Clinical Pharmacist

Job description

Job responsibilities

Principle Roles and Responsibilities:

• Functions/Responsibilities

To engage with patients around medicines and LTCs e.g. receive and respond to simple and complex enquiries from patients, carers and others relating to medicines and liaise with other health care professionals as appropriate

To undertake long term condition annual reviews within the scope of clinical competence

Issue and sign prescriptions within scope of practice

To support the GPs and practice nurses on LTCs (within scope), prescribing and medicines optimisation issues.

Liaise with other prescribers to resolve medicines-related problems

Manage clinical communications, including (but not limited to) responding to medicines reconciliation and optimisation issues in clinic letters and discharge summaries,

Medicines Use Reviews, focussing on patients with complex polypharmacy regimens and repeated flare ups of long term conditions, including de-prescribing medicines where appropriate.

Undertake review and monitoring of complex and/or high-risk treatments within scope (typically those being prescribed under formal Shared Care arrangements), ensuring systems are in place to recall patients appropriately and that potential risks arising from ongoing drug treatment are managed correctly.

Undertake caseload management of complex patients (for example care home patients, vulnerable housebound patients, polypharmacy/multimorbidity patients) and optimise their medicines, including de-prescribing where appropriate.

Adhere to practice guidance on the clinical coding of consultations, clinical communications, results of tests and scans, other healthcare episodes.

To build relationships with identified external groups (e.g. local acute trust pharmacists, community pharmacists, community health services pharmacists, CCG pharmacists, district and community nurses)

To support on implementing national and local guidelines and protocols in relation to how medicines are used within the practice. To ensure that policies and protocols are in place to ensure patients receive high quality and consistent treatment with medicines within general practice.

To support in developing, implementing, analysing and identifying risks for medicines optimisation.

To plan, develop, implement and analyse audit in agreed identified areas.

To support implementation of clinical governance priorities, especially through the development of action plans for drug alerts, NRL/MHRA medicines related documents and incidents and near misses.

To deal with any distressed callers and potential adverse drug effects or drug errors promptly and with sensitivity.

Respond to and manage queries and problems relating to medicines, utilising all available resources

• Individual Responsibilities

The post holder is expected to:

Adhere to Valentine Health Partnership policies and procedures and relevant legislation including the requirements of any professional bodies

To maintain satisfactory personal performances and professional standards and to achieve agreed objectives for their role.

Attend mandatory training as identified by the organisation

Participate in annual appraisal and to contribute to their own development and the development of any staff that they are responsible for appraising.

• Confidentiality

All Valentine Health Partnership staff and contractors working for the organisation have both a common law duty and a statutory duty of confidentiality to protect patient (and indeed any personally identifiable) information and only use it for the purposes for which it was intended. The disclosure and use of confidential patient information needs to be both lawful and ethical.

• Information Governance

Valentine Health Partnership staff must keep up-to-date with the requirements of Information Governance and must follow organizational policies and procedures to ensure that the organisation information is dealt with legally, securely, efficiently and effectively. Staff must appropriately manage all the Information they handle during the course of their employment with Valentine Health Partnership, making the information available for sharing in a controlled manner, subject to statutory requirements and the organisations Information Governance Policy and formal Information Sharing arrangements.

• Data Protection

The organisation is registered as a data controller under the Data Protection Act 1998. Allthe personal information we hold, obtain, record, use and share as an organisation is governed by this Act. As an employee of Valentine Health Partnership you have a legal responsibility for all personal information you handle and must not at any time use the personal data in a way incompatible with the guidelines stipulated in this act. If you are in any doubt regarding what you should or should not do in connection with the Data Protection Act then you must contact your Line Manager.

• Records Management

As an employee of the organisation, you have a legal responsibility for all records you work with e.g. patient records, financial records, personal, administrative etc, that you gather or use as part of your work within the organisation. The records may be held in a variety of formats such as paper, electronic, microfiche, audio and video tapes etc. You must consult your manager if you have any doubt as to the correct management of the records with which you work.

