Senior Clinical Pharmacist

Job description

Job responsibilities

Job Summary

The Neighbourhood Lead Pharmacist will act as a clinical and strategic leader across a defined neighbourhood, supporting delivery of the Network Contract DES, BeCCoR model and wider population health priorities.

As an experienced Pharmacist, the post holder will work within their professional boundaries as part of a multidisciplinary team across practices, contributing to proactive, preventative and inequality focused care.

They will provide leadership, mentorship and supervision for members of the Pharmacy team, including Clinical Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians, supporting workforce development, clinical quality, and consistency of practice across the network.

The post holder will maintain a clinical caseload as an Independent Prescriber, undertaking structured medication reviews and managing complex patients with polypharmacy, frailty, and long-term conditions. They will ensure that medicines optimisation, safety, antibiotic stewardship and de-prescribing are embedded within clinical practice.

In addition, the role will extend beyond individual patient care to include population health management, using data and risk stratification tools to identify and proactively manage high-risk cohorts, reduce health inequalities, and improve outcomes at neighbourhood level.

The Neighbourhood Lead Pharmacist will work as part of the wider integrated neighbourhood team, collaborating with general practice, community pharmacy, social care, and secondary care to coordinate care, reduce fragmentation, and support system-wide improvements.

They will contribute to service development, quality improvement and delivery of measurable outcomes aligned to PCN priorities, ensuring that pharmacy services support the wider strategic objectives of the Primary Care Network and Bury GP Federation.

Key Working Relationships

Works collaboratively with the PCN Clinical Directors and the Lead Pharmacist in delivering the Pharmacy Service for the networks

Works with Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians within the PCN workforce to ensure there is optimal use of skills in delivering the Pharmacy service to the Practices.

Works as, part of the Neighbourhood Multi-disciplinary team, to provide Pharmacy Professional expertise. This involves working with social care, GPs, nursing professionals, housing representatives, therapists, social prescribers, paramedics etc.

Works with Community Pharmacy colleagues to ensure consistency of patient care.

Liaises with ICB colleagues including Medicine Optimisation Pharmacists and Technicians on prescribing related matters to ensure consistency of patient care.

Liaises with Hospital staff with responsibilities for prescribing and medicine optimisation, on prescribing related matters to ensure consistency of patient care.

Liaises with other PCN Pharmacists in neighbouring networks as needed for the collective benefit of patients, and to provide continuity of service.

Liaises with Practice Pharmacists to ensure complementary working and to avoid duplication of effort.

Liaise with Hospital Staff and Intermediate Care staff to ensure smooth transfer of care.

Engages with Local Professional Networks to benefit from Peer support and enhance collaborative working relationships.

Key Responsibilities

Medication review

Deliver a programme of structured medication review for the practices, to include: patients with multi-morbidity and polypharmacy or complex health needs.

This may include vulnerable housebound patients at risk of hospital admission and harm from poor use of medicines.

Implement prescribing changes, within own prescribing competences, liaising with other prescribers as appropriate.

Care home review

Undertake clinical medication review for patients residing in care homes, working with the Pharmacy Technicians and care home staff to improve safety of medicines ordering and administration, and ensure safe transfer of care.

Risk stratification

Identify cohorts of patients at high risk of harm from medicines. Risks may be patient related, medicine related or both.

Identify patients at risk of unplanned admission and readmission from medicines known to cause harm, through audit and individual patient reviews.

Put systems in place to reduce the prescribing of these medicines to high risk patient groups.

Medicine Reconciliation

Support practices with medicine reconciliation following discharge from hospitals, through intermediate care and on admission to care homes, ensuring changes are actioned and implemented, and communicated in a timely manner.

Advanced care planning

Work with case managers, hospital colleagues, Practice teams and Community Pharmacy as part of the neighbourhood multidisciplinary health and social care team to manage medicine related risk for re-admission and patient harm.

Long term conditions

Support the management of long term conditions as specified in the Pharmacy Workplan.

Ensure patients with long term conditions within SMR caseload are managed, monitored and treated appropriately and effectively according to the latest guidance. Make recommendations or changes to treatment regimen as appropriate within sphere of competence.

Medicine Safety

Advise practices in the network, regarding medicine safety alerts, such as MHRA alerts, product withdrawal and other local and National Guidance.

Work alongside the medicines optimisation team to identify patient groups affected by such alerts and assist with implementation of changes where relevant to work plan.

Quality Improvement

Work with practices to demonstrate continuous Quality Improvement.

