Clinical Pharmacist, Acton PCN

Job responsibilities

There are two aspects to the role:

1. Network Pharmacist

Oversight of prescribing, assist in pharmacy decision making and implement agreed changes across the PCN.

Regularly report to the PCN on performance metrics, suggested improvements, observations and trends.

2. Clinical Pharmacist

You will be able to lead on the design of service for sub-groups of patients to whom you deliver care to personally. The clinics will be in 3-4 of the 14 practices.

The nature of this role is dynamic; this job description is intended to provide an outline of the duties and responsibilities; it will be subject to review and amendment as necessary in consultation with the post holder.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

1. Risk stratification

Design, develop and implement computer searches to identify cohorts of patients who you look after e.g. medicines optimisation in patients with long term conditions such as diabetics with poor control, asthma, COPD.

2. Plan Clinics

See the patients identified in multimorbidity clinics across all seven practices. Manage own case load. Do the necessary checks for QOF and Ealing Standard entering the data correctly on the computer system. Implement improvements to the patients medication and prescribing independently where necessary.

3. Medication reviews

Undertake structured medication reviews with patients with multimorbidity and polypharmacy and implement own prescribing changes (as an independent prescriber) and order relevant monitoring tests. Provide a telephone and online support for patients with questions, queries and concerns about their medicines.

4. Medicines safety and quality improvement

Identify and provide leadership on areas of prescribing requiring improvement. Conduct own audits and improvement projects and work with colleagues. Present results and provide leadership on suggested change. Demonstrate continuous QI activity focused upon prescribing safety as specified in the QOF guidance. This work for example might include the PINCER tool. Contribute to national and local research initiatives.

5. Manage frequent attenders

Case manage patients who are frequently admitted to acute trusts as a result of medicines related problems.

6. Review discharges

Liaise with the acute Trust/s to identify high risk patients discharged from hospital and ensure appropriate follow-up in the community.

7. Working as a multidisciplinary team

To ensure patients are supported to get the best out of their medicines in liaison with the persons GP, hospital clinicians, district nurses, carers, family, community pharmacists and care coordinators to ensure a multidisciplinary and integrated approach to medicines management, with a view to ensuring continuity of pharmaceutical care for patients in different healthcare settings

8. Training patients and colleagues

Develop a range of practical solutions to enable patients to maintain their independence to self-administer their medication where possible and improve adherence. To deliver training sessions to relevant staff groups and/or patients

9. Service development

Develop and manage new services that are built around new medicines or NICE guidance, where new medicine/recommendations allow the development of a new care pathway.

10. Care Quality Commission

Provide leadership to the practice manager and GPs to ensure the practice is compliant with CQC standards where medicines are involved.

11. Meetings

Attend MDT, PCN, Practice, CCG and Federation meetings as required. Being prepared to lead on Network pharmacy issues as appropriate.

12. Oversight Network Pharmacy issues

In addition to a clinical specialism this role involves oversight of prescribing across all practices and to being able to prepare and present reports as required.

13. Relationships

To foster and maintain good relationships between, within and outside the Practices involved in the network.

14. Population and Public Health

To devise and manage population and public health campaigns to run within the network. To provide specialist knowledge on immunisation.

15. Cost saving programmes

To liaise with the Clinical Commissioning Group Medicines Management Teams to ensure consistency across local prescribing strategies and support cost effective prescribing. Make recommendations for, and manage pharmacy technicians to, make changes to medicines (switches) designed to save on medicine costs where a medicine or product with lower acquisition cost is now available.

16. Medicine information to practice staff and patients

Answer all medicine related enquiries from GPs, other practice staff and patients with queries about medicines. Suggesting and recommending solutions. Providing follow up for patients to monitor the effect of any changes.

17. Flexibility

To understand that this is a new and evolving role which may change with the needs of the PCN. To be willing to change and the facilitate change in others and the system to promote quality care.

18. Training

Provide education and training to primary healthcare team on therapeutics and medicines optimisation. Provide training to visiting medical, nursing and other healthcare students where appropriate. Develop a range of practical solutions to enable patients to maintain their independence to self-administer their medication where possible and improve adherence.

19. Implementation of local and national guidelines and formulary recommendations

Monitor practice prescribing against the local health economy's RAG list for medicines that should be prescribed by hospital doctors (red drugs) or subject to shared care (amber drugs). Liaise directly with hospital colleagues where prescribing needs to be returned to specialists. Assist practices in setting and maintaining a practice formulary that is hosted on the practices computer system.

Suggest and develop computer decision support tools to help remind prescribers about the agreed formulary choice and local recommendations. Auditing practices compliance against NICEs technology assessment guidance. Provide newsletters on important prescribing messages to improve prescribers knowledge and work with the team to develop and implement other techniques known to influence implementation of evidence such as audit and feedback.

20. Medicines safety

Horizon scan to identify national and local policy and guidance that affects patient safety through the use of medicines, including MHRA alerts, product withdrawals and emerging evidence form clinical trials. Manage the process of implementing changes to medicines and guidance for practitioners.

21. Audit and research

Rigorously document standards and of care in The Network demonstrating outcomes from intervention. Publishing on behalf of the PCN as appropriate and participating on NIHR approved studies as agreed by the PCN's Board.

Experience

Essential

• - In depth therapeutic and clinical knowledge and understanding of the principles of evidence-based healthcare.
• - Demonstrates specialist knowledge of Diabetes.
• - Appreciation of the nature of GPs and general practices.
• - Appreciation of the nature of primary care prescribing, concepts of rational prescribing and strategies for improving prescribing.

Desirable

• - Minimum of 1-2 years post-qualification experience.
• - Experience of working in primary care (across and within multiple practices).

Qualifications

Essential

• - Mandatory registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council.
• - Evidence working towards independent prescriber qualification.

Desirable

• - Membership Primary Care Pharmacy Association (PCPA).
• - Membership of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.
• - Clinical diploma.
• - Post graduate qualification (MSc preferred).

Skills

Essential

• - Is able to plan, manage, monitor, advise and review general medicine optimisation issues in core areas for long term conditions.
• - Demonstrate the ability to communicate complex and sensitive information in an understandable form to a variety of audiences e.g. patients.
• - Able to identifies deviations from the normal pattern and is able to refer to seniors or GPs when appropriate.
• - Gain acceptance for recommendations and influence/motivate/persuade the audience to comply with the recommendations/agreed course of action where there may be significant barriers.
• - Excellent interpersonal, influencing and negotiating skills.
• - Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• - Able to obtain and analyse complex technical information.
• - Good problem solving skills and able to prioritise actions.
• - Good IT skills.
• - Adaptable.
• - Able to work under pressure and to meet deadlines.
• - Produce timely and informative reports.
• - Work effectively, independently and as a team member.
• - Demonstrates accountability for delivering professional expertise and direct service provision.

Other

Essential

• - Meets DBS reference standards and has a clear criminal record, in line with the law on spent convictions.
• - Access to own transport and ability to travel across the locality on a regular basis, including to visit people in their own homes.
• - Up-to-date immunisation status.

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).