PCN Clinical Pharmacist

Job description

Job responsibilities

The post holder for this role, Clinical Pharmacist, will be an experienced clinician, who, acting within their professional boundaries, will provide care for the presenting patient from initial history taking, clinical assessment, diagnosis, treatment and evaluation of their on-going care. The post holder will work as part of a multidisciplinary team to develop and run processes for repeat prescriptions reauthorisation management of medicines on transfer of care and systems for safer prescribing.

The post holder will be supported and mentored by the Senior Clinical Pharmacist, in addition to the practices GP Lead, with the overarching aim of improving prescribing within their practice(s), ensure cost-effective prescribing through medication reviews and the optimisation of the management of patients with chronic long-term conditions

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Being responsible within their allocated GP Practices, this role will require the post holder to provide expertise in clinical medicines review and address public health and social needs of patients.

More specifically this will include, but will not be limited to, the following duties:

Undertake clinical medication reviews and run poly-pharmacy clinics with patients with multi-morbidities, particularly in high risk groups such as:

The frail elderly

Renal impairment

Hepatic impairment

Substance misuse

Patients on high risk medicines

Multiple co-morbidities

Management of medicines of patients discharged from hospital, reconciling and identifying unexplained changes and managing these without referral to a GP.

Risk Stratification design, develop and implement SystmOne and Emis Web searches to identify cohorts of patients at high risk of harm from medicines, and work with patients and the primary care team to minimise risks through medicines optimisation.

Improve prescribing practice through educational support for all prescribers within the practice

Lead on where changes in evidence require changes in prescribing across patient population e.g. where a drug is withdrawn or indications change

Liaise with colleagues in community pharmacy to align support for medicines adherence such as MUR and NMS

Support, develop and manage service improvement changes to enhance clinical care through practice based audits and appropriate guidance e.g. NICE.

Prescribing advice to prescribers in practice

Ensure patient safety when they are transferred between care providers through reconciliation of prescribed medicines

Undertake any other duties related to medicines and patient care as decided by the GP Practice.

ANALYTICAL

Review patients within specialist clinics, optimising their medication in line with their symptoms, preferences, monitoring results and other indicators of control.

Review medications in order to optimise these for patients with medication queries and those with multiple medications.

Run searches to identify and explore ways in which patients with long term conditions could be better supported.

Run searches to identify and explore ways in which the practice might improve the cost-effectiveness of its prescribing.

PLANNING & ORGANISATIONAL

Co-ordinate and plan the care of patients with specific diseases to ensure that this is optimised and that the practice achieves QOF targets.

Coordinate efforts to ensure that the practice improves its cost-effective prescribing, remains within budget and achieves ICB Prescribing Incentive Scheme targets.

Review the best deployment of own skills and the best division of own time to best support the interests of patients and the organization and work with the practice management team and clinicians to allow this new role to evolve.

Ability to work flexibly alongside practice in-house dispensaries, if applicable to the practice, to support them with for example SOPs, as required.

PATIENT CARE

When appropriate:

See patients with specific diseases in clinics, reviewing their conditions holistically, optimising medications and performing the required diagnostics and other investigations as appropriate.

Review patient medication queries remotely or by telephone.

Review patients with multiple medications in order to optimise these for patients.

Use advanced critical thinking and decision-making skills in a clinical context.

Participate in group reviews together with GPs of all non-urgent referrals.

Ensure that own clinical knowledge and skills are developed and remain up to date

POLICY

Review new prescribing initiatives and medication policy changes both at a ICB level and nationally and ensure that the practice responds to these appropriately.

Propose, implement, manage and evaluate initiatives to improve cost-effective, safe and appropriate prescribing within the practice.

Be responsible for identifying risks within the working environment and either resolve these or report them within the practice.

FINANCIAL AND PHYSICAL REASOURCES

Help to coordinate and deploy practice resources in a cost-effective and sustainable way.

Maintain a personal duty of care in relation to equipment and resources.

PHYSICAL SKILLS

Maintain computer skills to a high level, navigating patient notes and running searches as required.

Use Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint to a high level.

Deploy clinical skills with confidence to perform required diagnostics and potentially to give Influenza Vaccines.

KEY RELATIONSHIPS

The Clinical Pharmacist will have the following key relationships:

Internal External

Patients ICB Medicines Management Team

All clinical staff Other Clinical Pharmacists

All dispensary staff NHS England Pilot Representatives

Coastal Clinical Director Local Acute Trusts

All administrative staff involved in the call of

Chronic disease patients & QoF Achievement

GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES

To follow company policies and procedures at all times.

Equal Opportunities: To promote and develop the equality of opportunity in accordance with Practice Equal Opportunities Policy.

Confidentiality: To protect the confidentiality of information relating to Patient and Staff or other agencies.

Quality: To provide a quality service to internal and external agencies and participate in/develop clinical governance within sphere of responsibility.

Health and Safety: To share responsibility for abiding by Health and Safety policies and regulations and acting in accordance with the Risk Management Policy. You are expected to make yourself aware of and comply with Practices Health and Safety policies. Contravention of this policy will normally be regarded as a disciplinary matter.

Appraisal & Development: To participate in all mandatory training requirements. To attend department training sessions as required for personal and service development. To participate in the Practices appraisal process and set personal development plans.

Safeguarding Children & Vulnerable Adults: The Coastal Primary Care Network practices are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. All employees have a duty of care and a responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and vulnerable adults.

Professional Registration/Codes of Conduct: Where your role requires you to maintain a statutory professional registration, it is your responsibility to ensure that this is maintained. The continuation of your employment is conditional upon you continuing to be registered with the appropriate professional body. The Coastal Primary Care Network will require evidence of current registration. Failure to comply may result in your suspension from duty and could result in disciplinary action.

Where you are a member of a professional body you are required to adhere to the relevant codes of conduct. All managers are required to adhere to the NHS Code of Conduct for Managers.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Completion of an undergraduate degree in pharmacy
• Hold or be working towards an independent prescribing qualification
• Enrolled on or willingness to complete the CPPE Primary Care Pharmacy Education Pathway
• Mandatory registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council
• Membership Primary Care Pharmacy Association (PCPA)

Experience

Essential

• Minimum of two years experience as a pharmacist, demonstrated within a practice portfolio
• Experience and an awareness of the breadth of common acute and long-terms conditions that are likely to be seen in general practice
• Demonstrates ability to integrate general practice with community and hospital pharmacy teams community groups
• Experience of partnership/collaborative working and of building relationships across a variety of organisations

Skills and Knowledge

Essential

• Knowledge of IT systems, including ability to use word processing skills, emails and the internet to create simple plans and reports
• Able to plan, manage, monitor and review general medicine optimisation issues in core areas for long term conditions
• Able to obtain and analyse complex technical information.
• Able to gain acceptance for recommendations and influence/motivate/persuade the audience to comply with the recommendations/agreed course of action where there may be significant barriers
• Able to identify and resolve risk management issues according to policy/protocol.
• Understand the principles of research governance
• Able to work under pressure and meet deadlines

UK Registration

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

Employer details

Employer name

Great Massingham and Docking Surgeries Partnership

Address

Station Road

Great Massingham

King's Lynn

Norfolk

PE32 2JQ

Employer's website

https://www.massingham-dockingsurgeries.co.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)