Clinical Pharmacist with Independent Prescribing
Please note we reserve the right to close the vacancy before the closing date if there are a high number of applicants received.
The post holder is a clinical pharmacist with independent prescribing, supporting and working alongside a team of pharmacists in general practice. In this role, they will be supported by a senior clinical pharmacist who will develop, manage, and mentor them.
Main duties of the job
The post holder is a clinical pharmacist, supporting and working alongside a team of pharmacists in general practice. They will be supported by a senior clinical pharmacist who will develop, manage, and mentor them.
The post holder will work as part of a multi-disciplinary team in a patient-facing role. They will take responsibility for areas of chronic disease management within the practice and undertake clinical medication reviews to proactively manage patients with complex polypharmacy. The post holder will provide primary support to general practice staff regarding prescription and medication queries. They will help support the repeat prescription system, deal with acute prescription requests, and medicines reconciliation on transfer of care and systems for safer prescribing, providing expertise in clinical medicines advice while addressing both public and social care needs of patients in the GP practice. 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 utilize 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 it requires motivation and passion to deliver excellent service within general practice.
About us
Primary care is changing; both the way we interact with patients and the local structures. It is an exciting and dynamic time to work within General Practice. In Walsall, networks of local GP practices have formed seven Primary Care Networks (PCNs) to help improve the care offered to the local population and develop new ways of working.
Clinical Pharmacy in General Practice is part of an exciting programme of transformation to develop a new model of care which addresses our ambition to deliver person-centred, coordinated care across the district. The Clinical Pharmacy in General Practice model is supported by the direction of national policy including the Five Year Forward View and GP Forward View, where there is a need to better utilize the role of pharmacy within primary care to proactively help patients stay safe and well and out of hospital, as well as helping to reduce the demands on general practice.
Job responsibilities
Primary Duties and Areas of Responsibility
* Produce and implement a practice repeat prescribing policy and support colleagues by reducing prescription queries.
* Manage the repeat prescribing reauthorization process by reviewing patient requests for repeat prescriptions and reviewing medicines reaching review dates, flagging up those needing a review.
* Ensure patients have appropriate monitoring tests in place when required.
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, monitoring needs, and support patients with their medicines taking to ensure they get the best use of their medicines (i.e., medicines optimisation). Make appropriate recommendations to Senior Pharmacists or GPs for medicine improvement.
* Undertake clinical medication reviews with patients and produce recommendations for senior clinical pharmacists, nurses, and/or GPs on prescribing and monitoring.
* Work with care home staff to improve safety of medicines ordering and administration.
Patient facing domiciliary clinical medication review
* 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
* Manage caseload of patients with common/minor/self-limiting ailments within scope of practice and limits of competence.
* Signpost to community pharmacy and refer to GPs or other healthcare professionals where appropriate.
* Provide patient-facing clinics for questions, queries, and concerns about medicines in the practice.
Telephone medicines support
* Provide a telephone helpline for patients with questions, queries, and concerns about their medicines.
Medicine information to practice staff and patients
* Answer all medicine-related enquiries from GPs, other practice staff, healthcare teams (e.g., community pharmacy), and patients.
* Suggest and recommend solutions.
* Follow up with patients to monitor effects of any changes.
Unplanned hospital admissions
* Review medicines most associated with unplanned hospital admissions and readmissions through audits and individual reviews.
* Implement changes to reduce prescribing of high-risk medicines to high-risk patient groups.
Management of medicines at discharge from hospital
* Reconcile medicines following discharge, identify and rectify unexplained changes, and work with patients and community pharmacists to ensure patients receive necessary medicines post-discharge.
* Set up and manage systems to ensure continuity of medicines supply to high-risk groups (e.g., those with medication compliance aids or in care homes).
Signposting
* Ensure patients are referred to appropriate healthcare professionals for the appropriate level of care within suitable timeframes.
* Identify high-risk patients through pre-prepared practice computer searches.
* Contribute pharmaceutical advice for developing and implementing new services with medicinal components.
Information management
* Analyze, interpret, and present medicines data to support decision-making.
Medicines Quality Improvement Programmes
* Undertake clinical audits, provide feedback, and implement changes based on findings.
* Implement changes resulting from MHRA alerts, product withdrawals, and guidance.
Implementation of guidelines and formulary recommendations
* Monitor prescribing against local guidelines and make recommendations.
* Assist in maintaining a practice formulary and auditing compliance with NICE guidance.
* Provide newsletters or bulletins on prescribing messages.
Education and Training
* Provide education on therapeutics and medicines optimisation.
* Train healthcare students where appropriate.
Care Quality Commission
* Ensure compliance with CQC standards regarding medicines.
Public health
* Support public health campaigns and provide knowledge on public health programmes.
Person Specification
Qualifications
* Degree in pharmacy and GPhC registration.
* Minimum 2 years experience as a pharmacist.
* Experience with common acute and long-term conditions.
* Ability to prioritize and refer to seniors or GPs when needed.
* Follow legal, ethical, and organisational policies.
* Involve patients in medication decisions and support adherence.
* GPhC membership required.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to DBS checks. The address is The Old Stables, Elmore Court, Elmore Green Road.
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