PCN Clinical Pharmacist

Job responsibilities

The post holder will provide primary support to general practice staff with regards to prescription and medication queries. They will help support the repeat prescriptions system, deal with acute prescription requests, and medicines reconciliation on transfer of care and systems for safer prescribing, providing expertise in clinical medicines advice while addressing both public and social care needs of patient in the GP practices.

The post holder will provide clinical support on medicines optimisation and quality improvement and manage some aspects of the quality and outcomes framework and enhanced services. The post holder will also take responsibility for areas of chronic disease management within the practices and undertake clinical medication reviews to proactively manage patients with complex polypharmacy.

The post holder will work to integrate practices with community and hospital pharmacies to help utilise skill mix, improve patient outcomes, ensure better access to healthcare and help manage workload. The role is pivotal to improving the quality of care and operational efficiencies so requires motivation and passion to deliver excellent service within general practice.

Responsibilities

Reconciliation of medications on discharge from hospital and other care facilities, implementing any monitoring or dose titration required including arranging blood tests and clinical review, if needed. Identify high risk medications from discharge and ensure monitoring and prescribing is safe and consistent with Local Medicines Management Guidance (LMMG). Pro-actively manage patients at high risk of medicines related problems and also address any deviation from LMMG guidance, or other guidelines, by developing excellent working relationships with hospital colleagues.

Conduct computer searches to identify patients at high risk of harm from medicines. Work with the patients and Practice teams to minimise harm by medicines optimisation.

Devise and implement practice searches to identify cohorts of patients most likely to be at risk of an unplanned admission and readmissions from medicines. Put in place changes to reduce the prescribing of these medicines to high-risk patient groups. Demonstrate early intervention to avoid harm or hospital admissions.

Provide a telephone help line for patients with questions, queries and concerns about their medicines. Hold clinics for patients requiring face-to-face medicines use (level 3 clinical reviews) with focus on tackling inappropriate polypharmacy.

Undertake clinical medication reviews and reconciliation with patients with multi-morbidity and Poly-pharmacy and implement own prescribing changes and order relevant monitoring tests

See patients with single medical problems where medicine optimisation is required (e.g. COPD, asthma). Develop and manage clinics in the best way to provide effective support to patients when and where they need it

Make recommendations to GPs for medicine improvements and support multi-disciplinary teams

To support public health campaigns and provide specialist knowledge on all public health programmes available to the public.

Answer all medicine related enquiries from GPs, other practice staff and patients with queries about medicines.

Manage drug availability issues and medication queries pro-actively by liaising with community pharmacy colleagues and hospital pharmacy colleagues. Develop effective working relationships by working in partnership with internal and external stakeholders.

Provide support to primary healthcare team on therapeutics and medicines optimisation

Identify and provide support on areas of prescribing and medicines optimisation.

Conduct clinical audits and improvement projects or work with colleagues such as GP Trainees, Practice Managers, Practice Nurses etc.

Monitor practice prescribing against the local formulary and make recommendations to GPs for medicines that should be prescribed by hospital clinicians (red drugs) or subject to shared care (amber drugs).

Audit practices compliance against local and national guidelines.

Identify national and local policy and guidance that affects patient safety through the use of medicines, including MHRA alerts, product withdrawals and emerging evidence form clinical trials. Ensure compliance with legislation and best practice, maintain CQC standards

Manage the process of implementing changes to medicines and guidance for practitioners.

To provide guidance and information to staff within identified GP practices/Primary Care Networks so they are clear about their roles and responsibilities with regards to managing medication, and where to access appropriate support and training.

Contribute to the development of guidelines and procedures for GP practices across the Primary Care Network in the identified geographical areas and negotiate adoption of these within the GP practices.

Qualifications

Essential

• Relevant pharmacy degree
• Current registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council
• Independent prescribing qualification

Desirable

• Clinical Diploma
• Membership of the Primary Care Pharmacy Association
• Membership of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society

Experience

Essential

• Minimum 2 years post registration experience
• Sound clinical and therapeutic knowledge and of evidence based health care.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Able to communicate complex and sensitive information to patients or wider group audiences, using a variety of methods of communication.
• Is able to plan, monitor and review medicine optimisation measures for core long term conditions
• Critical appraisal skills
• Ability to develop effective working relationships at all levels
• Demonstrate ability to identify and implement best practice
• Ability to work independently and within a team and demonstrate the ability to work together with patients and other healthcare professionals to achieve best possible outcomes.
• Ability to work under pressure
• Ability to prioritise and manage own work
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Accountable for own professional actions
• Ability to make important decisions in pressured situations
• Ability to apply sound professional judgement to legal and ethical issues
• Familiarity with the concepts of evidence based medicine
• Computer skills including. word-processing , spreadsheets, presentations, or ECDL

Desirable

• An understanding of General Practice, including the different roles within Practice teams and the delivery of services.
• An understanding of General Practice prescribing, factors influencing this, rational prescribing and strategies for improving quality of prescribing.
• Experience of working within Primary Care Team and /or community health team.
• Ability to assimilate, analyse and interpret complex data to assess risks and improve patient safety.
• Ability to deal with ambiguity and uncertainty.
• Good understanding of drug budgets and drug costs and how to monitor these.
• The ability to research and analyse complex information, judging the input required to arrive at robust and accurate conclusions and using these conclusions to inform decision-making.

Other Requirements

Essential

• Ability to travel and work across multiple sites with use of own car.

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).