Job responsibilities
The
following list of duties encompasses a range of areas the networks may require
the Clinical Pharmacist to deliver. The list may not be exhaustive.
Long-term conditions
See (where appropriate) patients
with single or multiple medical problems where medicine optimisation is
required (e.g. Respiratory, Cardiovascular and Diabetes). 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 Senior Pharmacists or GPs for medicine improvement.
Patient facing Clinical Medication Review
Undertake clinical medication
reviews with patients and produce recommendations for senior clinical
pharmacist, nurses and/or GP on prescribing and monitoring.
Patient facing Care Home Medication Reviews
Undertake clinical medication
reviews with patients and produce recommendations for the senior clinical
pharmacist, nurses or GPs on prescribing and monitoring. Work with care home
staff to improve safety of medicines ordering and administration.
Patient facing
Domiciliary Clinical Medication Reviews
Undertake
clinical medication reviews with patients and produce recommendations for the
senior clinical pharmacists, nurses and GPs on prescribing and monitoring.
Attend and refer patients to multidisciplinary case conferences.
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.
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.
Management of common/minor/self-limiting ailments
Managing caseload of patients with
common/minor/self-limiting ailments while working within a scope of practice
and limits of competence. Signposting to community pharmacy and referring to
GPs or other healthcare professionals where appropriate.
Patient facing medicines support
Provide patient facing clinics for
those with questions, queries and concerns about their medicines in the
practice.
Telephone medicines support
Provide a telephone help line for
patients with questions, queries and concerns about their medicines.
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).
Medicine information to practice staff and patients
Answers 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.
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.
Repeat prescribing
Produce
and implement a repeat prescribing policy within each PCN practice. 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.
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).
Information
management
Analyse, interpret and present
medicines data to highlight issues and risks to support decision making.
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.
Medicines safety
Implement changes to medicines
that result from MHRA alerts, product withdrawal and other local and national
guidance.
Implementation of local and national guidelines
and formulary recommendations
Monitor practice prescribing
against the local health economys 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). Assist practices in seeing and maintaining a
practice formulary that is hosted on each practices computer system. Auditing practices
compliance against NICE technology assessment guidance. Provide newsletters or
bulletins on important prescribing messages.
Education and
Training
Provide education and training to
primary healthcare team on therapeutics and medicines optimisation.
Care Quality
Commission
Work with the general practice
teams to ensure the practices are compliant with CQC standards where medicines
are involved.
Public health
To support public health
campaigns. To provide specialist knowledge on all public health programmes
available to the general public.
Collaborative working arrangements
Participate
in the PCN MDT.
Liaises
with CCG colleagues including CCG pharmacists on prescribing related matters to
ensure consistency of patient care and benefit.
Work
as part of the RHA team and attend meetings/forums and supervision.
Foster
and maintain strong links with all services across the PCN and neighbouring
networks.
Explore the potential for
collaborative working and take opportunities to initiate and sustain such
relationships.
Liaise 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, physicians associates and
paramedics.
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
