PCN Clinical Pharmacist

Job description

Job responsibilities

Leadership and management

You will be expected to lead on all medications optimization work the PCN. This will require you to:

Understand of all core PCN contracts, the role of pharmacy in the contracts and how to set goals and work with practices to achieve the required targets

Lead the pharmacy function across the PCN. This will involve motivating colleagues across the network to work collaboratively, whether employed by the PCN or whether colleagues working directly for their GP surgeries.

Demonstrate the ability to identify and resolve risk management issues according to policy/protocol

Work with PCN Board to review the role of pharmacy team in the management of long-term conditions

Clinical Medication Review

Undertake clinical medication reviews by phone or video with patients and work within your scope of practice as an independent prescriber to implement any necessary changes (or produce recommendations for/refer to other prescribing pharmacists, nurses and/or GPs to implement if outside your scope). These reviews could be cohort-based, for care homes, polypharmacy or any other area required by the PCN, within the pharmacists competence.

Medicines quality improvement

Undertake clinical audits of prescribing in areas identified by yourself and agreed by the PCN or as directed by the PCN, feedback the results and implement changes in conjunction with the relevant practice team.

Identify cohorts of patients at high risk of harm from. This might include risks that are patient related, medicine related, or both. Put in place changes to reduce the prescribing of these medicines to high-risk patient groups.

Medicines safety

Implement changes to medicines that result from MHRA alerts, product withdrawal and other local and national guidance.

Management of common/minor/self-limiting ailments

Managing caseload of patients with common/minor/self-limiting ailments while working within a scope of practice and limits of competence. Signposting to community pharmacy and referring to GPs or other healthcare professionals where appropriate.

Management of medicines at change of care setting

Reconcile medicines following discharge from hospital or admission to intermediate care or care homes, including identifying and rectifying unexplained changes and working with patients and community pharmacists to ensure patients receive the medicines they need post discharge. Set up and manage systems to ensure continuity of medicines supply to high-risk groups of patients (e.g. those with medicine compliance aids or those in Care Homes).

Medicine information to practice staff and patients

Answer relevant medicine-related enquiries from GPs, other network staff, other healthcare teams (e.g. community pharmacy) and patients with queries about medicines. Suggest and recommend solutions. Provide follow up for patients to monitor the effect of any changes.

Signposting

Ensure that patients are referred to the appropriate healthcare professional for the appropriate level of care within an appropriate period of time e.g. pathology results, common/minor ailments, acute conditions, long term condition reviews etc.

Repeat prescribing

Ensure each practice in the PCN has a robust repeat prescribing policy, and streamline these across the PCN where possible. You may be asked to contribute to the repeat prescribing reauthorisation process by reviewing patient requests for repeat prescriptions and reviewing medicines reaching review dates. Ensure patients have appropriate monitoring in place when required.

Service development

Contribute pharmaceutical advice for the implementation and delivery of new services that have medicinal components (e.g. advice on treatment pathways and patient information leaflets).

Information management

Analyse, interpret and present medicines data to highlight issues and risks to support decision making.

Care Quality Commission

Work with the general practice teams to ensure the practices are compliant with CQC standards where medicines are involved.

Public health

Support public health campaigns. Provide specialist knowledge on all public health programmes available to the general public.

COMMUNICATION AND WORKING RELATIONSHIPS

Work collaboratively with the PCN Clinical Director and PCN clinicians and staff

Participate in any required PCN MDTs

Liaise with pharmacy colleagues to access professional support and access training and development opportunities

Liaise with Integrated Care Board (ICB) Medicines Commissioning colleagues on prescribing related matters to ensure consistency of patient care and benefit

Engage with other GP-employed pharmacists for peer support.

Foster and maintain strong links with all services across the PCN and neighbouring networks.

Explore the potential for collaborative working and take opportunities to initiate and sustain such relationships.

Liaise with other stakeholders as needed for the collective benefit of patients, including but not limited to:

Patients and their representatives

GP, nurses and other practice staff

Social prescribers, first contact physiotherapists, physicians associates and paramedics.

Community pharmacists and support staff

Locality / GP prescribing lead

Locality managers

Community nurses and other allied health professionals

Hospital staff with responsibilities for prescribing and medicines optimisation

Person Specification

Personal Qualities or Attributes

Essential

• Commitment to reducing health inequalities and proactively working to reach people from all communities
• 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)
• Is able to recognise personal limitations and refer to more appropriate colleague(s) when necessary
• Ability to identify risk and assess/manage risk when working with
• individuals
• Able to provide leadership and to finish work tasks
• Demonstrates personal accountability, emotional resilience and works well under pressure
• Ability to organise, plan and prioritise on own initiative, including when under pressure and meeting deadlines

Qualifications

Essential

• Mandatory registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council
• Completion of an undergraduate degree in pharmacy and registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council
• Holds or working towards an independent prescribing qualification
• Successful completion of the CPPE General Practice Pharmacist
• Training Pathway
• Demonstrates an understanding of, and conforms to, relevant standards of practice.

Desirable

• Membership Primary Care Pharmacy Association (PCPA)
• Membership of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society
• Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Pharmacy

Experience

Essential

• Qualified pharmacist demonstrably established as practicing at an advanced level, demonstrated within a practice portfolio
• Experience of working within a General Practice setting
• Demonstrates ability to integrate General Practice with community and hospital pharmacy teams and community groups
• Experience of partnership/collaborative working and of building
• relationships across a variety of organisations

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).

Employer details

Employer name

Alton Street Surgery

Address

Alton Street

Ross-on-Wye

Herefordshire

HR9 5AB

Employer's website

https://www.altonstreet.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)