Practice Clinical Pharmacist

Job description

Job responsibilities

Repeat prescribing

· Review/implement practice repeat prescribing policies

· Manage prescription queries across the practices, providing remote support where needed

· Ensure processes are in place for ordering and re-authorisation of high-risk medications and that monitoring tests are appropriately ordered

Medication review

· Provide expertise in clinical medicines review and address public health and social needs of patients

· Reduce inappropriate polypharmacy and wasteful prescribing through clinical medication review

· Pro-actively identify patients using computer searches who require medication reviews (e.g. polypharmacy, over 75s etc)

· 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

Management of medicines at discharge from hospital

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

· Liaise with pharmacy colleagues in secondary care and be the main point of contact for medicines, to align support for medicines reconciliation on admission to hospital and on discharge

Long-term condition (LTC) clinics

· Work within and develop own competence to deliver patient facing clinics in patients with single or multiple medical problems where medicines optimisation is required (e.g. asthma, diabetes)

· Build and use computer searches to pro-actively identify patients who may benefit from attending LTC clinics

· Make appropriate recommendations for ongoing treatment to patients and refer appropriately to the GP/other services where needed

Medicines safety & service development

· Manage patients and health care professionals’ medicine queries

· Increase quality and safety of prescribing through mechanisms such as audit and PDSA cycles

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

· Monitor practice prescribing against local recommendations and QOF targets

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

· 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)

Role within the dispensing practices

The Practice has 4 dispensaries and dispenses medication for 95% of its practice list due to its rural location. The dispensaries are staffed by NVQ qualified Dispensing teams supported by a site manager and GP lead. The postholder would not be expected to be involved in day to day dispensing but will have the following responsibilities:

· Supervising staff, completing staff competencies and informal support -for example dealing with out-of-stock queries, supply issues, and medicines switches.

· Looking at current wholesale discount schemes and ensuring that the practice is signed up.

· Dispensing and prescribing audits.

· Medicines management projects.

Education and training of others

· Improve prescribing practice through educational support for all prescribers and other practice staff around medicines optimisation and therapeutics.

Please see supporting document for full Job Description.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Professional Registration:
• Mandatory Registration with General Pharmaceutical Council
• Qualifications:
• Masters degree in pharmacy (MPharm)

Desirable

• Professional Registration : Membership of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society
• Qualifications : A member of or working towards Faculty membership of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society
• Clinical diploma
• Independent prescriber
• Completed or working towards CPPE Primary Care Pharmacy Education pathway qualification

Experience

Essential

• Minimum of 2 years post-qualification experience
• An appreciation of the nature of GPs and general practices
• An appreciation of the nature of primary care prescribing, concepts of rational prescribing and strategies for improving prescribing
• Excellent interpersonal, influencing and negotiating skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Demonstrate the ability to communicate complex and sensitive information in an understandable form to a variety of audiences (e.g., patients)
• Is able to plan, manage, monitor, advise and review general medicine optimisation issues in core areas for long term conditions
• Good IT skills
• Able to obtain and analyse complex technical information
• Recognises priorities when problem solving and identifies deviations from the normal pattern and is able to refer to seniors or GPs when appropriate
• Able to work under pressure and meet deadlines
• Produced timely and informative reports
• Gain acceptance for recommendations and influence/motivate/persuade the audience to comply with the recommendations agreed course of action where there may be significant barriers
• Work effectively independently as a team member
• Demonstrate accountability for delivery professional expertise and direct service provision

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

Three Shires Medical Practice

Address

12 Becket Court

Pucklechurch

Bristol

BS16 9QG

Employer's website

https://www.threeshiresmedical.co.uk (Opens in a new tab)