Job responsibilities
The post holder is a pharmacist, who acts within their professional boundaries, supporting and working alongside a team of pharmacists in general practice. In this role they will be supported by a senior clinical pharmacist who will develop, manage and mentor them.
The post holder will work as part of a multi-disciplinary team in a patient-facing role. The post holder will take responsibility for areas of chronic disease management within the practice and undertake clinical medication reviews to proactively manage patients with complex polypharmacy.
The post holder will provide primary support to general practice staff with regards to prescription and medication queries. They will help support the repeat prescription 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 practice(s).
The post holder will provide clinical leadership on medicines optimisation and quality improvement and manage some aspects of the quality and outcomes framework and enhanced services.
The post holder will ensure that the practice integrates with community and hospital pharmacy 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.
The post holder will be supported to develop their role to become a non- medical prescriber.
Primary duties and areas of responsibility
Patient-facing long-term condition clinics
Patient-facing clinical medication review
Patient-facing care home medication reviews
Patient-facing domiciliary clinical medication review
Management of common/minor/self-limiting ailments
Patient-facing medicines support
Telephone medicines support
Medicine information to practice staff and patients
Unplanned hospital admissions
Management of medicines at discharge from hospital
Signposting
Repeat prescribing
Risk stratification
Service development
Information management
Medicines quality improvement
Medicines safety
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.
Education and training
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
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 e.g. CCGs)
Demonstrates ability to work as a member of a teamIs 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
Completion of an undergraduate 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
May hold or be working towards an independent prescribing qualification.
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 conductInvolves patients in decisions about prescribed medicines and supporting adherence as per NICE guidelines.
NB: the level of qualification held may vary according to the level of position and the components of the role being carried out.
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
Reviews yearly progress and develops clear plans to achieve results within priorities set by others.
Demonstrate ability to motivate self 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 employment. 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.
Job description agreement
This job description is intended to provide an outline of the key tasks and responsibilities only. There may be other duties required of the post-holder commensurate with the position. This description will be open to regular review and may be amended to take into account development within the Practice. All members of staff should be prepared to take on additional duties or relinquish existing duties in order to maintain the efficient running of the Practice.
This job description is intended as a basic guide to the scope and responsibilities of the post and is not exhaustive. It will be subject to regular review and amendment as necessary in consultation with the post holder.