Job summary
We are looking for a full time Clinical Pharmacist to join our team. Strawberry Hill Medical Centre has a team of 11 doctors, 4 physician's associates, 2 (including this role) pharmacists and a nursing team of 7.
We are looking for a qualified pharmacist who is a highly motivated team player, ideally with experience in general practice.
You will be a registered Pharmacist and either have completed the 18-month Primary Care Pharmacy Education Pathway (PCPEP) or be happy to undertake it. This pathway equips the pharmacist to be able to practice and prescribe safely and effectively in a primary care setting.
This is a PCN role but you will be working full time at this one surgery.
Main duties of the job
To provide Clinical Pharmacist services to our patients as per the ARRS (Additional Roles and Responsibilities) section of the PCN DES.
You will be part of a team of two who will undertake Structured Medicines Reviews, run a clinic such as Hypertension, answer medicines queries from patients, suggest alternative medicines or dose adjustments to other clinical staff, check and make amendments to patient medicines following discharge from hospital, provide education to other clinical staff and review and action medicines alerts.
About us
Strawberry Hill Medical Centre is a large town centre GP surgery in the Market Town of Newbury, West Berkshire. With over 22,000 patients and 55 staff, we are a friendly and supportive team. Based is a large modern building you will have your own consulting room/office adjacent to your Clinical Pharmacist team colleague.
Strawberry Hill Medical Centre is a member of the A34PCN. Whilst this role is a PCN role it is for someone to be solely based at this practice. You will be able to link to the other two practices in the PCN to share best practice and network with their clinical pharmacists.
Job description
Job responsibilities
- Primary Responsibilities for the Team:
- To ensure the practice repeat prescribing system is safe, efficient and helps minimise waste.
- To provide specialist knowledge on medication monitoring and ensure a system for implementation is in place
- To answer queries from administration staff regarding medication requests where appropriate to save GP time
- To reauthorise medication for future repeat prescribing within scope of competence as an independent prescriber
- To work with practice staff to ensure a robust medication review policy
- To identify patients suitable for repeat dispensing. Ensure this is implemented effectively by close working with patients, prescribers and community pharmacies.
- Review the prescribing of medication for vulnerable patients to ensure it is appropriate e.g. weekly prescriptions for at risk-patients, monitored dosage systems or alternative solutions to improve patient compliance
- To ensure all safeguarding incidents are reported to the nominated Practice Safeguarding Lead
- To review communication processes between practices/ hospitals/care homes/ community pharmacies at hospital admission to evaluate how this can be improved
- To reconcile medicines following discharge from hospital/ intermediate care; identify and rectify unexplained changes, manage these changes without referral to the GP; perform a clinical mediation review; produce a post-discharge medicines care plan including dose titration and booking of follow-up test, and work with patients and community pharmacists to ensure patients receive the medicines they need post discharge. Set up and manage systems to ensure continuity of medicines supply to high-risk groups of patients (e.g. those with medicine compliance aids).
- Reconcile medication from clinic appointment correspondence, identifying any unexplained changes and rectifying these by communication with the secondary care provider. Ensure patients are fully aware of any changes and that a plan for monitoring/dose titration is in place.
- Provide patients with advice on treating self-limiting conditions through face to face/ telephone consultations and patient information leaflets/website. Conditions may include UTIs, hayfever, emergency contraception, conjunctivitis.
- Answer medical information queries from GPs, Nurses, practice staff, patients and third-party providers.
- Provide education on medicines related topics for GPs, Nurses, medical students, registrars.
- Review NICE and other evidence-based guidance as it is issued, to evaluate any impact on medicines and prescribing.
- Provide regular education sessions for the clinicians at the practice to discuss audit results and agree an action plan for improving standards within clinical areas.
- Provide advice on suitable alternative medications in the event of a medicine being unavailable.
- Encourage cost effective prescribing within the practice, including adherence to local formulary.
- Build good working relationships with local Medicines Management Team members
- Provide education for the clinical team on new medicines
- Review all relevant safety alerts (e.g. MHRA) and ensure any action required is undertaken
- Work with the practice team to help reduce medicines related emergency admissions by running regular searches to identify patients at risk of harm from their medicines. Review these patients to reduce the risk of harm.
- Medication review / medicines optimisation
- Carry out face to face clinical medication reviews for patients on multiple medications for long term conditions.
