Pharmacist

Job responsibilities

• The following are the core responsibilities of the Clinical Pharmacist delivering health services.
• Work as part of a multi-disciplinary team in a patient-facing role to clinically assess and treat patients using their expert knowledge of medicines for specific disease areas
• Be a prescriber, or completing training to become a prescriber, and work with and alongside the general practice team
• Be responsible for the care management of patients with chronic diseases and undertake clinical medication reviews to proactively manage people with complex polypharmacy, especially the elderly, people in care homes, those with multiple co-morbidities (in particular frailty, COPD and asthma) and people with learning disabilities or autism (through STOMP Stop Over Medication Programme)
• Provide specialist expertise in the use of medicines whilst helping to address both the public health and social care needs of patients at the organisation and to help in tackling inequalities
• Provide leadership on person-centred medicines optimisation (including ensuring prescribers in the practice conserve antibiotics in line with local antimicrobial stewardship guidance) and quality improvement, whilst contributing to the Quality and Outcomes Framework and enhanced services
• Through structured medication reviews, support patients to take their medications to get the best from them, reduce waste and promote self-care
• Have a leadership role in supporting further integration of general practice with the wider healthcare teams (including community and hospital pharmacy) to help to improve patient outcomes, ensure better access to healthcare and help to manage general practice workload
• Develop relationships and work closely with other pharmacy professionals across the wider health and social care system
• Take a central role in the clinical aspects of shared care protocols, clinical research with medicines, liaison with specialist pharmacists (including mental health and reduction of inappropriate antipsychotic use in people with learning difficulties), liaison with community pharmacists, and anticoagulation
• Be part of a professional clinical network and have access to appropriate clinical supervision. Appropriate clinical supervision means:
• Each Clinical Pharmacist must receive a minimum of one supervision session per month by a senior clinical pharmacist
• The Senior Clinical Pharmacist must receive a minimum of one supervision session every three months by a GP clinical supervisor
• Each Clinical Pharmacist will have access to an assigned GPa. for support and development
• A ratio of one Senior Clinical Pharmacist to no more than five junior Clinical Pharmacists, with appropriate peer support and supervision in place
• Act as the point of contact for all medicine related matters, establishing positive working relationships
• Consult patients within defined levels of competence and independently prescribe acute and repeat medication
• Receive referrals and directed patients from triage services and other clinicians
• Receive and resolve medicines queries from patients and other staff
• Provide medication review services for patients in the practice and during domiciliary visits to the local nursing home
• Manage a caseload of complex patients
• Manage a therapeutic drug monitoring system and the recall of patients taking high risk drugs, i.e., anticoagulants, anticonvulsants and DMARDs, etc.
• Deliver long term condition clinics and home visits, particularly for patients with complicated medication regimes, and prescribe accordingly
• Provide pharmaceutical consultations to patients with long term conditions as an integral part of the multidisciplinary team
• Review medications for newly registered patients
• Improve patient and carer understanding of confidence in and compliance with their medication
• Maintain accurate clinical records in conjunction with extant legislation
• Encourage cost-effective prescribing throughout the organisation
• Implement and embed a robust repeat prescribing system
• Provide advice and answer medication related queries from patients and staff
• Organise and oversee the organisations medicines optimisation systems, including the repeat prescribing and medication review systems
• Improve the quality and effectiveness of prescribing through clinical audit and education, to improve performance against NICE standards and clinical and prescribing guidance.
• Develop yourself and the role through participation in clinical supervision, training and service redesign activities
• Ensure appropriate supervision of safe storage, rotation and disposal of vaccines and drugs. Apply infection-control measures within the practice according to localclinical supervisor
• Manage a caseload of complex patients
• Manage a therapeutic drug monitoring system and the recall of patients taking high risk drugs, i.e., anticoagulants, anticonvulsants and DMARDs, etc.
• Deliver long term condition clinics and home visits, particularly for patients with complicated medication regimes, and prescribe accordingly
• Provide pharmaceutical consultations to patients with long term conditions as an integral part of the multidisciplinary team
• Review medications for newly registered patients
• Improve patient and carer understanding of confidence in and compliance with their medication
• Maintain accurate clinical records in conjunction with extant legislation
• Encourage cost-effective prescribing throughout the organisation
• Implement and embed a robust repeat prescribing system
• Provide advice and answer medication related queries from patients and staff
• Organise and oversee the organisations medicines optimisation systems, including the repeat prescribing and medication review systems
• Improve the quality and effectiveness of prescribing through clinical audit and education, to improve performance against NICE standards and clinical and prescribing guidance.
• Develop yourself and the role through participation in clinical supervision, training and service redesign activities
• Ensure appropriate supervision of safe storage, rotation and disposal of vaccines and drugs. Apply infection-control measures within the practice according to localand national guidelines
• Provide subject matter expertise on medication monitoring, implementing and embedding a system
• Support clinicians with the management of patients suffering from drug and alcohol dependencies
• Actively signpost patients to the correct healthcare professional
• Manage a caseload of complex patients and potential care institutions and to provide advice for the GP management of more complex patients or areas such as addictive behaviours, severe mental illness or end of life care
• Review the latest guidance, ensuring the organisation conforms to NICE, CQC etc.
• Be aware of duties and responsibilities regarding current legislation and adhere to practice policies and procedures on Safeguarding Adults and Safeguarding Children
• Provide targeted support and proactive reviews for vulnerable, complex patients and those at risk of admission and re-admission to secondary care
• Handle prescription queries and requests directly
• Provide proactive leadership on medicines and prescribing systems to the organisation, patients and their carers
• Support in the delivery of enhanced services and other service requirements on behalf of the organisation
• Participate in the management of patient complaints when requested to do so, and participate in the identification of any necessary learning brought about through clinical incidents and near-miss events
• Undertake all mandatory training and induction programmes
• Contribute to and embrace the spectrum of clinical governance
• Attend a formal appraisal with your manager at least every 12 months. Once a performance/training objective has been set, progress will be reviewed on a regular basis so that new objectives can be agreed
• Contribute to public health campaigns (e.g., COVID-19 or flu clinics) through advice or direct care
• Maintain a clean, tidy, effective working area at all times
• There may be, on occasion, a requirement to carry out other tasks, this will be dependent upon factors such as workload and staffing levels

