Clinical Pharmacist - Maternity Cover

Job description

Job responsibilities

The post holder is a clinical pharmacist, who acts within their professional boundaries, supporting and working alongside a team of Health Care Practitioners within general practice and a Primary Care Network (PCN).

The post holder will provide primary support to general practice staff with regards to prescription and medication queries. They will perform medicines reconciliation on transferof care and implement systems for safer prescribing, providing expertise in clinical medicines advice while addressing both public and social care needs of patients in the PCN.

The post holder will work as part of a multi-disciplinary team in a patient-facing role. They will take responsibility for areas of medicines optimisation within the PCN and undertake structured clinical medication reviews to proactively manage patients with complex polypharmacy.

The post holder will provide clinical leadership on medicines optimisation and quality improvement (QI) and manage some aspects of the quality and outcomes framework and enhanced services at practice and PCN level.

The post holder will work with all sectors of pharmacy across the health system and its member practices to improve population health. Demonstrating improvement in patient outcomes and working to reduce health inequalities across the PCN contributing to improving the efficiency of general practice and delivering a best-in-class service.

The post holder will provide support to practice staff with regards to prescription and medication queries, ensuring integration with community and hospital pharmacy to help utilise skill mix, improve patient outcomes, ensure better access to healthcare, and help manage GP workload.

Job summary

• Work as part of a multi-disciplinary team in a patient facing role to clinically assess and treat patients using your expert knowledge of medicines for specific disease areas.
• Be a prescriber or completing training to become a prescriber and working alongside the general practice team.
• Be responsible for the care management of patients with chronic diseases and undertake clinical medication reviews to proactively manage people with complex polypharmacy, especially older people, people in care homes, those with multiple co-morbidities (frailty, COPD and asthma) and people with learning disabilities or autism (through STOMP Stop Over Medication Programme).
• Provide specialise expertise in the use of medicines whilst helping to address both the public health and social care needs of patients at the PCNs practice(s) and to help tackling inequalities.
• Provide leadership on person-centred medicines optimisation (including ensuring prescribers in the practice conserve antibiotics in line with local antimicrobial stewardship guidance) and quality improvement, whilst contributing to the quality and outcomes framework and enhanced services.
• Through structured medication reviews, support patients to take their medications to get the best from them, reduce waste and promote self-care.
• Developing relationships and working closely with other pharmacy professionals across the PCN and wider health and social care system.
• Take a central role in the clinical aspects of shared care protocols, clinical research with medicines, liaison with specialist pharmacists (including mental health and reduction of inappropriate antipsychotic use in people with learning disabilities). Liaison with community pharmacists and anticoagulation.
• Supervising the PCN pharmacy technician(s).

Key responsibilities

Clinical Responsibilities:

• Design, develop and implement searches to identify cohorts of patient at high risk of harm from medicines.
• Providing a mixture of telephone and face to face clinical medication reviews with patients.
• Clinical medication reviews for patients with single or multiple long-term conditions where medicines optimisation is required.
• To reconcile medicines following discharge from hospitals or intermediate care and working with patients and community pharmacies to ensure patients receive the medicines they need post-discharge and to reduce risk of readmission.
• To be involved in multidisciplinary clinical meetings within the PCN.
• To manage repeat prescription requests, resolving queries where possible within scope of practice. To ensure patients have appropriate monitoring tests in place when required.
• Implement changes to medicines in line with MHRA alerts, product withdrawal or shortage and other local or national guidance.
• To maintain full and complete records of all patient contacts using appropriate clinical templates and coding.
• To undertake a proactive role in audit and quality improvement implementing recommendations where appropriate.
• Provide independent information to patients about medicines and prescribing changes, initiating further support from other healthcare professionals where appropriate.
• To identify areas of clinical risk at network level and make recommendations to support the introduction of new working practices that will optimise the quality of prescribing and make more efficient use of network resources.
• To monitor network practices prescribing against the local health economy and make recommendations for GPs or amend within scope of practice, based on findings.
• To maintain own clinical and professional competence and be responsible for own continuous professional development.
• Work with practices to ensure full compliance with Care Quality Commission standards for safe and effective care.

Communication

• Communicate effectively with other team members.
• Communicate effectively with patients and carers, recognising their needs for alternative methods of communication.
• Enthusiastic about health promotion and lifestyle change.

Personal and people development

• Take responsibility for own developmental learning and performance, including participating in supervision.
• Take responsibility for maintaining a record of own personal development.
• Work with management on any new training requirements.
• To recognise and understand the roles and responsibilities of individuals working in the primary health care team.
• Experience of motivational interviewing.

