical pharmacist in their PCN Practice and undertake assessments.
• Support pharmacists failing to progress within their role at the expected rate.
• Be involved with performance support when appropriate.
• Oversee appropriate management guidance and professional development.
• Provide advice to PCN Practices regarding appropriate clinical work and pharmacist role development.
• Pastoral support for clinical pharmacists, facilitating group mentoring and professional development where required.
• Fully participate in personal training and development.
• Promote and participate in the development and operation of a peer support network

Experience

Essential

• Minimum 5 years post registration experience
• Interest in the development of the general practice clinical pharmacist role
• Portfolio of evidence of continuous professional development and post-qualifying experience
• Evidence of multidisciplinary working
• Evidence of the application of innovative practice and the application of evidence-based interventions
• Basic management training or equivalent experience
• Minimum two years of managing a team
• Experience of mentoring Pharmacy Technicians
• Evidence of supporting others with learning and development
• Clear, concise record keeping / report writing skills
• Good IT skills ability to use Word, Excel, Powerpoint and internet to obtain, analyse and present information
• Ability to undertake research

Desirable

• Skills in an acute care and Long Term Conditions management related setting (training will be provided)

Personal attributes

Essential

• Team player with willingness to learn
• Excellent communication and organisational skills
• Demonstrates use of appropriate communication to gain the co-operation of relevant stakeholders
• Flexible and adaptable approach to working
• Ability to work under pressure and achieve tight deadlines in a complex / changing environment
• Be able to organise workload and work autonomously as well as within a team
• Able to recognise personal limitations and refer to more appropriate colleague(s) when necessary
• Self-motivated and directed

Qualifications

Essential

• Maintain registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council
• Master's Degree in Pharmacy
• Independent Prescriber

Desirable

• Membership of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society
• Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Pharmacy or Prescribing
• Teaching qualification

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such 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.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).