PCN Clinical Pharmacist

Job description

Job responsibilities

Job Summary

The main responsibilities include but are not limited to patient facing and remote consultations:

• Provision of professional support and clinical expertise with regards to medication queries, prescribing issues and systems for safer prescribing

• Clinical Medication Reviews and Structured Medication Reviews including Care Home and Domiciliary Reviews

• Long-term condition clinics

• Medicines Reconciliation

• Medicines information to practice staff and patients

• Signposting whilst addressing both public and social care needs of patients

• Management of common/minor/self- limiting ailments

  Training will be provided on all relevant policies and procedures related to the role including mandatory training in basic life support, safeguarding and infection control.

  The role is essential to improving the quality of care of patients and the productive management of workload in practices. The successful candidate will be passionate about achieving excellence in care and will be supported to fulfil their job description including utilising independent prescribing skills.

  The successful candidate will be expected to work remotely and travel between named practices, patient residence and meetings in line with the Federation lone worker policy.

  Key priorities for this role are to:

• Make the Clinical Pharmacist a principle in the delivery of high-quality, patient-centred multidisciplinary care

• Utilise the Clinical Pharmacist skill set to allow General Practitioner appointments to be reserved for appropriate case load, reduce waiting times for appointments, increase access to healthcare, improve screening and diagnosis of chronic and common ailments and reduce A&E admissions and attendances

• Provide direct care to patients with long-term conditions, minor ailments and other clinical areas within scope of practice

• Provide professional input to practice teams working to improve patient outcomes and reduce avoidable admission to hospital

• Liaise with providers including pharmacists in the community and hospital settings to ensure accurate and effective medication management

• Provide pharmaceutical support to practices such that medication related processes are reviewed, best practice principles applied, and evidence-based values are embedded in all activities

• Utilise the Clinical Pharmacist skill set to directly assist patients in the safe, effective use of medicines to improve outcomes and quality of life

• Ensure optimum benefit for prescribed medication through high levels of concordance achieved by support for patients and carers

• Support the care of complex patients in their own homes or in nursing or residential accommodation as part of a multidisciplinary team

• Utilise the Clinical Pharmacist skill set to ensure NHS resources are used in a cost-effective manner to maximise outcomes whilst reducing wastage

• Provide professional leadership on matters relating to medicine optimisation and quality improvement

  Duties and responsibilities for this role include:

  Clinical duties

• Apply clinical expertise in Clinical Level 3 Medication Reviews/ Structured Medication Reviews (SMR) face-to-face and remotely to deliver high quality patient facing services that are centred on and tailored to each individual patients needs.

• Conduct SMR for complex patients in their place of residence

• Manage and deliver clinics in long term conditions in collaboration with and support from allied healthcare professionals

• Deliver clinics in specialist areas appropriate to clinical competence; which may include, minor ailments, frailty, elderly, renal/hepatic impairment, high-risk medications, frequent attenders in secondary care

• Prescribe medication within the limits of the individual professional competence

• Pro-actively and prospectively reduce inappropriate polypharmacy and over-diagnosis through systematic, evidence-based de-prescribing

• Support practices with achievement of QOF and QIPP targets

• Promote the principles of public health; educate and motivate patients to make healthy lifestyle choices and access services designed to assist health improvement (e.g. smoking cessation, dietetics, rehabilitation)

• Discuss patients with complex needs at local MDT meetings and refer to the ICPT in line with recommendations

• Provide professional telephone/ email advice and support to patients and their carers

• Reconcile the medications of patients whose care is transferred back to primary care in a timely and effective manner, liaising with patients and community pharmacies to ensure patients receive appropriate medication post-discharge

• Interface between community, hospital and primary care pharmacy colleagues as patients move between care settings developing local effective communication, referral practices and procedures

• Proactively engage with patients whose care has been transferred to reduce potential readmission

• Maintain full and complete records of all patient contacts using appropriate clinical templates and SNOMED coding

• Provide feedback and seek advice from the primary care team for patients where the post holder has clinical concerns around competence to safely manage their medications

• Support the effective utilisation of the practice workforce

  Medicine management and repeat prescribing

• Review the ongoing need for medication and amend within the scope of practice or make suitable recommendations to the GP