Conduct audit and implement changes in collaboration with the Practice teams within the network.

Demonstrate implementation of the de-prescribing agenda, antibiotic stewardship and medicines safety tool.

Demonstrate Quality outcomes from SMR projects.

Care Quality Commission

Provide advice and support to practices in the network regarding compliance with CQC standards where medicines are involved.

Demonstrate activity in support of these standards.

Repeat Prescribing

Record medication review, within patient electronic record and update prescription record as appropriate and in accordance with Repeat Prescribing policy.

Provide advice to practices regarding Repeat Prescribing policy and consider standardisation across the network.

Education and Training

Provide education and training to patients and the primary healthcare team on therapeutics and medicine optimisation.

Support Pharmacy Students and Trainee Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians as requested by the Lead Pharmacist.

Public health

Support the public health agenda, and provide specialist knowledge to patients and other members of the health care team.

Miscellaneous

It is anticipated that this will be a developing role and the job description will need to be reviewed periodically. There may be additional asks, in keeping with the role of the Pharmacist in General Practice.

Population Health & Inequalities

Utilise risk stratification tools to identify and proactively manage high-risk patient cohorts, including those with polypharmacy, frailty, cardiovascular disease risk factors, and individuals from deprived or under-served populations.

Lead targeted interventions to improve outcomes, reduce avoidable harm and admissions, and address unwarranted variation in care across practices. Contribute to reducing health inequalities at neighbourhood level through data-driven, proactive and preventative approaches to medicines optimisation.

Quality Improvement & Service Development

Lead and support quality improvement initiatives aligned to PCN priorities, including audit, service redesign and pathway development.

Demonstrate measurable outcomes from interventions, contributing to PCN reporting and performance frameworks.

Support the development of new models of care and transformation programmes within the neighbourhood.

Leadership and Management

The post holder will be expected to contribute to the leadership of medicines related issues for the allocated PCN/Neighbourhood, and to provide leadership and mentoring to any Clinical Pharmacist and Pharmacy Technician within the PCN Pharmacy team.

Leadership

Demonstrate an understanding of the Pharmacy role in governance and be able to implement this appropriately within the workplace.

Demonstrate an understanding of, and contribute to, the workplace vision

Demonstrate ability to improve quality within the limitations of service

Demonstrate ability to lead a team and provide support to colleagues with differing abilities

Understand and demonstrate the characteristics of a role model to members in the team/service

Demonstrate ability to motivate self to achieve goals

Demonstrate understanding of and conform to relevant standards of practice

Management

Provide direct line management for members of the team as delegated by the Lead Pharmacist

Support the Lead Pharmacist to demonstrate ability to extend boundaries of service delivery within the team

Follow professional & organisational policy relating to performance management

Support the Lead Pharmacist to review progress and develop plans to achieve results within priorities set by others

Understand resource allocation and support the lead pharmacist to utilise accordingly

Person Specification

Personal Attributes

Essential

• Commitment to continuing professional development
• Self-motivated
• Ability to work on own initiative and as part of a team
• Flexible and adaptable to work environment
• Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines
• Neat and tidy and well-groomed appearance
• Full driving licence and access to transport

Experience

Essential

• Minimum of 5 years experience
• In depth therapeutic and clinical knowledge and understanding of principles of evidence based healthcare
• An appreciation of the nature of GPs and general practice
• Recognises priorities when problem solving and identifies deviations from the normal pattern and is able to refer to Seniors or GPs when appropriate.
• Excellent interpersonal, influencing and negotiating skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Is able to plan, manage, monitor, advise and review general medicine optimisation issues in core areas for long term conditions.
• Knowledge of IT systems, including ability to use word processing, email and the internet to create simple plans and reports.
• Demonstrates accountability for delivering professional expertise and direct service provision
• Ability to maintain effective working relationships and promote collaborative working

Desirable

• Understanding of health inequalities and approaches to reducing them
• Experience of working within multidisciplinary or neighbourhood teams
• Experience in service development, transformation or quality improvement
• Ability to analyse data and use it to drive clinical and operational decisions

Qualifications

Essential

• Vocational Masters degree in Pharmacy (MPharm) or equivalent
• Completion of the CPPE Pathway PCPEP (or GPPTP or MOCH)
• Non-medical Prescribing Qualification

Desirable

• Clinical Diploma or equivalent

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

Bury GP Federation

Address

Business Lodge

Barcroft Street

Bury

Lancashire

BL9 5BT

Employer's website

https://www.burygpfederation.com/ (Opens in a new tab)