Clinical Pharmacist PCN

Job responsibilities

PORTSMOUTH SOUTH COAST PRIMARY CARE NETWORK

JOB DESCRIPTION

Job Title: Clinical Pharmacist

Responsible to: The Partners of PCN member Practices & Clinical Pharmacist (Team Lead) (Clinically)

PCN Manager (Administratively)

Accountable to: PCN Clinical Director

Hours of Work: 37 (5 days)

Pay: Dependent upon experience

Overall Aim

The Clinical Pharmacist will work as part of the general practice team to improve value and outcomes from medicines and consult with and treat patients directly. You will be a vital part of the prescribing team, this includes providing extra help to manage and sign off more complex daily prescriptions requests, long-term conditions, and advice for those on multiple medicines and better access to health checks.

Reporting on a day-to-day basis to the Clinical Pharmacist Team Lead the Clinical Pharmacist role is supported by a team of Prescription Administrators and Pharmacy Technicians. The role will also support the development and maintenance of safe and effective processes for repeat medication authorisation. We expect commitment and expertise to advise on medicines optimisation, safety, and appropriate prescribing in line with local and national policies.

You will be supported in developing your skills as a clinical pharmacist as we facilitate your access to training events and courses where possible as we promote a culture of education and learning at TMGP/PCN. We provide monthly clinical meetings and involve our prescribing team regularly in our multi-disciplinary team learning events as we know the balance of both individual and team working is crucial.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Provide expertise in clinical medicines review and address public health and social needs of patients in the general practice setting.

2. Reduce inappropriate polypharmacy and wasteful prescribing through clinical medication review.

3. Reconcile medicines following hospital discharge and work with patients and community pharmacists to ensure patients receive the medicines they need post discharge.

4. Contribute to reductions in medicine related hospital admissions and readmissions by supporting patients to get the best outcomes from their medicines and identifying and addressing medicines related issues.

5. Interface with community and hospital pharmacy colleagues and develop referral processes between primary care professionals including the promotion of the repeat dispensing service.

6. Manage the repeat prescribing reauthorisation process by reviewing requests for repeat prescriptions and medicines reaching review dates.

7. Manage patients and health care professionals medicine queries.

8. Increase quality and safety of prescribing through mechanisms such as audit and review cycles.

9. Manage practice formularies to improve the quality, safety, and cost effectiveness of prescribing.

10. Implement drug withdrawals and alerts e.g., MHRA aimed at improving medicines safety.

11. Work with primary care professional and patients to implement NICE and other evidence-based guidelines.

12. Run clinics where medicines are the main interventions e.g., anticoagulant monitoring clinics.

13. Contribute to multimorbidity reviews and multidisciplinary reviews.

14. Provide medicines information and training to Partnership healthcare professionals and admin staff.

15. Review daily Pathology results for patients on known medicines.

16. Act as a source of medicines information for all of the practice team and patients (e.g., around doses, side effects, adverse events, possible alternatives e.g., around out of stocks).

17. Undertake minor ailments triage: dealing with minor ailments and triaging patients appropriately.

18. Deputise as required for the Clinical Pharmacist Team Lead.

19.You will be supported in developing your skills as a clinical pharmacist as we facilitate your access to training events and courses where possible as we promote a culture of education and learning at TMGP/PCN. This includes enrolment onto the CPPE pathway and associated independent prescribing qualification if you have not already completed this. We provide monthly clinical meetings and involve our prescribing team regularly in our multi-disciplinary team learning events as we know the balance of both individual and team working is crucial.

Key Results

1. Working within the practice-based team to undertake medication reviews particularly in high-risk groups such as:

- Frail elderly.

- Polypharmacy.

- Renal impairment.

- Hepatic impairment.

- Substance misuse.

- Patients on high-risk medicines.

- STOPP/START identified patients.

- Revolving door Hospital admissions.

1. Improve prescribing practice through educational support for all prescribers within the practice.

1. Lead on where changes in evidence require changes in prescribing across patient population e.g., where a drug is withdrawn, or indications change.

1. Liaise with colleagues in community pharmacy to align support for medicines adherence.

1. Support improvements in clinical care through practice-based audit and implementing change.

1. Prescribing advice to prescribers in practice e.g., temporary non availability of drugs.

1. Ensure patient safety when they are transferred between care providers through reconciliation of prescribed medicines.

Confidentiality

Ensure and promote confidentiality throughout all aspects of your duties.

• 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.

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 recognizes 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, feelings priorities and rights.

Personal/Professional Development:

The post-holder will participate in any training programme implemented by the Practice 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 skills and activities to others who are undertaking similar work.

Qualifications

Essential

• Essential
• Completion of an undergraduate degree in Pharmacy, and registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council.
• Minimum of 2 years post graduate experience in pharmacy, as demonstrated within a practice portfolio.
• Member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS).
• Member of RPS Faculty.
• Hold or be willing to achieve a prescribing qualification (via CPPE compulsory pathway)

Desirable

• Desirable
• Use of Ardens software to support the use of the electronic medical record.
• Previous experience of employment in primary care.
• Have an awareness of the breadth of common acute and long-term conditions that are likely to be seen in a general medical practice.

Approach and other requirements

Essential

• Involves patients in decisions about prescribed medicines and supporting adherence as per NICE guidance.
• Personal commitment to the values, vision and objectives of the Partnership.
• Excellent listening and communication skills for dealing with patients.
• Able to work for the benefit of the team.
• Understands and demonstrates the characteristics of a role model to members in the team and/or service.
• Demonstrates self-development through continuous professional development activity.
• Demonstrates an understanding of current educational policies relevant to working areas of practice and keeps up to date with relevant clinical practice.
• Demonstrates understanding of the implications of national priorities for the team and/or service.
• Demonstrates understanding of the process for effective resource utilisation.
• Demonstrates ability to identify and resolve risk management issues according to policy/protocol.
• Follows professional and organisational policies/procedures relating to performance management.
• Demonstrates ability to identify where there is a gap in the evidence base to support practice.
• Demonstrates ability to generate evidence suitable for presentation at local level.

Experience

Essential

• Demonstrates general pharmaceutical skills and knowledge in core areas.
• Is able to plan, manage, monitor, advise and review general pharmaceutical care programmes for patients in core areas, including disease states / long term conditions identified by local Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment.
• Demonstrates accountability for delivering professional expertise and direct service provision as an individual.
• Is able to follow legal, ethical, professional and organisational policies/procedures and codes of conduct.
• Demonstrates ability to use skills in a range of routine situations requiring analysis or comparison of a range of options.
• Recognises priorities when problem-solving and identifies deviations from the normal pattern and is able to refer to GPs when appropriate.
• The ability to work within a multidisciplinary team.
• Compassion, resourcefulness, stamina, motivation and perseverance.
• The ability to work under pressure and deal with different demands.
• Good IT skills for keeping excellent patient records

Desirable

• Use of TPP Systmone.
• Understanding of read codes and templates
• Previous experience of telephone consultations and triage

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).