Primary Care Network Clinical Pharmacist

Job responsibilities

Key Duties and Responsibilities

1. Risk stratification

Design, develop and implement computer searches to identify cohorts of patients with chronic disease who need review and medicines optimisation.

2. Plan Clinics

Manage own case load. Do the necessary checks for QOF and Ealing Standard entering the data correctly on the computer system. Implement improvements to the patients medication and prescribing independently where necessary.

3. Manage patients holistically

Where patients have more than one condition; reviewing co-morbidities in the same appointment and updating QOF and Ealing Standard as appropriate. Referring to other members of the Primary Health Care team and Secondary Care as necessary.

4. Medication reviews

Undertake structured medication reviews with patients with multimorbidity and polypharmacy and implement own prescribing changes (as an independent prescriber) and order relevant monitoring tests. Provide a telephone support for patients with questions, queries and concerns about their medicines and deliver medicines reconciliation from secondary care recommendations.

5. Pathology

Request and manage the results for the cohort of patients under your care in a safe and timely way.

6. Medicines safety and quality improvement

Identify and provide leadership on areas of prescribing requiring improvement. Conduct own audits and improvement projects and work with colleagues. Present results and provide leadership on suggested change. Demonstrate continuous QI activity focused upon prescribing safety as specified in the QOF guidance. This work for example might include deliver against the prescribing indicators in the Impact Investment Fund (IIF). Contribute to national and local research initiatives.

7. Service development

Develop and manage new services that are built around new medicines or NICE guidance, where new medicine/recommendations allow the development of a new care pathway.

8. Care Quality Commission

Provide leadership to the practice manager and GPs to ensure the practice is compliant with CQC standards where medicines are involved as part of the regulatory role of this position.

9. Meetings

Attend MDT, Network, Practice, ICB and Federation meetings as required. Being prepared to contribute to Network pharmacy issues as appropriate.

10. Oversight Network Pharmacy issues

In addition to a clinical specialism this role involves oversight of prescribing across the two network practices and requires the ability to prepare and present reports as required.

11. Relationships

To foster and maintain good relationships between, within and outside the Practices involved in the network.

12. Population and Public Health

To devise and manage population and public health campaigns to run within the network if required.

13. Medicine information to practice staff and patients

Answer all medicine related enquiries from GPs, other practice staff and patients with queries about medicines. Suggesting and recommending solutions. Providing follow up for patients to monitor the effect of any changes.

14. Flexibility

To understand that this is a new and evolving role which may change with the needs of the Network. To be willing to change and the facilitate change in others and the system to promote quality care.

15. Training

Provide education and training to primary healthcare team on therapeutics and medicines optimisation. Provide training to visiting medical, nursing and other healthcare students where appropriate.

16. Implementation of local and national guidelines and formulary recommendations

Monitor practice prescribing against the local health economies RAG list for medicines that should be prescribed by hospital doctors (red drugs) or subject to shared care (amber drugs). Liaise directly with hospital colleagues where prescribing needs to be returned to specialists. Assist practices in setting and maintaining a practice formulary that is hosted on the practices computer system.

Suggest and develop computer decision support tools to help remind prescribers about the agreed formulary choice and local recommendations. Auditing practices compliance against NICEs technology assessment guidance. Provide newsletters on important prescribing messages to improve prescribers knowledge and work with the team to develop and implement other techniques known to influence implementation of evidence such as audit and feedback.

Qualifications

Essential

• Hold a Master of Pharmacy degree and have completed one year of preregistration training.
• Excellent communication and consultation skills, both verbal face to face and telephone and written.
• Demonstrates a patient centred approach, placing patients and their relatives at the heart of all care decisions.
• Ability to deliver clinical clinics safely and effectively within appropriate timeframes.
• Competent in taking accurate patient histories, applying relevant clinical examination skills, and recognising common presentations and red flags, managing or referring appropriately.
• Recognises professional limitations and appropriately escalates concerns to senior clinicians or GPs when required.
• Demonstrates strong problemsolving and clinical decisionmaking skills.
• Able to communicate complex and sensitive information clearly and appropriately to a range of audiences.
• Experience in structured medication reviews, including management of complex multimorbidity, polypharmacy, and medicines optimisation.
• Utilises rational, evidencebased approaches to prescribing and medication review.
• Demonstrates expertise in managing longterm conditions through clinical review, care planning, motivational lifestyle advice, monitoring, and optimisation.
• Maintains accurate highquality clinical records.
• Identifies, manages, and mitigates clinical risk appropriately.
• Competent in the use of local clinical IT systems, including accessing patient data, running searches, understanding Read codes, pathology, and system functionality.
• Promotes the safe and effective use of electronic prescribing systems.
• Actively engages in continuing professional development (CPD) and maintains reflective practice.
• Understands medicines licensing and its implications, including use of specials, liquids, medical devices, and appliances.
• Manages incidents and complaints sensitively, appropriately, and assertively.
• Demonstrates respect for equality, diversity, and inclusion, with an understanding of whistleblowing procedures.
• Adheres to all legal, ethical, and professional standards of practice.
• Has a sound understanding of governance and regulatory frameworks within primary care.

Desirable

• Holds a GPhC Independent Prescribing qualification.
• Has completed CPPE training.
• Communicates effectively with a wide range of stakeholders to gain cooperation and support, including patients, senior and peer colleagues, and professionals from other NHS or private organisations e.g. ICBs, NHS Trusts, local Federations.
• Recognises personal limitations and refers appropriately to more suitable colleagues when required.
• Liaises effectively with ICB pharmacists, and Heads of Medicines Management/Optimisation to ensure consistency of prescribing, improve patient outcomes, and benefit from peer support.
• Has experience or awareness of a wide range of common acute and long term conditions encountered in general practice.
• Minimum of two years postgraduate pharmacy experience, evidenced through a professional portfolio.
• Able to plan, manage, monitor, advise, and review pharmaceutical care programmes for patients across core therapeutic areas, including long term conditions.
• Applies analytical skills in routine and complex situations, comparing options and identifying priorities when problem solving.
• Recognises deviations from normal clinical patterns and escalates concerns appropriately to senior clinicians or GPs.
• Works in accordance with legal, ethical, professional, and organisational policies, procedures, and codes of conduct.
• Actively involves patients in decisions about their medicines and supports adherence in line with NICE guidance.
• Able to work under pressure, manage competing priorities, and meet deadlines.
• Takes responsibility and accountability for own professional practice.
• Refers appropriately to other healthcare professionals where required.
• Engages with pharmacy professional bodies and follows organisational policies and practices.

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).