Clinical Pharmacist
Job description
About us
All 5 NORA practices are dispensing practices and use EMIS web; two of the practices also have Community Pharmacies where both dispensing and non-dispensing patients are provided for. In addition, we are actively focused on the use of new and innovative systems to improve services to patients.
We are passionate about ensuring that our PCN is well run and remains patient focused. We are therefore looking to recruit a forward thinking and self-motivated pharmacist who is committed to promoting clinical excellence and team-work within the NHS.
This position has many benefits including:
- support for training and professional development
- protected learning time
- payment of professional registration fees
- provision for professional indemnity insurance
- funded access to professional resources (NEWT guidelines and Medicines Complete)
Job Description
Responsible to: PCN Clinical Director and Governing Body
Supervised by: Senior Clinical Pharmacist
Salary: Depending on relevant experience
This post is for both full and part time applications but a minimum of 30 hours preferred.
Job Summary
The post holder is a pharmacist, who acts within their professional boundaries, and will work as part of a multi-disciplinary team in a patient-facing role. In this role they will be supported by a senior clinical pharmacist who will develop and mentor them.
The post holder will take responsibility for areas of chronic disease management within the Practice(s) and undertake clinical medication reviews to proactively manage patients with complex polypharmacy, especially for older people, people in residential care homes, hospital discharges and those with multiple co-morbidities.
The post holder will assist the Senior Clinical Pharmacist (SCP) and team to 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 work with the SCP and team to 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. The role is pivotal to improving the quality of care and operational efficiencies so requires motivation and passion to deliver excellent service within general practice.
The post holder will be supported to develop their role to become an independent prescriber on completion of the CPPE pathway.
Primary Duties and Areas of Responsibility
Medicine information to PCN, practice staff and patients
Answer medicine‐related enquiries from PCN, GPs & practice staff, other healthcare teams (e.g. community pharmacy) and patients with queries about medicines. Suggest and recommend solutions. Provide follow up for patients to monitor the effect of any changes.
Patient facing clinical medication review
Undertake clinical medication reviews with patients with multi‐morbidity and polypharmacy and implement own prescribing changes (as an independent prescriber) and order relevant monitoring tests.
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).
Patient facing medicines support
Provide patient facing clinics for those with questions, queries and concerns about their medicines in the practice as appropriate and with safety in mind during the pandemic.
Telephone medicines support
Provide a telephone help line for patients with questions, queries and concerns about their medicines.
Patient facing care home/residential clinical medication reviews
Manage own caseload of care home residents. Undertake clinical medication reviews with patients with multi‐morbidity and polypharmacy and implement own prescribing changes (as an independent prescriber) and order relevant monitoring tests.
Work with care home staff to improve safety of medicines ordering and administration.
Patient facing domiciliary/home visits
Manage own caseload of vulnerable housebound patients at risk of hospital admission and harm from poor use of medicines.
Implement own prescribing changes (as an independent prescriber) and ordering of monitoring tests when appropriately qualified to do so.
Attend and refer patients to multidisciplinary case conferences. Identifying key areas of need for vulnerable patients and formulating care plans.
Service development
To work with the SCP and team to develop and manage new services across the PCN that are built around new medicines or NICE guidance, where new medicine/recommendations allow the development of a new care pathway (e.g. new oral anticoagulants for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation).
Risk stratification
Assist with design, development and implementation of computer searches to identify cohorts of patients at high risk of harm from medicines across the PCN.
Assist the SCP with the management of risk stratification tools on behalf of the PCN.
Work with patients, SCP and CPs across the PCN and primary care teams to minimise risks through medicines optimisation.
Information management
To assist SCP and CP team to analyse, interpret and present medicines and risks to support decision-making across the PCN. Use of data to highlight issues.
Medicines Quality Improvement programmes
Work with the SCP and CP team to identify and provide support on areas of prescribing and medicines optimisation, including QOF and QI requirements.
Conduct appropriate clinical audits and projects or work with colleagues such as SCP, CPs, GP registrars, and practice managers across the PCN etc.
Present results and provide leadership on suggested changes. Assist CP team to contribute to national and local research initiatives.