Health, safety and security

• Use the personal security systems within the workplace according to practice guidelines.
• Identify the risks involved in work activities and undertake them in a way that manages the risks.

Other responsibilities

• Participate in annual appraisal which will include staff multi source feedback (MSF) and patient survey.
• Supporting the practice staff and responding to requests for advice and assistance from the practice reception, secretarial and nursing staff.
• Attend prescribing, palliative care, virtual ward round, clinical and practice meetings.
• Provide additional enhanced services to the practices that meet the needs of the practices patient population and maximise the income streams to the practice.
• Undertake additional training where necessary to provide these enhanced services
• Awareness of and compliance with all relevant practice policies/guidelines, e.g., prescribing, confidentiality, data protection, health, and safety, annual QOF/IIF Assessment of the network.
• Meet timescales/deadlines for audits and written returns to ensure that the Practice meets quality standards and receives the designated funding (e.g., Quarterly Enhanced Services returns, annual QOF/IIF audit etc.).

Service improvement

• Be aware of and assist in current clinical audit.
• Work with colleagues in the team on the development of current and new services and other initiatives.
• Deal with requests from patients and clinical staff for health information leaflets.

Quality

• Alert other team members to issues of quality and risk in the care of patients.
• Ensure own actions are consistent with clinical governance systems.
• Practice in accordance with agreed standards of care.
• Enable patients to access appropriate professionals in the team.
• Ensure stock items under your control are ordered and available in the treatment and consulting rooms.
• Know the practice's policies, especially the whistle-blowing policy, available in the practice staff handbook.
• Be able to manage your own time effectively.

Equality and diversity

• Act in ways that recognise the importance of people's rights, interpreting them in a way that is consistent with procedures.
• Respect the privacy, dignity, needs and beliefs of patients and carers.
• Understand basic legal and communication issues regarding child abuse, family violence, vulnerable adults, substance abuse and addictive behaviour.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Attend annual updates and mandatory training as required.
• Highlight any gaps in knowledge/training needs to their line manager to allow them the opportunity to offer support to fulfil the duties of this post.
• Act in a manner that safeguards children and/or vulnerable adults as applicable to the role.

• Work in line with organisational policies and procedural guidelines.

This JD is not intended to be an exhaustive list of activities but rather an outline of the main areas of responsibility. The role is likely to evolve to meet the changing needs of the service.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Qualifications & Training
• Active GPhC Registration and license to practice.
• Degree in pharmacy (MPharm).
• Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education Pathway (PCPEP) qualification or working towards/willing to enrol.
• Knowledge & Experience
• Knowledge of clinical governance, confidentiality, data protection and information governance in primary care.
• Autonomous practitioner and in-depth therapeutic, clinical knowledge and understanding of the principles of evidence-based healthcare.
• Knowledge of the local and national health policy and wider health economy.
• Have experience and an awareness of common acute and long-term conditions that are likely to be seen in general practice.
• Is able to plan, manage, monitor, advise and review general medicine optimisation issues in core areas for long term conditions.
• Recognises priorities when problem-solving and identifies deviations from normal pattern and can refer to seniors or GPs when appropriate.
• Able to follow legal, ethical, professional, and organisational policies/procedures and codes of conduct.
• Other
• Ability to manage high pressure situations e.g., clinical crisis.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Able to work well with other people and deal with the challenges of ever changing and demanding situations.
• Evidence of knowledge of research methodology.
• Knowledge of Audit principles and evidence of participation in and completion of audit projects.
• Able to manage own time and prioritise work.
• Willingness to work flexibly to deliver clinically effective and cost-effective healthcare.
• Ability to integrate the care of a patient by many and various other clinical staff.
• Physical
• Be able to carry out the duties of this post.

Desirable

• Qualifications & Training
• Postgraduate diploma in Clinical Pharmacy or equivalent experience.
• Mentorship Qualification.
• Independent prescriber and Advanced Practitioner.
• Clinical supervision training and experience.
• Advanced Skills in managing long term conditions.
• Quality Improvement/leadership training.
• Knowledge & Experience
• Primary care experience and experience working with clinical management systems, especially SystmOne.
• A solid understanding and experience of Quality Outcomes Framework (QOF) and Impact Investment Funds (IIF).
• Other
• Physical assessment and clinical examination skills.

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).

Employer details

Employer name

GP Healthcare Alliance

Address

Central Canvey Primary Care Centre

Long Road

Canvey Island

Essex

SS8 0JA

Employer's website

http://www.gphealthcarealliance.co.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)