Job responsibilities
Improves patients health outcomes and the efficiency of the practice team by providing direct, accessible and timely medicines expertise, including identifying areas for improvement and initiating change e.g. care homes.
Focusses on individual patient care by addressing immediate and future needs through personalised care planning. Communicates drug and medicine related information with prescribers, patients and carers, including in contexts where there may be barriers to understanding.
Proactively transfers workload relating to medicines optimisation from other clinical staff, to improve patient care and safety.
Management of Medicines at Discharge from Hospital
To reconcile medicines following discharge from hospitals, intermediate care and into care homes, including identifying and rectifying unexplained changes and working with patients and community pharmacists to ensure patients receive the medicines they need post discharge.
Set up and manage systems to ensure continuity of medicines supply to highrisk groups of patients (e.g. those with medicine compliance aids or those in care homes).
Reconciles patients computer records with discharge medication and discusses discrepancies or concerns with hospital doctors/pharmacists.
Ensures instructions and recommendations are enacted within the practice including organising reviews, blood test monitoring and appropriate up/down titration.
Risk Stratification
Review the use of medicines most commonly associated with unplanned hospital admissions through audit and individual patient reviews with the intent of reducing avoidable admissions. Identify cohorts of patients at high risk of harm from medicines through pre-prepared practice computer searches. This might include risks that are patient related, medicine related, or both.
Service Development
Contribute pharmaceutical advice for the development and implementation of new services that have medicinal components (e.g. advice on treatment pathways and patient information leaflets).
Information Management
Analyse, interpret and present medicines data to highlight issues and risks to support decision- making.
Medicines Quality Improvement
Undertake clinical audits of prescribing in areas directed by the GPs, feedback the results and implement changes in conjunction with the practice team.
Medicines Safety
Implement changes to medicines that result from MHRA alerts, product withdrawal and other local and national guidance.
Implementation of Local and National Guidelines and Formulary Recommendations
Monitor practice prescribing against the local health economys RAG list and make recommendations to GPs for medicines that should be prescribed by hospital doctors (red drugs) or subject to shared care (amber drugs).
Assist practices in seeing and maintaining a practice formulary that is hosted on the practices computer system.
Auditing practices compliance against NICE technology assessment guidance.
Provide newsletters or bulletins on important prescribing messages.
Education and Training
Provide education and training to primary healthcare team on therapeutics and medicines optimisation.
Care Quality Commission
Work with the general practice team to ensure the practice is compliant with CQC standards where medicines are involved.
Public Health
To support public health campaigns.
To provide specialist knowledge on all public health programmes available to the general public.
Collaborative Working Relationships
Recognises the roles of other colleagues within the organisation and their role to patient care.
Develops collaborative working with the PCN practices and takes opportunities to initiate and sustain such relationships.
Demonstrates use of appropriate communication to gain the co-operation of relevant stakeholders (including patients, senior and peer colleagues, and other professionals, other NHS/private organisations g. CCGs).
Demonstrates ability to work as a member of a team.
Is able to recognise personal limitations and refer to more appropriate colleague(s) when necessary.
Actively work toward developing and maintaining effective working relationships both within and outside the practice and locality.
Foster and maintain strong links with all services across locality.
Explores the potential for collaborative working and takes opportunities to initiate and sustain such relationships.
Demonstrates ability to integrate general practice with community and hospital pharmacy teams.
Liaises with CCG colleagues including CCG Pharmacists on prescribing related matters to ensure consistency of patient care and benefit.
Liaises with CCG pharmacists and Heads of Medicines Management/ Optimisation to benefit from peer support.
Liaises with other stakeholders as needed for the collective benefit of patients including but not limited to patients GP, nurses and other practice staff.
Other healthcare professionals including CCG pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, optometrists, dentists, health and social care teams and dieticians etc.
Locality / GP prescribing lead Locality managers.
Community nurses and other allied health professionals Community and hospital pharmacy teams.
Hospital staff with responsibilities for prescribing and medicines optimisation.
Knowledge, Skills and Experience Required
Masters degree in pharmacy and registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council.
Minimum of 2 years experience as a pharmacist, demonstrated within a practice portfolio.
Have experience and an awareness of common acute and long-term conditions that are likely to be seen in general practice.
Hold an independent prescribing qualification and completed CPPE pathway for primary care clinical Pharmacists, or working towards these qualifications.
Recognises priorities when problem-solving and identifies deviations from normal pattern and is able to refer to seniors or GPs when appropriate.
Able to follow legal, ethical, professional and organisational policies/procedures and codes of conduct.
Involves patients in decisions about prescribed medicines and supporting adherence as per NICE guidelines.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills as well as skilled negotiator.
Leadership
Demonstrate understanding of the pharmacy role in governance and is able to implement this appropriately within the workplace.
Demonstrate understanding of, and contributes to, the workplace vision Engages with Patient Participation Groups (PPGs) and involves PPGs in development of the role and practices.
Demonstrates ability to improve quality within limitations of service as an individual and via a team.
Reviews yearly progress and develops clear plans to achieve results within priorities set by others.
Demonstrate ability to motivate self and others to achieve goals.
Promotes diversity and equality in people management techniques and leads by example.
Management
Demonstrate understanding of the implications of national priorities for the team and/or service.
Demonstrate understanding of the process for effective resource utilisation Demonstrate understanding of, and conforms to, relevant standards of practice Demonstrates ability to identify and resolve risk management issues according to policy/protocol.
Follows professional and organisational policies/procedures relating to performance management.
Demonstrate ability to extend boundaries of service delivery within the team.
Education, Training and Development
Understands and demonstrates the characteristics of a role model to members in the team and/or service.
Demonstrates understanding of the mentorship process.
Demonstrates ability to conduct teaching and assessment effectively according to a learning plan with supervision from more experience colleague.
Demonstrates self-development through continuous professional development activity; working alongside senior clinical pharmacist to identifying areas to develop Participates in the delivery of formal education programmes.
Demonstrates an understanding of current educational policies relevant to working areas of practice and keeps up to date with relevant clinical practice.
Ensures appropriate clinical supervision is in place to support development Enrolled into review and appraisal systems within the practice.
Research and Evaluation
Demonstrates ability to critically evaluate and review literature.
Demonstrates ability to identify where there is a gap in the evidence base to support practice.
Demonstrates ability to generate evidence suitable for presentations at practice and local level.
Demonstrates ability to apply research evidence base into working place Demonstrates understanding of principles of research governance.
Health and Safety/Risk Management
The post-holder must comply at all times with the Practices Health and Safety policies, in particular by following agreed safe working procedures and reporting incidents using the organisations Incident Reporting System.
The post-holder will comply with the Data Protection Act (1984) and the Access to Health Records Act (1990).
Equality and Diversity
The post-holder must co-operate with all policies and procedures designed to ensure equality of employmen Co-workers, patients and visitors must be treated equally irrespective of gender, ethnic origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion etc.
Respect for Patient Confidentiality
The post-holder should respect patient confidentiality at all times and not divulge patient information unless sanctioned by the requirements of the role.
Special Working Conditions
The post-holder is required to travel independently between practice sites (where applicable), and to attend meetings etc. hosted by other agencies.
The post-holder will have contact with body fluids i.e. wound exudates; urine etc. while in clinical practice.
