Clinical Pharmacist (Independent Prescriber)

Job description

Job responsibilities

• Undertake structured medication reviews (face to face or remotely), focusing on high-risk groups such as care home residents, housebound patients and patients with polypharmacy or complex chronic conditions

• Reconcile medicines following hospital discharge, ensuring continuity of therapy and safe handover with community pharmacists

• Implement MHRA alerts, drug withdrawals and evidence-based guideline changes within the practice or across the PCN

• Support chronic disease management clinics (e.g., hypertension, diabetes, asthma, COPD, osteoporosis, mental health)

• Contribute to multi-morbidity reviews - QOF domains and register improvements

• Lead prescription management processes, including repeat prescribing authorisation (including reviewing requests for repeat prescriptions, medicines reaching review dates, ensuring drug monitoring is being done and prescribing clerks support)

• Provide medicines information, training and prescribing advice to practice staff

• Collaborate with community and hospital pharmacy colleagues to align services (e.g. Discharge Medicines Service, New Medicine Service)

• Identify high-risk patient cohorts through computer searches (e.g. AnalyseRx) to reduce harm and prevent avoidable admissions

• Participate in audits, quality improvement initiatives and local medicines optimisation schemes (e.g. QPMS, DSQS, QIPP)

• Manage a caseload of minor ailments within the scope of practice, referring to GPs or other healthcare professionals as required

• Lead on where changes in evidence require changes in prescribing across the patient population, e.g. drug withdrawals and MHRA alerts, aimed at improving medicines safety

• Review daily Pathology results for patients on known medicines

• Provide primary support to general practice staff and patients with regards to prescription and medication queries, answering relevant medicine related enquiries (e.g. doses, side effects, adverse events, alternative formulation, out of stocks)

COLLABORATIVE WORKING RELATIONSHIPS

• Recognises the roles of other colleagues within the organisation and their roles in patient care

• Demonstrates use of effective communication to gain the co-operation of relevant stakeholders including patients, senior and peer colleagues, other healthcare professionals and external organisations such as other NHS/private organisations and the Integrated Care Board (ICB)

• Demonstrates ability to work as a member of a team

• Able to recognise personal limitations and refer to more appropriate colleague(s) when necessary

• Actively develops and maintains strong working relationships both within and outside the PCN locality, fostering links across services and exploring opportunities for collaborative working

• Liaises with PCN peers and ICB colleagues (including pharmacists and Heads of Medicines Management/Optimisation) on prescribing related matter to ensure consistency of patient care and benefit from peer support

• Liaises with GPs, nurses, practice staff, pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and wider healthcare professionals as needed for the collective benefit of patients

LEADERSHIP

• Demonstrates understanding of the pharmacy role in governance and is able to implement this appropriately within the workplace

• Demonstrates understanding of, and contributes to, the workplace / practice vision

• Demonstrates ability to improve quality within limitations of service

• Reviews last years progress and develops clear plans to achieve results within set priorities

• Demonstrates ability to motivate self to achieve goals

MANAGEMENT

• Demonstrates understanding of the implications of national priorities for the team and/or service

• Demonstrates understanding of the process for effective resource utilisation

• Demonstrates understanding of, and conforms to, relevant standards of practice

• Demonstrates ability to identify and resolve risk management issues according to policy/protocol

• Follows professional and organisational policies/procedures relating to performance management

• Demonstrates ability to extend boundaries of service delivery within the team

EDUCATION, TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

• Support pharmacists completing the CPPE Primary Care Pharmacy Education Pathway (PCPEP) programme. The programme includes familiarisation with general practice, leadership, medicines optimisation in practice, consultation skills and advanced clinical assessment skills

• Ensures appropriate clinical supervision is in place to support self-development and development of others

• Contribute to the education and training of pharmacy staff, medical staff, nursing staff and other health professionals, both on a one-to-one basis and through formal presentations.

• Influence local practice to ensure safe medication use and that practice effectively acknowledges good prescribing practice, patient safety and risk minimization

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

• Act as mentor to less experienced staff as delegated

• Continually audit own practice and identify areas for CPD and continuing education as required by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC)

• Attend relevant courses and study days to maintain CPD and develop the service

RESEARCH AND EVALUATION

• Demonstrates ability to critically evaluate and review literature

• Demonstrates ability to identify where there is a gap in the evidence base to support practice

• Demonstrates ability to generate evidence suitable for presentation at local level

• Demonstrates ability to apply the research evidence base into working practice

• Demonstrates understanding of the principles of research governance

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 will 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, and held in any format, 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

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

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, the practice health & safety manual, and the practice infection control policy and published procedures. This will 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

• Actively reporting of health and safety hazards and infection hazards immediately when recognised

• Keeping own work areas and general / patient areas generally clean, assisting in the maintenance of general standards of cleanliness consistent with the scope of the job holders role

• Undertaking periodic infection control training (minimum annually)

• 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 recognises 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.

SPECIAL WORKING CONDITIONS

The post-holder is required to travel independently between practice sites (where applicable), and to attend meetings etc. hosted by other agencies. The post-holder may have contact with body fluids i.e. wound exudates, urine etc. while in clinical practice.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Completion of an undergraduate degree in Pharmacy and registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council
• Minimum of 2 years post graduate experience in pharmacy as demonstrated within a practice portfolio
• Member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) Desirable
• Holder of Independent Prescribing qualification with demonstrated prescribing portfolio
• May hold or be working towards a postgraduate pharmacy qualification or certification

Experience

Essential

• Has an awareness of the breadth of common acute and chronic conditions that are likely to be seen in a general medical practice

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

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

Vertis Health

Address

Henwick Halt Medical Centre

1 Ingles Drive

Worcester

WR2 5HL

Employer's website

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