Job responsibilities
BALMORE PARK SURGERY READING
CAVERSHAM PCN
BERKSHIRE WEST CCG
TITLE: PCN PHARMACIST Maternity Cover
REPORTING TO: THE PARTNERS (Clinically)
THE PRACTICE MANAGER (Administratively)
LOCATION: Balmore Park Surgery, Caversham, Reading
DATE: Jan 2024
HOURS: 37.5 hours per week (Flexibility to spread over Monday Friday 7.30am 6.30pm)
HOLIDAY:
SALARY: According to experience
Job Summary:
Responsible for support to the practice with medication reviews, queries and prescribing safety.
Responsible for supporting the partners in implementing effective medicine management within the practice. To identify areas for improvement and then initiate and manage the changes.
Clinical Services
- Dealing with patients medicine and prescription related queries over the phone, in clinic, via letter/email or the practice website (this may include advising and prescribing for minor ailments or clinical areas within competence, acute prescription requests, carrying out medication reviews, providing medication advice, solving technical prescription problems such as supply problems, NOMAD changes etc.)
- Signposting patients to appropriate services and other healthcare professionals (e.g. community pharmacists).
- Working closely with GPs to provide medicine related updates and helping with problem solving.
- Provide a point of contact for the practice for all medicines-related queries for healthcare professionals as well as patients.
- Follow legal, ethical, professional and organisational policies/procedures and codes of conduct.
Prescription Management
- Reconciliation of medicines from outpatient and discharge letters including liaison with hospital, community and primary care colleagues to ensure correct medicines are continued following transfer of care.
- To work with the pharmacy team and support GPs and other practice staff to deliver on Medicines Optimisation agenda (Prescribing Quality Scheme), QOF and locally commissioned enhanced services.
- To encourage, support and implement adherence to local formulary guidelines and cost-effective prescribing.
- Reviewing, issuing, and converting acute medicine requests into repeat medicines, where appropriate.
- Supporting Community Pharmacists in ensuring NOMAD or batch prescriptions are up to date including confirming any stopped or initiated medications with the patient and community pharmacy team.
- Implementing and monitoring a practices adherence to a repeat prescription policy.
- Supporting the Practice Pharmacy Technician (or prescription clerk) with the management of the repeat prescription processes and other medicines management related duties.
Prescribing responsibilities
If a qualified prescriber, the safe prescribing of medications and prescriptions following consultations.
Audit and Education
- Conducting clinical audits as part of the multidisciplinary team.
- Answering medicine information enquiries from GPs, other healthcare professionals and patients.
- Implementing, in conjunction with the practice team, systems for monitoring medicines use.
- Contributing to clinical education of other healthcare professionals.
- Providing leadership of quality improvements programmes that involve medicines.
Medicines Management
- Contributing to repeat prescribing safety i.e. prompting patients for reviews, blood tests, monitoring etc.
- Working with the multidisciplinary team to improve medicines management and safety within the practice including updating, writing and ensuring compliance with practice policies.
- To support the Practice Nurse Manager with updating stock lists and ensuring safe and efficient processes are in place for storage, monitoring, record keeping and waste management of all medicines within the practice.
- Working with the ICS Medicines Optimisation Team and Practice Team to manage local formularies to improve the choice and cost effectiveness of medicines.
- Implementing NICE guidance through audit and feedback, formulary management and educational sessions with the wider primary healthcare team and patients.
- To take responsibility of MHRA alerts and updates, notifying staff and patients as appropriate.
Communication
The post-holder should recognise the importance of effective communication within the team and will strive to:
Communicate effectively with other team members
Communicate effectively with patients and carers
Recognise peoples needs for alternative methods of communication and respond accordingly
Confidentiality:
- In the course of seeking treatment, patients entrust us with, or allow us to gather, sensitive information in relation to their health and other matters. They do so in confidence and have the right to expect that staff will respect their privacy and act appropriately.
- In the performance of the duties outlined in this Job Description, the post-holder may have access to confidential information relating to patients and their carers, Practice staff and other healthcare workers. They may also have access to information relating to the Practice as a business organisation. All such information from any source is to be regarded as strictly confidential.
- Information relating to patients, carers, colleagues, other healthcare workers or the business of the Practice may only be divulged to authorised persons in accordance with the Practice policies and procedures relating to confidentiality and the protection of personal and sensitive data.
Health & Safety:
The post-holder will assist in promoting and maintaining their own and others health, safety and security as defined in the Practice Health & Safety Policy, to include:
- Using personal security systems within the workplace according to Practice guidelines.
- Identifying the risks involved in work activities and undertaking such activities in a way that manages those risks.
- Making effective use of training to update knowledge and skills.
- Using appropriate infection control procedures, maintaining work areas in a tidy and safe way and free from hazards.
- Reporting potential risks identified.
Equality and Diversity:
The post-holder will support the equality, diversity and rights of patients, carers and colleagues, to include:
- Acting in a way that recognizes the importance of peoples rights, interpreting them in a way that is consistent with Practice procedures and policies, and current legislation.
- Respecting the privacy, dignity, needs and beliefs of patients, carers and colleagues.
- Behaving in a manner which is welcoming to and of the individual, is non-judgmental and respects their circumstances, feelings priorities and rights.
Personal/Professional Development:
The post-holder will participate in any training programme implemented by the Practice as part of this employment, such training to include:
- Participation in an annual individual performance review, including taking responsibility for maintaining a record of own personal and/or professional development.
- Taking responsibility for own development, learning and performance and demonstrating skills and activities to others who are undertaking similar work.
Quality:
The post-holder will strive to maintain quality within the Practice, and will:
- Alert other team members to issues of quality and risk.
- Assess own performance and take accountability for own actions, either directly or under supervision.
- Contribute to the effectiveness of the team by reflecting on own and team activities and making suggestions on ways to improve and enhance the teams performance.
- Work effectively with individuals in other agencies to meet patients needs.
- Effectively manage own time, workload and resources.
