Clinical Pharmacist

Job summary

We are looking for an enthusiastic Clinical pharmacist with preferably an independent prescribing qualification to join the current team of pharmacists and pharmacy techs , working in Park Lane Practice and Phoenix Surgery Swindon

A minimum of 2 years post-qualification experience, with excellent interpersonal, influencing and negotiating skills. Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to communicate complex and sensitive information. An independent prescriber would be preferable but not essential .Successful candidate will be a key member of a multi-disciplinary team. They will be in a patient-facing role, providing medication review services to patients, delivering pharmaceutical care plans that maximize cost effective prescribing and improve the quality of patient care.

The post holder will take responsibility for areas of chronic disease management. They will provide primary support to practice staff with regards to prescription and medication queries, support the repeat prescription system, deal with acute prescription requests and medicines reconciliation on transfer of care.

The role will provide clinical leadership on medicines optimisation, quality improvement and be responsible for supporting the GPs in implementing effective medicine management, including doing searches and audits identifying areas for improvement, initiating and managing change.

Main duties of the job

The post holder would be a pharmacist, who acts within their professional boundaries, supporting , integrating and working with the practice

This post would require both , to work as part of a multi-disciplinary team in a patient-facing role, but also individual clinical decision making around your caseload of patients.

The main areas of responsibility would be to perform Medication Reviews (including structured medication reviews) for chronic disease conditions, patients with complex polypharmacy and priorities for contractual services ( Direct Enhanced services ,QOF, IIF ), Incentive schemes and support practices with implementation of CQC recommendations.

The post holder will be involved in supporting General Practice staff with regards to prescription and medication queries, and if necessary, to be involved with improvement of existing systems.

The post holder will provide clinical leadership on medicines optimisation and quality improvement and manage some aspects of the quality and outcomes framework and enhanced services.

The post holder will ensure that the practice integrates with community and hospital pharmacy to help utilise skill mix, improve patient outcomes, ensure better access to healthcare and help manage workload.

All Clinical Pharmacists are required to enroll on the CPPE Primary Care training and are fully supported in undertaking the programme ( if they have not completed before). The role is part of PCN ARRS Scheme.

About us

Park Lane Practice & Phoenix Surgery Swindon are seeking a clinical Pharmacist to join our practice in an exciting time of working with Primary Care Network within the Brunel Health Group. We are looking for a full time pharmacist and would consider a combination of pharmacist to cover those full time hours . This opportunity is being offered on a permanent basis. We are a friendly, proactive & dynamic practice looking to develop and explore new opportunities as they present themselves. Current initiatives the practice are working with are Primary Care Network workforce team of social prescribers, physiotherapists, clinical pharmacists and mental health workers.

Job responsibilities

Medicine reviews:

• Conduct telephone, face-to-face, virtual and domiciliary (where appropriate) clinical medication reviews to proactively manage patients including those with complex polypharmacy
• Review the on-going need for each medication, ensuring monitoring needs are performed and an opportunity to support patients achieve better health outcomes
• Reduce inappropriate poly-pharmacy and wasteful prescribing. Make appropriate recommendations

Repeat prescribing:

• Advise and implement a practice repeat prescribing policy.
• 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.

Medicine information to practice staff and patients:

• Answers relevant medicine-related enquiries from GPs, other practice 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

Medicine Management including Risk stratification:

• Ensure Drug monitoring robust systems are in place for drug monitoring at each practice , streamlining these where possible.
• Develop and implement ways to improve monitoring of high-risk medication such as anticoagulants, anticonvulsants, and DMARDs, etc
• Monitor practice prescribing against local guidelines and formulary recommendations
• Identification of cohorts of patients at high risk of harm from medicines through pre-prepared practice computer searches
• Develop prescribing guidelines for use within the Primary Care Network
• Help increase uptake of Electronic Repeat Dispensing where required

Telephone medicines support:

• Provide telephone support for patients with questions, queries and concerns about their medicines.

Patient facing medicines support:

• Provide patient facing and/or virtual appointments or clinics for those with questions, queries and concerns about their medicines in the practice

Management of common/minor/self-limiting ailments:

• Managing 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,

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 medicines on 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).

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.

Medicines safety & quality improvement:

• Implement changes to medicines that result from MHRA alerts, product withdrawal and other local and national guidance.
• Undertake clinical audits of prescribing in areas directed by the GPs, feedback the results and implement changes in conjunction with the practice team.

Implementation of local and national guidelines and formulary recommendations:

• 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).
• Assist practices in seeing and maintaining a practice formulary that is hosted on the practices computer system.
• Auditing practices compliance against NICE technology assessment guidance.

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.
• For patients with long-term condition 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 for medicine improvement.
• See (where appropriate either face to face or using video consultation) patients with single or multiple medical problems where medicine optimisation is required (e.g. COPD, asthma).
• In conjunction with the CCG Medicines Optimisation Pharmacy team undertake clinical medication reviews with patients in Care Homes 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.
• Undertake clinical medication reviews with housebound patients and those requiring domiciliary visits. Produce recommendations for nurses and GPs on prescribing and monitoring.
• Attend and refer patients to multidisciplinary case conferences.

Education and Training:

• Provide education and training to primary healthcare team on therapeutics and medicines optimisation.

Care Quality Commission:

• Work with the general practice team to ensure the practice is 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

Person Specification

Qualifications
Essential

• Independent Prescriber Qualification
• Clinical Pharmacist Experience

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.

Additional information

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.