Job description
JOB TITLE: PCN Clinical Pharmacist
SALARY: £40,000 - £43,000WTE depending on experience (not Agenda for Change)
TERM & HOURS: Full Time, Part Time, Flexible Working (min. 19hrs per week)
RESPONSIBLE TO: PCN Lead Clinical Pharmacist
This is an exciting opportunity for an enthusiastic Pharmacist to join our well-established pharmacy team at Severn Health Primary Care Network (PCN). Our current team includes seven Clinical Pharmacists (including one Lead Pharmacist), three Pharmacy Technicians (including one Lead Technician) and one Apprentice Pharmacy Technician.
The current team have come from various employment backgrounds, including community pharmacy, hospital pharmacy and CCG work in Primary Care, all bringing complimentary qualities and transferable skills to the team. The team is dynamic and enthusiastic and enjoys working together to support and share ideas.
The Role
The role is pivotal to improving the quality of care and delivering operational efficiencies, so it requires motivation and passion for providing excellent service within general practice. The Clinical Pharmacist will optimise medicines, offer high-quality, patient-centred, safe, cost-effective medicines, and support people in managing their health, medicines, and long-term conditions. Primary Care experience is desirable but not necessary, as full training will be provided, and you will be well supported and work under the supervision of the Lead Clinical Pharmacist.
We require you to work for a minimum of 19 hours per week to ensure the training pathway doesn’t take you out of practice for too much of your working week and we encourage regularly working in surgeries to develop colleague relationships and a better understanding of how the practice teams work.
About Us
Severn Health PCN comprises five GP practices based in Stroud, Gloucestershire (voted the “best place to live in the UK” by the Sunday Times in 2021!), with a patient population of approximately 38,000. We are located near to the M5 motorway allowing an easy commute from nearby towns and cities. The Five practices that make up our PCN are Five Valleys Medical Practice (Stroud), High Street Medical Centre (Stonehouse), Prices Mill Surgery (Nailsworth), Regent Street Surgery (Stonehouse) and Stonehouse Health Clinic.
The PCN is busy and energetic and has a clear vision for addressing health inequalities in an ever-changing environment within our semi-rural location. The practices within the PCN are very supportive of the pharmacy team. They respect and appreciate the benefits Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians can bring to patients in primary care, as well as the support they can give clinical and non-clinical colleagues.
About You
The successful candidate will be GPhC registered, have excellent therapeutic & clinical knowledge and understanding of the principles of evidence-based healthcare. You will be a team player but also able to work effectively independently, have excellent verbal and written communication skills, organisational and prioritisation skills, and have flexibility and adaptability to deal with fluctuating workloads.
The post includes a place on the eighteen-month PCPEP training pathway (if not already completed), allowing you to develop your clinical and consultation skills and network with pharmacist and technician colleagues across the country undertaking similar roles. Following the pathway, you will also have the opportunity to complete an Independent Prescribing qualification.
We actively encourage a healthy work-life balance, and you could combine this role with a part-time role in a different sector as some of our team currently do.
This is a fantastic opportunity for clinical progression. If you are new to primary care, the training pathway will greatly increase your confidence and clinical knowledge, giving you access to a vast range of training resources. If you are looking for a rewarding and inclusive position working closely and directly with patients, we can offer you a friendly, well-experienced working environment with support from all the PCN team.
For questions or a conversation about the role, please contact Joanna Hamblin, Lead Pharmacist - [email protected] / 07500 618249
JOB DESCRIPTION
Role Purpose:
To work within clinical competencies as part of a multi-disciplinary team to provide expertise in clinical medicines management, provide face-to-face/telephone structured medication reviews, manage long-term conditions, management of medicines on the transfer of care and systems for safer prescribing, manage repeat prescription authorisations and reauthorisation, acute prescription requests, whilst addressing both the public health and social care needs of patients in the GP practices that make up the PCN.
Main Areas of Responsibility
As a key part of the Severn Health Primary Care Network (PCN) Multidisciplinary Team, deliver medicines optimisation and offer high quality, safe and cost-effective medicines and patient-centred support, manage some aspects of the quality and outcomes (QOF) framework and PCN targets, with the support of the Lead PCN pharmacist. The role specifics will include:
- Undertaking structured medication reviews to ensure patients are taking a safe and effective medication regime, using joint decision-making discussions.
- Contributing to NHS priority projects, including optimising lipid management in appropriate groups with the use of statins and other newer medications, ensuring the safe use of high- risk drugs, including doacs, identifying and managing patients who may have hypertension.
- Processing hospital discharge summaries and liaising with patients, GP teams and community pharmacies to ensure any medicines changes and necessary reviews are carried out, as well as counselling patients where necessary and contacting hospital teams if needed.
- Supporting care homes by reviewing residents, being a point of contact for care home staff and attending multi-disciplinary team meetings.
- Advising on and managing the monitoring of high-risk drugs.
- Handling out-of-stock medication queries by liaising with pharmacies and providing alternative solutions to GPs if necessary.
- Identifying and carrying out regular audits of prescribing safety measures using the GP practice clinical system.
- Acting upon mhra drug alerts and recalls in conjunction with the PCN pharmacy team, and communicating any outcomes to appropriate colleagues as necessary.