- Review if prescribing is appropriate in line with current guidance, cost-effective and safe; identify unmet need, stop unnecessary/ineffective medicines. Implement own prescribing changes as an independent prescriber.
- Review daily pathology results for patients under their care
- Contribute to achievement of QOF targets to improve health outcomes
- Identify and visit housebound patients who would benefit from a clinical medication review or a review of their LTC by a clinical pharmacist.
- To note Indemnity cover will need to be checked for cover
Job description
Job responsibilities
- Primary Responsibilities for the Team:
- To ensure the practice repeat prescribing system is safe, efficient and helps minimise waste.
- To provide specialist knowledge on medication monitoring and ensure a system for implementation is in place
- To answer queries from administration staff regarding medication requests where appropriate to save GP time
- To reauthorise medication for future repeat prescribing within scope of competence as an independent prescriber
- To work with practice staff to ensure a robust medication review policy
- To identify patients suitable for repeat dispensing. Ensure this is implemented effectively by close working with patients, prescribers and community pharmacies.
- Review the prescribing of medication for vulnerable patients to ensure it is appropriate e.g. weekly prescriptions for at risk-patients, monitored dosage systems or alternative solutions to improve patient compliance
- To ensure all safeguarding incidents are reported to the nominated Practice Safeguarding Lead
- To review communication processes between practices/ hospitals/care homes/ community pharmacies at hospital admission to evaluate how this can be improved
- To reconcile medicines following discharge from hospital/ intermediate care; identify and rectify unexplained changes, manage these changes without referral to the GP; perform a clinical mediation review; produce a post-discharge medicines care plan including dose titration and booking of follow-up test, and work with patients and community pharmacists to ensure patients receive the medicines they need post discharge. Set up and manage systems to ensure continuity of medicines supply to high-risk groups of patients (e.g. those with medicine compliance aids).
- Reconcile medication from clinic appointment correspondence, identifying any unexplained changes and rectifying these by communication with the secondary care provider. Ensure patients are fully aware of any changes and that a plan for monitoring/dose titration is in place.
- Provide patients with advice on treating self-limiting conditions through face to face/ telephone consultations and patient information leaflets/website. Conditions may include UTIs, hayfever, emergency contraception, conjunctivitis.
- Answer medical information queries from GPs, Nurses, practice staff, patients and third-party providers.
- Provide education on medicines related topics for GPs, Nurses, medical students, registrars.
- Review NICE and other evidence-based guidance as it is issued, to evaluate any impact on medicines and prescribing.
- Provide regular education sessions for the clinicians at the practice to discuss audit results and agree an action plan for improving standards within clinical areas.
- Provide advice on suitable alternative medications in the event of a medicine being unavailable.
- Encourage cost effective prescribing within the practice, including adherence to local formulary.
- Build good working relationships with local Medicines Management Team members
- Provide education for the clinical team on new medicines
- Review all relevant safety alerts (e.g. MHRA) and ensure any action required is undertaken
- Work with the practice team to help reduce medicines related emergency admissions by running regular searches to identify patients at risk of harm from their medicines. Review these patients to reduce the risk of harm.
- Medication review / medicines optimisation
- Carry out face to face clinical medication reviews for patients on multiple medications for long term conditions.
- Review if prescribing is appropriate in line with current guidance, cost-effective and safe; identify unmet need, stop unnecessary/ineffective medicines. Implement own prescribing changes as an independent prescriber.
- Review daily pathology results for patients under their care
- Contribute to achievement of QOF targets to improve health outcomes
- Identify and visit housebound patients who would benefit from a clinical medication review or a review of their LTC by a clinical pharmacist.
- To note Indemnity cover will need to be checked for cover
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Qualified Pharmacist - Master's degree (MPharm) course in pharmacy accredited by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC)
- Are enrolled in, or have qualified from, an approved 18-month training
- pathway or equivalent that equips the Clinical Pharmacist to be able to practice and prescribe safely and effectively in a primary care
- setting (for example, the CPPE Clinical Pharmacist training
- pathways66,67)
- Right to work in the UK
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Qualified Pharmacist - Master's degree (MPharm) course in pharmacy accredited by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC)
- Are enrolled in, or have qualified from, an approved 18-month training
- pathway or equivalent that equips the Clinical Pharmacist to be able to practice and prescribe safely and effectively in a primary care
- setting (for example, the CPPE Clinical Pharmacist training
- pathways66,67)
- Right to work in the UK
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).
Additional information
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).