Care Quality Commission
Assist SCP and CP team provide leadership to the general practice team to ensure the practice is compliant with CQC standards where medicines are involved.
Undertake appropriate risk assessments and management and ensure compliance with medicines legislation.
Implementation of local and national guidelines and formulary recommendations
Assist with monitoring 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 practice’s computer system.
Work with SCP and CP team to suggest and develop computer decision support tools to help remind prescribers about the agreed formulary choice and local recommendations.
Assist SCP and CP team with auditing at both practice and PCN level compliance against NICE technology assessment guidance. Provide updates on PCN intranet 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.
Supervision
Work with SCP to ensure that PCN Pharmacy Technicians also receive appropriate supervision, mentoring, appraisal process and access to relevant training & development programmes.
Education and Training
Assist SCP and CP team provide education and training to primary healthcare teams across the PCN on therapeutics and medicines optimisation.
Assist with providing training to visiting medical, nursing, pharmacy and other healthcare students where appropriate.
Public health
To assist SCP and CP team with supporting public health campaigns across the PCN.
To assist SCP and CP team with providing specialist knowledge on all public health programmes available to general public across the PCN.
Unplanned hospital admissions
Devise and implement practice searches to identify cohorts of patients most likely to be at risk of an unplanned admission and readmissions from medicines.
Work with case managers, multidisciplinary (health and social care) review teams, hospital colleagues and virtual ward teams to manage medicines-‐related risk for readmission and patient harm.
Put in place changes to reduce the prescribing of these medicines to high-‐risk patient groups.
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 manage these changes without referral to a GP.
Perform a clinical medication review, produce a post discharge medicines care plan including dose titration and booking of follow up tests and working with patients and community pharmacists to ensure patients receive the medicines they need post discharge 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).
Work in partnership with hospital colleagues (e.g. care of the elderly doctors and clinical pharmacists) to proactively manage patients at high risk of medicine related problems before they are discharged to ensure continuity of care.
Telephone triage
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 test results, common/minor ailments, acute conditions, long term condition reviews etc.
Collaborative Working Relationships
· Recognises the roles of other colleagues within the PCN and general practice organisations and their role to patient care
· Demonstrates use of appropriate communication to gain the co-operation of relevant stakeholders (including patients, senior and peer colleagues, and other professionals, other NHS/private organisations e.g. CCGs)
· Demonstrates ability to work as a member of a team both within the PCN CP team and the general practice team
· Is able to recognise personal limitations and refer to more appropriate colleague(s) when necessary
· Actively work toward developing and maintaining effective working relationships both within and outside the PCN, practice and locality
· Foster and maintain strong links with all services across locality
· Explores the potential for collaborative working and takes opportunities to initiate and sustain such relationships
· Demonstrates ability to integrate general practice with community and hospital pharmacy teams
· Liaises with CCG colleagues including CCG Pharmacists on prescribing related matters to ensure consistency of patient care and benefit
· Liaises with CCG pharmacists and Heads of Medicines Management/ Optimisation to benefit from peer support
· Liaises with other GP Practices across the PCN and staff as needed for the collective benefit of patients including but not limited to
o Patients
o GP, nurses and other practice staff
o Other healthcare professionals including CCG pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, optometrists, dentists, health and social care teams and dieticians etc
o Locality / GP prescribing lead
o Locality managers
o Community nurses and other allied health professionals
o Community and hospital pharmacy teams
o Hospital staff with responsibilities for prescribing and medicines optimisation
Knowledge, Skills and Experience Required
- Completion of an undergraduate degree in pharmacy and registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council
- Has experience and an awareness of common acute and long term conditions that are likely to be seen in general practice
- Is already enrolled on/agrees to undertake the CPPE pathway for CPs, this is a mandatory part of the terms and conditions of employment with the PCN.
- May hold or be working towards an independent prescribing qualification.
- Recognises priorities when problem-solving and identifies deviations from normal pattern and is able to refer to seniors or GPs when appropriate
- Able to follow legal, ethical, professional and organisational policies/procedures and codes of conduct
- Involves patients in decisions about prescribed medicines and supporting adherence as per NICE guidelines.
