PCN Clinical Pharmacist

Job description

Job responsibilities

Key duties and responsibilities

1. Patient facing Long-term condition Clinics

See (where appropriate) patients with single or multiple medical problems where medicine optimisation is required (e.g. Respiratory, Cardiovascular and Diabetes) and review the on-going need for each medicine, a review of monitoring needs and an opportunity to support patients with their medicines taking ensuring they get the best use of their medicines (i.e. medicines optimisation). Make appropriate recommendations to GPs or Practice Nurses for medicine improvement.

2. Clinical Medication Review

Undertake clinical medication reviews with patients and produce recommendations for Practice nurses and/or GP on prescribing and monitoring.

3. Care Home Medication Reviews

Undertake clinical medication reviews with patients and produce recommendations for the GPs on prescribing and monitoring. Work with care home staff to improve safety of medicines ordering and administration.

4. Domiciliary Clinical Medication Reviews

Undertake clinical medication reviews with patients and produce recommendations for the GPs on prescribing and monitoring.

5. Risk stratification

Identification of cohorts of patients at high risk of harm from medicines through pre-prepared practice computer searches. This might include risks that are patient related, medicine related, or both.

6. Unplanned hospital admissions

Review the use of medicines most commonly associated with unplanned hospital admissions and readmissions through audit and individual patient reviews. Put in place changes to reduce the prescribing of these medicines to high-risk patient groups.

7. Medicines support for Patients.

Provide clinics for those with questions, queries and concerns about their medicines in the practice.

8. Management of medicines at discharge from hospital

To reconcile medicines following discharge from hospitals, intermediate care and into 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).

9. 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. Suggesting and recommending solutions. Providing follow up for patients to monitor the effect of any changes.

10. 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.

11. Repeat prescribing

Manage the repeat prescribing reauthorisation process by reviewing patient requests for repeat prescriptions and reviewing medicines reaching review dates and flagging up those needing a review. Ensure patients have appropriate monitoring tests in place when required.

12. Service development

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

13. Medicines quality improvement

Undertake clinical audits of prescribing in areas directed by the GPs, feedback the results and implement changes in conjunction with the relevant practice team.

14. Medicines safety

Support Practice / ICS Pharmacists (where required) to implement changes to medicines that result from MHRA alerts, product withdrawal and other local and national guidance.

15. Implementation of local and national guidelines and formulary recommendations Support Practice / ICS Pharmacists (where required) to monitor practice prescribing against the local health economy’s RAG list and make recommendations to GPs for medicines that should be prescribed by hospital doctors (red drugs) or subject to shared care (amber drugs).

16. Education and Training

Support the provision of identified education and training needs to primary healthcare team on therapeutics and medicines optimisation.

17. Care Quality Commission

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

18. Collaborative working arrangements

· Participate (where required) in the PCN Care Homes MDT.

· Liaise with ICS colleagues including ICB/ICS Medicine Optimisation Team

o on prescribing related matters to ensure consistency of patient care and benefit.

o to benefit from peer support.

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

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

1. Patients and their representatives

2. GP, nurses and other practice staff

3. Social prescribers, first contact physiotherapists, paramedics and any other ARRS role employed by the PCN.

4. Community pharmacists and support staff

5. Other members of the medicines management (MM) team including pharmacists & pharmacy Technicians and Dieticians

6. Locality / GP prescribing lead

7. Locality managers

8. Community nurses and other allied health professionals

9. Hospital staff with responsibilities for prescribing and medicines optimisation

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Pharmacy Degree

Experience

Essential

• Minimum of 2 years post qualification experience in pharmacy (hospital, primary care or community).

Desirable

• Experience working in Primary Care (or PCN)

Other

Essential

• Mandatory registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council
• Immunisation status (including coronavirus)
• SEE ATTACHED PERSON SPECIFICATION FOR ALL ESSENTIAL CRITERIA

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

Carnforth and Milnthorpe Primary Care Network

Address

Ash Trees Surgery

Carnforth

LA5 9JU

Employer's website

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