• Health and Safety

All managers have a general accountability for ensuring, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of the employees under their direction at work.

Each employee is responsible to take reasonable care for his or her own acts or omissions and the effect that these may have upon the safety of themselves or any other person.

Every employee must use safety equipment or clothing in a proper manner and for the purpose intended.

Any employee who intentionally or recklessly misuses anything supplied in the interests of health and safety will be subject to disciplinary procedures.

Every employee must work in accordance with any health and safety procedures, instructions or training that has been given.

No employee may undertake any task for which they have not been authorised and for which they are not adequately trained.

Every employee is required to bring to the attention of a responsible person any perceived shortcoming in our safety arrangements or any defects in work equipment.

All employees are under a duty to familiarise themselves with Valentine Health Partnership Health and Safety Policies.

• Risk Management

Ensure that you implement systems and procedures at a local level to fulfil the requirements of the organisations Risk Management Strategy including local management and resolution of complaints and concerns, management of SUIs/incidents and near misses. Your specific responsibility for risk management will be clarified to you by your manager at your local induction

• Emergency Planning

In accordance with the organisations responsibilities under the civil contingencies Act 2004, to undertake duties as is reasonable directed at locations in the event of and for the duration of a significant internal incident, major incident or flu pandemic.

• Equality and Human Rights

Promoting equality, eliminating unfairness and unlawful discrimination, and treating colleagues, partners and the public with dignity and respect, are fundamental to successful performance in this role. You will be expected to actively promote equality and human rights and challenge racism, homophobia and other forms of discrimination through all your activities and support others to do the same.

You will work with others on effective approaches to ensure strategies, policies and activities promote and demonstrate equality and human rights.

You will use Equality Impact Assessment as part of developing and monitoring proposals and projects for their impact on equality and equity

• Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults

All employees have a responsibility for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults. Further guidance can be sought from your line manager.

• Infection Control

All employees have a responsibility to comply with the Health Act 2006 and Valentine Health Partnership policy and guidance on infection prevention and control, ensuring a sound knowledge of standard infection control precautions. You must keep up to date in infection control practice relevant to their area of practice and you are required to practice strict hand hygiene at all times when carrying out their duties and to complete mandatory annual infection control training

• General

The postholder may be required to work at any of the organisations sites in line with the service needs.

This job description describes responsibilities, as they are currently required. It is anticipated duties will change over time and the job description may need to be reviewed in the future.

Person Specification

Skills

Essential

• Has a minimum of 5 years post-qualification experience.
• Demonstrates an understanding of the structure and function of general practice and primary care.
• Demonstrates an understanding of: prescribing issues in primary care; concepts of rational prescribing; and, strategies for improving prescribing
• Recognises priorities when problem solving and identies deviations from the normal pattern and is able to refer to seniors or GPs when appropriate
• Able to work under pressure and to meet deadlines
• Gain acceptance for recommendations and inuence/ motivate/ persuade the audience to comply with the recommendations/ agreed course of action where there may be signicant barriers
• Should be self-motivated, adaptable, confident, mature and diplomatic approach

Desirable

• Familiarity with GP computer systems (EMISweb)
• Good IT skills - ability to use Word, Excel, Power Point, and Internet to obtain and analyse complex technical information in order to produce reports and written information
• Is able to plan, manage, monitor, advise and review general medicine optimisation issues in core areas for long term conditions
• Has proven excellent interpersonal, influencing and negotiating skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

Experience

Essential

• Qualified Clinical Pharmacist registered with General Pharmaceutical Council
• Experience of working with colleagues from a range of professional backgrounds

Desirable

• Member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and working knowledge of read-codes / clinical coding

Qualifications

Essential

• Masters degree in Pharmacy (MPharm) or equivalent
• Clinical diploma or equivalent
• 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

Valentine Health Partnership

Address

Ferryview Health Centre

25 John Wilson Street

Woolwich

SE18 6PZ

Employer's website

https://www.valentinehealth.org.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)