About this role
Job summary
The successful candidate is an Independent Prescribing Clinical Pharmacist who is enthusiastic, highly motivated and key to delivering high quality patient care, medicine optimisation, pharmacy queries and support to pharmacy teams.
The PCN Network team already has excellent links with the PCN practices, local hospital, community pharmacies and care homes in the area, so you would be truly part of a larger team working for better patient care.
Main duties of the job
Patient facing Long-term condition clinics - Review the ongoing need for each medicine, a review of monitoring needs and an opportunity to support patients with their medicines.
Patient facing Clinical Medication Review - Undertake clinical medication reviews with patients and produce recommendations.
Work with care home staff to improve safety of medicines ordering and administration.
Management of common/minor/self-limiting ailments
Medicines support - Provide patient facing clinics for those with questions, queries and concerns about their medicines in the practice.
Medicine information to practice staff and patients.
Unplanned hospital admissions - Review the use of medicines most commonly associated with unplanned hospital admissions
Management of medicines at discharge from hospital.
Repeat prescribing
Risk Stratification
Service development
Information management
Medicines quality improvement - Undertake clinical audits of prescribing in areas directed.
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.
As part of their employment, the post holder will ideally have completed the CPPE pathway and must be an Independent Prescriber, equipping the prescribing clinical pharmacist to be able to practice and prescribe safely and effectively in a primary care setting.
About us
Lichfield and Burntwood GP Network Ltd was formed in 2018 and has evolved into two distinct but closely linked Primary Care Networks. The practices work closely together enabling greater provision of proactive, personalised, coordinated and more integrated health and social care for our communities. They are meeting the ambitions in the NHS Long Term Plan. We cover a patient population of over 78,000 and have a team of over 26 wte people working across and in the PCN practices. A Pharmacy team meeting takes place each month about pharmacy issues and developments along with a quarterly staff meeting.
Job description Job responsibilities
Patient facing Long-term condition clinics
See (where appropriate) patients with single or multiple medical problems where medicine optimisation is required (e.g. COPD, asthma). Review the ongoing 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
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
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.
Management of common/minor/self-limiting ailments
Managing caseload for 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.
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
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 at dischargefrom 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.
Repeat prescribing
Produce 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.
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.
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 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 economies 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. 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 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
Masters degree in pharmacy (MPharm) and registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council. Holds a GPhC Independent Prescribing qualification
Desirable
Specialist knowledge acquired through post-graduate diploma level or equivalent training/experience. The prescribing clinical pharmacist: - has qualified from an approved 18-month CPPE training pathway that equips them to: a.Be able to practice and prescribe safely and effectively in a primary care setting b.Be able to assist Practices to deliver the key responsibilities outlined in the annual Network Contracted Enhanced Service Specification - Has a minor ailments certification - Has a medicines management qualification
Experience Essential
A minimum of one year working as a clinical pharmacist within a General Practice setting - An appreciation of the nature of and experience of working in PCNs and general practice. - An appreciation of the nature of primary care prescribing, concepts of rational prescribing and strategies for improving prescribing - Experience and an awareness of common acute and chronic conditions that are likely to be seen in general practice - Working knowledge of GP IT systems including EMIS, Docman Experience of working with operational teams, cross organisations and a range of professionals
Desirable
- Experience of working in GP practices or acute settings preferably 2 years. - In-depth therapeutic and clinical knowledge and understanding of the principles of evidence-based healthcare
Knowledge and Skills Essential
An appreciation of the nature of GPs and general practices Excellent communication skills at all levels in varying communication formats. Understanding of the pharmacy role in governance and is able to implement this appropriately within the workplace. An appreciation of the nature of primary care prescribing, concepts of rational prescribing and strategies for improving prescribing. Progress and develops clear plans to achieve results within priorities set by others. Is able to plan, manage, monitor, advise and review general medicine optimisation issues in core areas for long term conditions. Working across multiple organisations. Ability to work independently and in a team Ability to work under pressure and be flexible Excellent interpersonal, influencing and negotiation skills Excellent organisation skills Proactive approach
Desirable
Competent in producing reports, letters, and general correspondence in an agreed format to a high standard. In depth therapeutic and clinical knowledge and understanding of the principles of evidence based healthcare.
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 Lichfield and Burntwood GP Network Ltd.
Address Langton Grange Medical Centre
Eastern Avenue
LICHFIELD
Staffordshire
WS13 7FA
United Kingdom