Clinical Pharmacist

To work as part of a multi-disciplinary team, providing expertise in clinical medicines management in order to address both the public health and social care needs of patients of the four GP practices that make up the GRiPC Primary Care Network (PCN). This will include management of medicines for patients with long term conditions and those on transfer of care and systems for safer prescribing, handling repeat prescription authorisations and acute prescription requests, conducting medication reviews of patients with polypharmacy – especially for older people, people in residential care homes and those with multiple co-morbidities. The post holder will provide leadership on quality improvement and clinical audit and well as managing some aspects of the Quality and Outcomes Framework. This role is pivotal to improving the quality of care and operational efficiencies so requires motivation and passion to deliver an excellent service within general practice. KEY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Long-term condition clinics: See patients with single or multiplemedical problems where medicine optimisation is required (e.g. Respiratory, Cardiovascular and Diabetes).
• 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 Senior Pharmacists or GPs for medicine improvement.
• Clinical medication reviews: Undertake clinical medication reviews with patients and produce recommendations for senior clinical pharmacist, nurses and/or GP on prescribing and monitoring.
• Care Home Medication Reviews: 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.
• Domiciliary Clinical Medication Reviews: Undertake clinical medication reviews with patients and produce recommendations for the senior clinical pharmacist, nurses and GPs on prescribing and monitoring.
• Attend and refer patients to multidisciplinary case meetings.
• 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.
• 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 common/minor/self-limiting ailments: Managing caseload of 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 and telephonic medicines support: Provide support and advice for patients with questions, queries and concerns about their medicines in the practice as well as follow up for patients to monitor the effect of any changes.
• 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 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).
• Medicine information to practice staff and patients: Answer relevant medicine-related enquiries from GPs, other network staff, other healthcare teams (e.g. community pharmacy) and patients with queries about medicines.
• 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 repeat prescribing policy within each PCN practice.
• 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.
• 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 relevant 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 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 each practice’s 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 teams to ensure the practices are 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.
• Collaborative working arrangements:
• Participate in the PCN MDT.
• Liaise with CCG colleagues including CCG pharmacists on prescribing related matters to ensure consistency of patient care and benefit.
• Liaise with colleagues including CCG,STP/ICS Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians on prescribing related matters to ensure consistency of patient care and benefit
• Liaise with colleagues including CCG,STP/ICS Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians Heads of Medicines Management/Optimisation to benefit from peer support.
• Foster and maintain strong links with all services across the PCN and neighbouring networks.
• Explore the potential for collaborative working and takes opportunities to initiate and sustain such relationships.
• Liaise with other stakeholders as needed for the collective benefit of patients, including but not limited to:

i. Patients and their representatives ii. GP, nurses and other practice staff iii. Social prescribers, first contact physiotherapists, physicians associates and paramedics. iv. Community pharmacists and support staff v. Other members of the medicines management (MM) team including pharmacists, Pharmacy Technicians and Dieticians vi. Locality / GP prescribing lead vii. Locality managers viii. Community nurses and other allied health professionals ix. Hospital staff with responsibilities for prescribing and medicines optimisation PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

• Work with your line manager to undertake continual personal and professional development, taking an active part in reviewing and developing the role and responsibilities.

• Adhere to organisational policies and procedures, including confidentiality, safeguarding, lone working, information governance, and health and safety.

• Work with your line manager to access regular clinical supervision to enable you to deal effectively with the difficult issues that people present.

• Review yearly progress and develop clear plans to achieve results within priorities set by others.

• 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.

RESEARCH AND EVALUATION

• Critically evaluate and review literature.

• Identify where there is a gap in the evidence base to support practice.

• Generate evidence suitable for presentations at practice and local level.

• Apply research evidence base into the workplace.

HEALTH AND SAFETY/RISK MANAGEMENT

• Comply at all times with the Health and Safety policies, in particular following safe working procedures and reporting incidents.

• Comply with the Data Protection Act (2018) and the Access to Health Records Act (1990).

SPECIAL WORKING CONDITIONS

• The post holder is required to travel independently between work sites 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.

MISCELLANEOUS

• Work as part of the team to seek feedback, continually improve the service and contribute to business planning.

• Undertake any tasks consistent with the level of the post and the scope of the role, ensuring that work is delivered in a timely and effective manner.

• Duties may vary from time to time, without changing the general character of the post or the level of responsibility.

This job description is not exhaustive and may be adjusted periodically after review and consultation. You will also be expected to carry out any reasonable duties which may be requested from time-to-time. PERSON SPECIFICATION Qualifications, training & professional registration Essential Criteria Completion of an undergraduate degree in pharmacy Registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council Desirable Criteria Membership Primary Care Pharmacy Association (PCPA) Membership of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society Hold or be working towards an independent prescribing qualification Experience Essential Criteria Minimum of 2 years post qualifying experience Desirable Criteria Experience and an awareness of the breadth of common acute and long-terms conditions that are likely to be seen in general practice Experience of partnership/collaborative working and of building relationships across a variety of organisations Skills & Knowledge Essential Criteria An appreciation of the nature of primary care prescribing, concepts of rational prescribing and strategies for improving prescribing Knowledge of IT systems, including ability to use word processing skills, emails and the internet to create simple plans and reports Desirable Criteria Understand the principles of research governance Knowledge of EMIS and/or DOCMAN systems. Other Essential Criteria Meets DBS reference standards and has a clear criminal record, in line with the law on spent convictions Able to travel between sites independently Desirable Criteria Car driver Flexible and adaptable Job Types: Full-time, Part-time, Permanent Part-time hours: 37.5 per week Salary: £35,000.00-£45,000.00 per year Benefits:

• Company pension

Schedule:

• Day shift
• Monday to Friday

Work Location: One location