Leadership:
Is prepared to work with the SCP and CP team to develop the following:
- Demonstrate understanding of the pharmacy role in governance and is able to implement this appropriately within the workplace.
- Demonstrate understanding of, and contributes to, the workplace vision
- Engage with Patient Participation Groups (PPGs) and involves PPGs in development of the role and practices
- Demonstrate ability to improve quality within limitations of service
- Review yearly progress and develops clear plans to achieve results within priorities set by others.
- Demonstrate ability to motivate self to achieve goals
- Promote diversity and equality and leads by example.
Management:
Is prepared to work with the SCP and CP team to develop the following:
- Demonstrate understanding of the implications of national priorities for the team and/or service
- Demonstrate understanding of the process for effective resource utilisation
- Demonstrate understanding of, and conforms to, relevant standards of practice
- Demonstrate ability to identify and resolve risk management issues according to policy/protocol
- Follows professional and organisational policies/procedures relating to performance management
- Demonstrate ability to extend boundaries of service delivery within the team
- Provide support in the development of a pharmacy technicians
Education, Training and Development:
Is prepared to work with the SCP and CP team to develop the following:
- Understand and demonstrate the characteristics of a role model to members in the team and/or service
- Demonstrate understanding of the mentorship process
- Demonstrate ability to conduct teaching and assessment effectively according to a learning plan with supervision from more experience colleague
- Demonstrates self-development through continuous professional development activity; working alongside senior clinical pharmacist to identifying areas to develop
- Participate in the delivery of formal education programmes
- Demonstrate an understanding of current educational policies relevant to working areas of practice and keeps up to date with relevant clinical practice.
- Ensure appropriate clinical supervision is in place to support development
- Enrolled into review and appraisal systems within the practice
Research and Evaluation:
Is prepared to work with the SCP and CP team to develop the following:
- Demonstrate ability to critically evaluate and review literature
- Demonstrate ability to identify where there is a gap in the evidence base to support practice
- Demonstrate ability to generate evidence suitable for presentations at practice and local level
- Demonstrate ability to apply research evidence base into working place
- Demonstrate understanding of principles of research governance.
Health and Safety/Risk Management
· The post-holder must comply at all times with the Practice’s Health and Safety policies, in particular by following agreed safe working procedures and reporting incidents using the organisations Incident Reporting System.
· The post-holder will comply with the Data Protection Act (1984) and the Access to Health Records Act (1990).
Equality and Diversity
· The post-holder must co-operate with all policies and procedures designed to ensure equality of employment. Co-workers, patients and visitors must be treated equally irrespective of gender, ethnic origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion etc.
Respect for Patient Confidentiality
· The post-holder should respect patient confidentiality at all times and not divulge patient information unless sanctioned by the requirements of the role.
Special Working Conditions
· The post-holder is required to travel independently between practice sites (where applicable), and to attend meetings etc hosted by other agencies.
· The post-holder will have contact with body fluids i.e., wound exudates; urine etc while in clinical practice.
Job Description Agreement
This job description is intended to provide an outline of the key tasks and responsibilities only. There may be other duties required of the post-holder commensurate with the position. This description will be open to regular review and may be amended to take into account development within North Oxfordshire Rural Alliance (NORA). All members of staff should be prepared to take on additional duties or relinquish existing duties in order to maintain the efficient running of NORA.
This job description is intended as a basic guide to the scope and responsibilities of the post and is not exhaustive. It will be subject to regular review and amendment as necessary in consultation with the post holder.
o Other members of the PCN management team including SCP and PCN practice representatives
o Other healthcare professionals including CCG pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, optometrists, dentists, health and social care teams and dieticians
o Locality / GP prescribing lead
o Locality managers
o Community nurses and other allied health professionals
o Community and Hospital Pharmacy teams
o Hospital staff with responsibilities for prescribing and medicine
Job Type: Permanent
Salary: Up to £25.54 per hour
Schedule:
- Monday to Friday
Ability to commute/relocate:
- Oxfordshire: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (required)
Work Location: In person