Qualifications

Essential

• GPC registered pharmacist
• Proof of relevant professional and educational qualifications, coupled with details of any training
• To be enrolled in, or have qualified from, an approved 18-month training pathway or equivalent that equips them to be able to practice and prescribe safely and effectively in a primary care setting (for example, the CPPE clinical pharmacist training pathways)
• Hold or be working towards an GPhC independent prescribing qualification

Desirable

• Working towards faculty membership of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society
• Medicines management qualification
• Minor ailments certification
• MUR and repeat dispensing certification

Experience

Essential

• - An appreciation of the nature of general practice and the nature of primary care prescribing, concepts of rational prescribing and strategies for improving prescribing
• - Minimum of two years working as a pharmacist demonstrated within a practice portfolio
• - An appreciation of the new NHS landscape, including the relationships between individual practices, PCNs and the commissioners

Desirable

• - Experience in managing pharmacy services in primary care
• - In-depth therapeutic and clinical knowledge and understanding of the principles of evidence-based healthcare
• - Experience of working autonomously

Skills and Qualities

Essential

• -Effective time management (planning and organising)
• -Ability to follow legal, ethical and professional policies/local policies/procedures and codes of conduct
• -Ability to use own initiative, discretion, and sensitivity
• -Ability to identify risk and assess/manage risk when working with individuals
• -Demonstrate personal accountability, emotional resilience and work well under pressure
• -Knowledge of IT systems including the ability to use word processing skills, emails and the internet
• -Problem solving and analytical skills
• -Knowledge of and ability to work to key policies and procedures
• -Ability to work as a team member and autonomously
• -Commitment to ongoing professional development
• -Good interpersonal and organisational skills
• -Sensitive and empathetic in distressing situations
• -Clear, polite telephone manner

Desirable

• -Effectively utilise resources

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).