Job responsibilities
Lister Medical Centre
Job Description
JOB TITLE: Clinical Pharmacist
RESPONSIBLE TO: Partners and Senior Management Team
HOURS OF WORK: 37.5 hours per week
RENUMERATION: Depends on experience
CONTRACT LENGTH: Permanent
LOCATION: Lister Medical Centre, Abercrombie Way, Harlow, Essex CM18 6YJ
Job Summary:
The post holder will work within their clinical competencies to provide specialist pharmaceutical support to the practice including working with members of the wider healthcare team to improve care and support safe and effective prescribing.
The role will have a patient facing element either face to face or telephone - including chronic disease management, repeat prescription management and structured medication reviews. This will also include the management and review of patients with polypharmacy.
The post holder will need to be proactively involved in quality improvement and audit as well as managing some aspects of the Quality and Outcomes Framework.
The post holder will be supported to help develop the role and work to improve the care and outcomes for the patients across the practice.
To play a pivotal role in the delivery of high-quality primary health care within the practice.
Key Responsibilities and Duties:
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 pharmacists to ensure patients receive the medicines they need post-discharge and to reduce risk of readmission.
To be involved in multidisciplinary clinical meetings where appropriate
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 with regard to medicines and prescribing changes, initiating further support from other healthcare professionals where appropriate
Participate in review and setting of policies relating to medicines management and prescribing and help ensure the practice prescribe in accordance with local guidelines and formulary
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 practice 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
To ensure full compliance with Care Quality Commission standards for safe and effective care
Manage the repeat prescribing reauthorisation process by reviewing requests for repeat prescriptions and medicines reaching review dates
Responsible for reviewing and managing acute medication requests
To be involved in and contribute to the safety of drug monitoring processes to ensure appropriate drug monitoring
Work with care home staff to improve the safety of ordering medicines and administration if required.
Duties will vary according to the demands on the practice as agreed with the GP Partners
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, the practice Health & Safety Manual, and the practice Infection Control policy and published procedures. This will 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
- Actively reporting of health and safety hazards and infection hazards immediately when recognised
- Keeping own work areas and general / patient areas generally clean, assisting in the maintenance of general standards of cleanliness consistent with the scope of the job holders role
Production of Performance and Quality Information
- To ensure that documentation (electronic and paper-based) exists to support performance standards across the full range of performance-based activity QOF, Enhanced Services etc.
Data Quality
To work within the clinical computer system to improve data quality, using the expertise of other data staff where appropriate.
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 recognises 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
Training requirements will be monitored by yearly appraisal. Personal development will be encouraged and supported by the Practice. It is the individuals responsibility to remain up to date with recent developments. 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.
Quality
The post-holder will strive to maintain quality within the Practice, and will:
- 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.
Communication:
The post-holder should recognise the importance of effective communication within the team and will:
- Communicate effectively with other team members.
- Communicate effectively with patients and carers.
- Recognise peoples needs for alternative methods of communication and respond accordingly.
- Most instruction and communication of activity will be via the Management Team
- External communication will be with patients, Primary Care Trusts and other NHS bodies, and other GP practices and service providers.
Contribution to the Implementation of Services
The post-holder will:
- Apply Practice policies, standards and guidance.
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.
