Job responsibilities
The Clinical Pharmacist will work
within general practices providing practical and clinical support to improve
the management of medicines.
To undertake structured
medication reviews to meet the PCN service requirements. Provide professional
advice to health professionals about Medicines Management. They will be
involved in educating patients and health professionals about medicines.
The post holder will work within
their clinical competencies as part of a multidisciplinary 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
clinical leadership on medicines optimisation and quality improvement and
manage some aspects of the quality and outcomes framework and enhanced services
Principal Responsibilities:
Act as a pharmaceutical resource
for patients, general practitioners, community pharmacists, nurses and other
ICB staff
Review practice repeat
prescribing policies and support the management of the repeat prescription
re-authorisation process, by reviewing patient requests for repeat
prescriptions and adherence of practice staff to the policy. Ensure patients
have appropriate monitoring tests in place when required.
Undertake face to face patient
medication review clinics in partnership with general practitioners and primary
care health professionals
Undertake computer based and over
the telephone patient medication review clinics in partnership with general
practitioners and primary care health professionals
Improve prescribing and Medicines
Management in the General Practices
Contribute to the improvement of
management of medicines across the primary and secondary care interface
Work with and support local
community pharmacists
The post holder will be supported
to develop their role to become a non-medical prescriber
Managerial
Provide advice to general
practitioners and their practices to ensure financial risks are managed
Manage own workload
Leadership
Manage and organise own workload
and patient caseload within allocated GP practices
Review allocated GP practices
prescribing and develop prescribing action plans in partnership with the
practice, and Senior Clinical Pharmacist. Assist in action plan implementation
Liaise with local community
pharmacists to ensure they are aware of ICB and Network Medicines Management
activities and plans
Influence key personnel (general
practitioners, nurses, Practice staff) about Medicines Management issues
including the safe and secure handling of medicines in line with current
legislation
Liaise with other local Medicines
Management Teams to share ideas and ensure consistency in best practice with
regard to primary care pharmacy
Supervise, teach, assesses junior
medicines management staff, technicians or students, if requested
Professional supervision of
medicines management technicians, students, if requested
Clinical
Plan, organise and undertake
unsupervised medication review clinics with patients in GP practices,
particularly for vulnerable patients (e.g. Those who are housebound, those who
have fallen, those in care home settings and those recently discharged from
hospital, those with long term conditions and polypharmacy)
Undertake medication review work
in the most appropriate settings, which may include GP practices, care homes or
intermediate care.
Provide general practitioners
with appropriate recommendations and actions plans following medication review
clinics with patients to optimise the patients treatment with medicines, and
ensure appropriate follow up with patients
Record medication review plans,
recommendations and outcomes on GP computer clinical systems and own clinical
notes
Obtaining agreement with GP
practices to implement clinical review programs with the overall aim of
following national prescribing guidance, improving the quality of prescribing
and enhancing expenditure on medicines. Undertake changes to prescribing where
appropriate and agreement has been obtained
Analyse complex prescribing data
(ePACT2) for practices to highlight areas where there is scope for improving
the clinical effectiveness of prescribing
Promote good quality
evidence-based prescribing to meet national guidelines and targets e.g. NICE
clinical guidelines and technology appraisals, antimicrobial stewardship
Identify cohorts of patients at
high risk of harm from medicines, through pre-prepared practice computer
searches. This might include risks that are patient related, medicine related,
or both.
Contribute to the development and
review of clinical guidelines and drug formularies
Contribute to the development of
services that have medical components
Facilitate patient focused
medication management programs to improve compliance and concordance
Liaise with local hospitals and
community pharmacists to ensure effective Medicines Management across the
primary/secondary care interface
Contribute to the effective
implementation of NICE guidance and implement changes to medicines that result
from MHRA alerts, product withdrawal and any other local and national guidance
Answer medicine related queries
from GPs and other health care professionals by interpretation of complex
medicines information and evaluating a number of options before communicating
an evidence based response to the enquirer
Reconciliation of medicines post
discharge
As a prescriber, to implement own
prescribing changes and tests as required
Work with the practice team to
ensure the practice is compliant with CQC standards where medicines are
involved
Training and Education
Maintain and plan own
professional accreditation and demonstrate self-development and CPD as required
by General Pharmaceutical Council
Attend local education and
research meetings concerning prescribing and therapeutic updates
Interpret and present clinical
evidence to ensure that prescribing advice provided is accurate, up-to-date,
relevant and within national guidance
Participate in the induction and
training of new members of the practice and Network Teams
Involvement in the General
Practice half day protected learning time to update / train practice staff on
issues related to Medicines Management
Use ePACT data to update
prescribers at practice meetings
Ensures appropriate clinical
supervision is in place to support development
Research and Audit
Contribute to the development of
and undertake clinical audit activities to monitor prescribing practice and
NICE guidance
Utilisation of GP computer
clinical systems to undertake clinical audit, risk management and demonstration
of prescribing patterns
Communication
Discuss complex and sensitive
information in an empathetic manner with patients during medication review
clinics including medical histories, lifestyles and personal circumstances and
provide re-assurance where necessary. The advice must be tailored to the level
of understanding of the patient.
Signpost and refer patients to
other services (health, social care, etc) as appropriate
Maintain appropriate records of
actions and interventions with patients during medication review clinics, while
acknowledging Caldicott issues
Develop an effective network and
working relationship with individual practice GPs, practice staff, other
professionals within the Primary Health Care Team, community pharmacists and at
the interface with secondary care
Manage hostile and obstructive
behaviour from contractors and ICB staff to the implementation of prescribing
activities and strategy
Manage hostile and emotionally
difficult situations with patients
Accept referrals for Medicines
Management support for patients from multi-agency staff such as home carers,
social workers and care home staff
Personal Development
All staff are required to be
appraised by their line managers at least once a year at a personal development
review meeting where progress made over the last year is discussed and agreed.
Participate in appropriate
training and development activities
Participate in team, professional
and personal development activities and promote commitment to continuous
development and improvement
Responsible for maintaining own
professional education, development and expertise in order to ensure an
effective service to the Organisation
Planning and Organisational
Responsibilities
Organise own work effectively and
work on own initiative to identify areas of improvement across the project,
team and organisation
Prepare work plans to ensure all
allocated tasks are managed and delivered
Demonstrate a methodical approach
to work, with clear attention to detail
Work with sometimes limited
information and resources
Please refer to the attached Job
Description for the full document.