Clinical Pharmacist

Job description

Job responsibilities

Key duties and Areas of Responsibility

Identify patients requiring medication review and conduct appropriate medication review clinics or home visits if required by the organisation/practices and liaise with carers, Community Health teams or social care staff in order to optimise drug therapy, reduce polypharmacy and minimise unnecessary waste, communicating directly with patients as necessary.

Provide medicines and long-term disease advice and support to GP practice staff, practice registered patients, and the wider practice team such as community staff (district nurses, mid-wifes, and physiotherapists) where appropriate.

Help support the safe and effective operation of the prescribing system in the GP practice, including updating repeat medication regimes, issuing of appropriate acute prescriptions, ordering relevant laboratory testing, and where necessary completing patient referrals (for example audiology, x-ray, diabetes prevention schemes).

Deal with appropriate patient presentations, such as minor illnesses, without direct GP involvement/ Provide pharmaceutical input to chronic disease management, as appropriate Provide make every contact count public health education interventions to patients.

Provide pharmaceutical support to a designated group of GP practices or care settings to enable them to develop, implement and monitor an agreed prescribing plan which meets the objectives of the medicines management plan.

Assist practices/ care settings in developing formularies, guidelines and policies to ensure the implementation of NICE guidelines, National Service Frameworks and the requirements of the medicines-related aspects of the GMS contract.

Advise GPs, care staff and primary health care teams on risk management processes relating to the prescribing and monitoring of specialist drugs e.g. controlled drugs and those subject to shared care arrangements.

Support practices to review specific areas of prescribing, specified by the line management or identified with the GP prescribing lead, including the interpretation of e-PACT data and the use of practice information to review prescribing and identify areas for action.

Assist with the development and ongoing review of practice policy with regard to repeat prescribing systems and repeat dispensing to encourage the implementation of prescribing guidance and monitoring guidelines where appropriate.

Liaise with Community Pharmacists to encourage them to reinforce changes made, encouraging them to identify savings which can be achieved with regard to generics, dose optimisations etc. and to assist in building their relationship with the practice.

Answer any medicine related queries from GPs, care settings, practice staff, PALS, social care staff and the general public in a timely and appropriate manner, using professional judgement where specific guidance is unavailable.

Provide advice and support to improve the disease registers within each practice to ensure all suitable patients are identified and offered suitable treatment and monitoring for their condition.

Facilitate and participate in multi-disciplinary meetings related to prescribing topics and to engage in the training of other healthcare professionals and practice staff on matters relating to medicines usage.

Attend primary/secondary care interface meetings in designated specialist therapeutic areas to improve the cost effective and evidence-based use of medicines across locality and develop links with the hospital pharmacists involved in these areas.

Undertake clinical audits of prescribing in areas identified by yourself and agreed by the PCN or as directed by the PCN, feedback the results and implement changes in conjunction with the relevant practice team.

Undertake any other duties appropriate to the grade as allocated by line management.

Gunnislake Pharmacy is situated on our premises in Gunnislake. The candidate will be allocated 1 working day a week to work within this pharmacy setting and will be expected to provide cover for our superintendent pharmacist (annual leave/ absence). Allocations of clinical rotas & pharmacist cover may be subject to change dependent on business and patient needs.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Vocational Masters Degree in Pharmacy, or equivalent comprehensive experience.
• One year pre-registration training
• Registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council ( GPhC)
• Evidence of commitment to Continuing Professional Development

Desirable

• Registration with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (MRPharmS)
• Post-graduate Diploma in clinical pharmacy or equivalent
• Authorisation for Independent prescribing (IP)

Experience

Essential

• NHS experience in Primary Care, Hospital or Community Pharmacy
• Delivery of Medicines Management Standards and Policies
• Experience of working with primary health care teams
• Experience of working on projects where post holder uses own initiative and manages own time
• Knowledge of the wider NHS
• Extensive knowledge and expertise across a number of clinical areas including common chronic disease management
• Patient physical assessment experience, e.g., blood pressure measurement, blood glucose testing, urine testing, pulse oximetry, temperature measurement

Desirable

• Experience of providing advice to GPs
• Experience in analysing PACT data
• Experience in audit
• Experience of multidisciplinary working
• Assessment, diagnosis and treatment of common minor and non-complex acute illness

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

Tamar Valley Health

Address

Haye Road

Callington

Cornwall

PL17 7AW

Employer's website

https://www.tamarvalleyhealth.org.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)