Clinical Pharmacist

Job responsibilities

Primary Care Network - ARRS - Clinical Pharmacist Job

Description

Title: PCN Clinical Pharmacist

Responsible to: Practice Manager and Clinical Partners Southlands Medical Group

Base: Southlands Medical Group

Hours per week: 37.5 hrs per week

Contract: Permanent

Salary: £52,000 Depending on experience

Holiday Entitlement: 30 days per year plus Bank Holidays

To liaise with: The GPs, Practice Managers and practice staff primarily in Southlands Medical Group and also within the network. Provider organisations. Voluntary sector. PCN employed staff

Job Summary:

The post holder will work within their clinical competencies to provide specialist pharmaceutical support to the clinical and admin staff primarily in Southlands Medical Group and to all practices of the PCN including working with members of the wider healthcare team to improve care and support safe and effective prescribing having undergone an approved 18-month training pathway e.g. the CPPE Clinical Pharmacist training pathway.

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 and opiate misuse.

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, LES and LIS.

There may also be the requirement for the post holder to contribute to the provision of out of hours/extended hours/improved access services if needed.

The post holder will be supported to help develop the role and work to improve the care and outcomes for the patients across Sunderland East PCN.

To play a pivotal role in the delivery of high quality primary health care.

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 within the Practice and PCN where appropriate
• Contribute to the provision of out of hours/on call/extended services for the practice and the patients. These can include patient facing and telephone consultations, signposting to other services and/or healthcare professionals where appropriate, while working within scope of practice and limits of competency if needed
• 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
• Undertake opiate reduction and cessation management
• 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 practices 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 network practices 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
• Work with the practice to ensure full compliance with Care Quality Commission standards for safe and effective care

Working Relationships:

• Patients and carers where appropriate
• GPs, nurses and other practice staff including practice pharmacists
• GP prescribing leads
• ICB pharmacists and medicines management team
• Secondary Care and interface Pharmacists
• Community Nurses and other allied health professionals
• Community Pharmacists and support staff
• To work as a flexible member of the Practice team providing support to other team members when necessary
• To take an active role in the development and embedding of the Practices culture, values and reputation as providers of high-quality services
• Encourage supporting staff to collaborate through sharing information and intelligence across different activities

Health and 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, to 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
• Reporting potential risks identified

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, feeling priorities and rights.
• The post-holder will participate in any training programme implemented by the PCN 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 skill and activities to others who are undertaking similar work
• Training may need to be undertaken outside of normal practice hours, and off site.

Quality and Governance

The post-holder will strive to maintain quality within the Practice and PCN, and will:

• Alert other team members to issues of quality and risk
• Assess own performance and take accountability for own actions, either directly or under supervision.
• Work effectively with individuals in other agencies
• Effectively manage own time, workload and resources

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

This job description is not intended to be a complete list of duties and responsibilities, but is a guide for information to the role. The job description will be periodically reviewed in light of the developing work requirements. The post-holder will be expected to contribute towards that revision.

Qualifications

Essential

• GPhC Registered Pharmacist
• GPhC Independent Prescriber Qualification

Desirable

• Medicines Management Qualification
• MUR and Repeat Dispensing Qualification

Skills

Essential

• Excellent communication skills (written and oral)
• Strong IT skills
• Clear, polite telephone manner
• Competent use of clinical system
• Ability to promote best practice regarding all pharmaceutical matters
• Effective time management (Planning & Organisation)
• Ability to work as a team member and autonomously
• Problem solving and analytical skills

Experience

Essential

• Minimum of two years working as a pharmacist
• Experience of managing pharmacy services in primary care

Desirable

• Broad knowledge of general practice and working with the practice team

Personal Qualities

Essential

• Polite and confident
• Flexible and cooperative
• Motivated
• Forward thinker
• Empathetic
• Ability to work under pressure
• High levels of integrity and loyalty
• Other requirements
• Flexibility to work outside of core office hours
• Evidence of continuing professional development

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).