• Manage acute requests for medication in line with Morecambe Bay CCG formulary and local agreed guidelines

• Work with practices to ensure safe and effective systems for the repeat prescribing of medication making recommendations on the reduction of potential wastage

• Set up systems to ensure the effective and continuous supply of medication to high risk patients

• Implement changes to medicines in line with MHRA alerts, and other local or national guidance

• Support practices with the implementation of appropriate NICE guidance in line with local agreements

• Support practices to comply with local medicine management guidelines

• Assess and counsel patients on effective techniques required for the use of medication delivered by devices

• Assist with review of pathology results, discharge communications, letters, scans, emails and other correspondence in a timely manner. Ensuring medication records are kept up to date with records of interventions from within and from outside the practice

• Administer agreed immunisations/ vaccines in line with local and national guidelines opportunistically

• Take monitoring observations such as blood pressure, peak flow rate, urine dip stick and record in patient notes.

  Audit, research and risk stratification

• Engage with risk stratification procedures to identify high risk patients and those at risk of non-elective admission to hospital

• Participate in the effective care planning and management of high-risk patients as part of the multidisciplinary team

• Participate in audit activities in practices and with groups of practices to optimise the use of prescribing resource

• Feedback results of clinical audit activities in areas agreed with GPs, implement recommendations and complete full audit/PDSA cycle

• Proactively identify and recall patients due for medication review ensuring all appropriate monitoring tests are performed

• Analyse, interpret and present prescribing information at practice and population level to support effective decision-making and change in evidence-based clinical practice

  Other duties

• Support the development of integrated care

• Adhere to relevant policies and procedures including:

• Information governance

• Equal Opportunities and Diversity

• Safeguarding

• Communications

• Lone worker

• Health and safety

• Infection control

• Provide training and education on therapeutic and medicine optimisation

• Support public health campaigns at national, Brent and local levels

• Engage with patient participation groups in line with Harness community engagement activities

• Work with practices to ensure full compliance with Care Quality Commission standards for safe and effective care

• Participate as a member of the multidisciplinary team

• Participate in professional development activities

Person Specification

Experience

Essential

• Minimum of 1 year post registration experience
• Portfolio of evidence of continuous professional development and post-qualifying experience
• Understanding of therapeutics and clinical pharmacy
• Able to perform level 3 review and management of complex multi-morbidity, polypharmacy and medicines optimisation
• Understands prescribing processes
• Experience in delivery of effective medication safety
• Provides medicines information
• Demonstrates expertise in managing long term health conditions
• Evidence of the application of innovative practice and the application of evidence-based interventions
• Clear, concise record keeping / report writing skills
• Multi- disciplinary/multi-agency working experience
• Deals with incidents and complaints sensitively, appropriately and assertively
• Able to refer appropriately to other health care professionals
• Critically evaluates, reviews and implements literature and guidelines
• Can conduct practice based audit and research
• Car driver or equivalent
• IT skills and computer literacy
• Ability to undertake audits

Desirable

• General Practice experience
• Formulary adherence experience
• Experience using Emis Web GP system
• Ability to undertake research

Personal Attributes

Essential

• Team player with willingness to learn
• Flexibility to work with multiple practices across the PCN
• Strong communication and consultation skills both verbal (face to face and phone) and written
• Excellent organisational skills
• Flexible and adaptable approach to working
• Ability to work under pressure and achieve tight deadlines in a complex/changing environment
• Be able to organise workload and work autonomously and within a team
• Accountable for own practice and that of team
• Self-motivated and directed
• Follows legal, ethical, professional and organizational policies and practices

Other

Essential

• Hold a current driving licence
• Enhanced DBS disclosure.

Qualifications

Essential

• Maintain registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council
• Independent prescriber
• Undergraduate degree in pharmacy
• Membership of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society
• Higher degree in pharmacy/ Clinical Diploma

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

Morecambe Bay Primary Care Collaborative

Address

Atkinson Health Centre

Duke Street

Moor Lane

Barrow-in-furness

Cumbria

LA14 2LB

Employer's website

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