PCN Pharmacist

Job description

Job responsibilities

WESTERN ELMS & CIRCUIT LANE SURGERIES

READING WEST PCN

TITLE: PRESCRIBING PCN PHARMACIST

REPORTING TO: THE PARTNERS (Clinically)

THE PRACTICE MANAGER (Administratively)

LOCATION: READING

DATE: May 2021

Job Summary:

Responsible for support to the practice with medication reviews, queries and the delivery of the repeat prescription service.

Responsible for supporting the partners in implementing effective medicine management within the practice. To identify areas for improvement and then initiate and manage the changes.

Clinical Services

• Working Closely with GPs to resolve day-to-day medicines issues
• Addressing medicines adherence with patients
• Managing and prescribing for long-term conditions in clinic, often in conjunction with practice nurses, to optimise the management of patients condition(s) without impacting any co-morbid conditions(s) or medication(s).
• Ensuring patients on high risk drugs are complying with appropriate monitoring
• Triaging and managing common ailments
• Responding to acute medicine requests
• Reviewing patients on complex medication regimens and reducing unwarranted poly-pharmacy
• Taking part in multidisciplinary case reviews
• Carrying out face-to-face or telephone follow up with patients
• Signposting patients to appropriate services and other healthcare professionals (e.g. community pharmacists)
• Developing pharmacist led QOF domain pathways, either supporting patients to manage their condition, or via telephone / video call / face to face contact according to patient choice/need

Prescription Management

• Reconciliation of medicines in outpatient and discharge letters including liaison with hospital, community and primary care colleagues to ensure correct medicines are continued following transfer of care
• Supporting the GPs and other practice staff to deliver on Medicines Optimisation agenda, QOF and locally commissioned enhanced services
• Working with the practice team to deliver repeat prescriptions reviews especially for care home residents, people prescribed poly pharmacy and frail older people
• Training dispensers or prescribing receptionists in processing prescription requests and queries
• Converting acute medicine requests into repeat medicines, where appropriate
• Point of contact for the practice for all medicines-related queries for healthcare professionals and patients
• Supporting Community Pharmacists in ensuring NOMAD or Batch prescriptions are up to date including confirming any stopped or initiated medications with the patient and community pharmacy team
• Implementing and monitoring a practices adherence to a repeat prescription policy

Audit and Education

• Conducting clinical audits as part of the multidisciplinary team
• Answering medicine information enquiries from GPs, other healthcare professionals and patients
• Implementing, in conjunction with the practice team, systems for monitoring medicines use
• Contributing to clinical education of other healthcare professionals
• Providing leadership of quality improvements programmes that involve medicines

Medicines Management

• Working with the CCG Medicines Optimisation Team, GPs and practices nurses to agree, and then manage, practice formularies to improve the choice and cost effectiveness of medicines
• Implementing NICE guidance through audit and feedback, formulary management and educational sessions with the wider primary healthcare team and patients

Communication

The post-holder should recognise the importance of effective communication within the team and will strive to:

Communicate effectively with other team members

Communicate effectively with patients and carers

Recognise peoples needs for alternative methods of communication and respond accordingly

Confidentiality:

• 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.

Health & Safety:

The post-holder will assist in promoting and maintaining their own and others health, safety and security as defined in the Practice Health & Safety Policy, to include:

• Using personal security systems within the workplace according to Practice guidelines
• Identifying the risks involved in work activities and undertaking such activities in a way that manages those risks
• Making effective use of training to update knowledge and skills
• Using appropriate infection control procedures, maintaining work areas in a tidy and safe way and free from hazards
• Reporting potential risks identified.

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:

In addition to maintaining continued education through attendance at any courses and/or study days necessary to ensure that NMC professional development requirements for PREP are met, 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.

Quality:

The post-holder will strive to maintain quality within the Practice, and will:

• Alert other team members to issues of quality and risk
• Assess own performance and take accountability for own actions, either directly or under supervision
• Contribute to the effectiveness of the team by reflecting on own and team activities and making suggestions on ways to improve and enhance the teams performance
• Work effectively with individuals in other agencies to meet patients needs
• Effectively manage own time, workload and resources.

Communication:

The post-holder should recognise the importance of effective communication within the team and will strive to:

• Communicate effectively with other team members
• Communicate effectively with patients and carers
• Recognise peoples needs for alternative methods of communication and respond accordingly.

Contribution to the Implementation of Services:

The post-holder will:

• Apply Practice policies, standards and guidance
• Discuss with other members of the team how the policies, standards and guidelines will affect own work
• Participate in audit where appropriate.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• GPHC qualified Pharmacist
• PGCert Independent Prescriber

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

Western Elms & Circuit Lane Surgeries

Address

Western Elms Surgery

317 Oxford Road

Reading

RG30 1AT

Employer's website

https://www.westernelms.com/ (Opens in a new tab)