- Answering medication-related queries from patients and surgery/PCN colleagues.
Data Capture
- Work closely within the Multi-Disciplinary Teams and with GP practices within the PCN to ensure that information and coding are input into clinical systems (as outlined in the Network Contract Directed Enhanced Service (DES)), adhering to data protection legislation and data sharing agreements.
Governance
- Take appropriate action in accordance with the significance of the risk and be consistent with protection procedures, applying protection procedures, and following lone worker procedures.
- Produce tangible examples of best practice which can be highlighted and shared.
- Demonstrate effective team working inclusive of all relevant professionals.
- Report all accidents/incidents, ill health, equipment and/or environment failures to line managers.
- Contribute towards audit and data collection as required.
- Adhere to policies and procedures within the PCN, including confidentiality, safeguarding, lone working, information governance, and health and safety.
Professional development
- Work with your line manager to undertake continual personal and professional development, actively reviewing and developing the role and responsibilities.
- Work with your line manager to access regular ‘clinical supervision’, to enable you to deal effectively with any difficult issues that people present.
- Review yearly progress and develop clear plans to achieve results within priorities set by the PCN and your line manager.
- Participate in the delivery of formal education programmes.
- Demonstrate an understanding of current educational policies relevant to working areas of practice and keep up to date with relevant clinical practice.
Key Working Relationships
- Act as a key team member and support effective communication and stakeholder engagement and management both internally and externally.
- Build professional relationships with key staff in GP practices within the Primary Care Network (PCN).
This job description is intended to be a basic guide to the post’s scope and responsibilities and is not exhaustive. There may be other duties required of the postholder commensurate with the role. It will be subject to regular review and amendments as necessary in consultation with the postholder.
Team Structure
Clinical Director - 1 session per week
Clinical Support - 1 day per week (to be appointed)
Strategic Business Manager - 22.5 hours per week
PCN Operations Manager - 30 hours per week
QI Project Officer - 22.5 hours per week
Executive Assistant & Operations Support - 35 hours per week
Data Quality Manager - 37.5 hours per week
Practice Managers
Additional Roles staff teams:
- Pharmacy Team – includes this Post
- Care Coordinators
- Social Prescribing Link Worers
- Mental Health Practitioner
- Living Well (Frailty) Team - to be appointed
PERSON SPECIFICATION
Personal Qualities & Attributes
- Commitment to reducing health inequalities and proactively working to reach people from all communities (Essential)
- Demonstrates use of appropriate communication to gain the cooperation of relevant stakeholders including patients, senior and peer colleagues, and other professionals, other NHS/private organisations, e.g. CCGs (Essential)
- Can recognise personal limitations and refer to a more appropriate colleague(s) when necessary (Essential)
- Ability to identify risk and assess/manage risk when working with individuals (Essential)
- Able to work under pressure and meet deadlines (Essential)
- Demonstrates accountability for delivering professional expertise and direct service provision (Essential)
- Ability to maintain effective working relationships and to promote collaborative practice with all colleagues (Essential)
- High level of written and oral communication skills (Essential)
- Ability to work flexibly and enthusiastically within a team or on own initiative (Essential)
- Knowledge of and ability to work to policies and procedures, including confidentiality, safeguarding, lone working, information governance, and health and safety (Essential)
Professional Registration
- Mandatory registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council (Essential)
- Membership of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (Desirable)
Qualifications & Training
- Master’s degree in pharmacy (MPharm) or equivalent (Essential)
- Hold or be working towards an independent prescribing qualification (Desirable)
- Prior completion of the CPPE PCPEP or equivalent pathway (Desirable)
- Demonstrates an understanding of and conforms to relevant standards of practice (Essential)
- Follows professional and organisational policies/procedures relating to performance management (Essential)
Experience
- Experience and an awareness of the breadth of common acute and long-term conditions that are likely to be seen in general practice (Desirable)
- Experience of working as a qualified Pharmacist in Primary Care, community, prison, or hospital pharmacy (Essential)
Skills & Knowledge
- In-depth therapeutic and clinical knowledge and understanding of the principles of evidence-based healthcare (Desirable)
- Understanding of the wider determinants of health, including social, economic, and environmental factors and their impact on communities (Desirable)
- An appreciation of the nature of primary care prescribing, concepts of rational prescribing and strategies for improving prescribing (Desirable)
- Knowledge of IT systems, including the ability to use word processing skills, emails, and the internet to create simple plans and reports (Essential)
- Able to plan, manage, monitor, and review general medicine optimisation issues in core areas for long-term conditions (Desirable)
- Able to obtain and analyse complex technical information (Essential)
- Able to 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 (Desirable)
- Able to identify and resolve risk management issues according to policy/protocol (Essential)
- Understand the principles of research governance (Essential)
Other
- Meets DBS reference standards and has a clear criminal record, in line with the law on spent convictions (Essential)
- Access to own transport and ability to travel across the locality on a regular basis, including possibly visiting people in their own homes (Essential)
Job Types: Full-time, Part-time, Permanent
Salary: £40,000.00-£43,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Company pension
Schedule:
- Monday to Friday
- Weekend availability
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Stroud, GL5 3BS
Application deadline: 10/04/2023