Primary Care Network Clinical Pharmacist

Posted 20 hours 56 minutes ago by NHS

Permanent
Full Time
Other
London, United Kingdom
Job Description
Primary Care Network Clinical Pharmacist Acton Primary Care Network (PCN) is seeking an experienced Clinical Pharmacist to join our team to work across our network practices in a dynamic role. The successful candidate will play a crucial role in delivering a high-quality medicines optimisation and management service to patients with chronic diseases. Additionally, they will work towards meeting various local and national enhanced service delivery specifications, aiming to improve patient care.

As a Clinical Pharmacist, you will be ensuring that our network practices have robust governance systems and processes in place to manage patient care effectively. Your focus will be on safe prescribing, monitoring of higher risk drugs, management of long-term conditions, and early detection of potential missed diagnoses, aligning with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) standards.

Acton PCN comprises 13 GP practices, serving a population of 80,000 patients. We pride ourselves on our well-established and collaborative inter-practice relationships, with a shared goal of improving the health and outcomes of our patients within the local community.

We are seeking a motivated and passionate individual who is dedicated to delivering excellent service within the general practice setting. If you are enthusiastic about making a positive impact on patient care and thrive in a dynamic healthcare environment, we encourage you to apply.

Main duties of the job The successful candidate will have responsibilities that include overseeing the repeat prescribing process within the network practices, which may complement the existing clinical pharmacists in their roles. You will have a designated cohort of patients who may have medication queries or require medication reviews, and you will take the lead in designing and delivering a service specifically tailored to their needs. Additionally, you will be responsible for conducting review clinics for patients with chronic diseases such as Asthma, COPD, Pre-Diabetes, Diabetes, Hypertension, and Heart Failure. These clinics may be conducted face-to-face, through telephone consultations, or via video calls.

Ensuring safe prescribing practices, monitoring higher risk drugs, managing long-term conditions, and identifying potential missed diagnoses in accordance with CQC standards. It is an ongoing process that requires continuous vigilance and management.

As the post holder, you will be expected to lead in implementing and managing MHRA and drug safety alerts and updates. Using appropriate searches, you will identify patient cohorts within the network to ensure safe practices and promptly communicate necessary updates or changes to the practice teams.

About us Ealing GP Federation is a prominent membership organisation that represents 72 general practices within the London Borough of Ealing. Our mission is to provide comprehensive support and guidance to our member practices, enabling them to deliver high-quality care to their patients.

As an organisation, we value the well-being and work-life balance of our employees. We offer a generous annual leave entitlement of 25 days, and we provide flexibility for leave to be carried over when necessary. We understand the importance of continuous learning and personal development, which is why we also offer up to 5 days of study leave to support our staff in pursuing further education or professional qualifications.

Acton PCN, one of our well-established networks, comprises 13 general practices that work collaboratively to improve patient outcomes and deliver excellent healthcare services. The network has fostered strong relationships among its staff members, creating a supportive and collaborative working environment.

At Ealing GP Federation and Acton PCN, we are committed to nurturing the professional growth and well-being of our employees. We provide a supportive infrastructure, access to training opportunities, and a culture that promotes teamwork and mutual support.

Job responsibilities Key Dutiesand Responsibilities

1. Riskstratification

Design, develop and implement computer searches to identify cohorts ofpatients with chronic disease who need review and medicines optimisation.

Manage own case load. Do the necessarychecks for QOF and Ealing Standard entering the data correctly on the computersystem. Implement improvements to the patients medication and prescribingindependently where necessary.

3. Managepatients holistically

Where patients have more than one condition; reviewing co-morbiditiesin the same appointment and updating QOF and Ealing Standard as appropriate.Referring to other members of the Primary Health Care team and Secondary Careas necessary.

4. Medicationreviews

Undertake structured medication reviews with patients with multimorbidity and polypharmacy andimplement own prescribing changes (as an independent prescriber) and orderrelevant monitoring tests. Provide a telephone support for patients withquestions, queries and concerns about their medicines and deliver medicinesreconciliation from secondary care recommendations.

5. Pathology

Request and manage the results for the cohort of patients under yourcare in a safe and timely way.

6. Medicinessafety and quality improvement

Identify and provide leadership on areas of prescribing requiringimprovement. Conduct own audits and improvement projects and work withcolleagues. Present results and provide leadership on suggested change.Demonstrate continuous QI activity focused upon prescribing safety as specifiedin the QOF guidance. This work for example might include deliver against theprescribing indicators in the Impact Investment Fund (IIF). Contribute tonational and local research initiatives.

7. Servicedevelopment

Develop and manage new services that are built around new medicines orNICE guidance, where new medicine/recommendations allow the development of anew care pathway.

8. Care Quality Commission

Provide leadership to the practice manager and GPs to ensure thepractice is compliant with CQC standards where medicines are involved as partof the regulatory role of this position.

9. Meetings

Attend MDT, Network, Practice, ICB and Federation meetings as required.Being prepared to contribute to Network pharmacy issues as appropriate.

10. OversightNetwork Pharmacy issues

In addition to a clinical specialism this role involves oversight ofprescribing across the two network practices and requires the ability toprepare and present reports as required.

11. Relationships

To foster and maintain good relationships between, within and outsidethe Practices involved in the network.

12. Populationand Public Health

To devise and manage population and public health campaigns to runwithin the network if required.

13. Medicineinformation to practice staff and patients

Answer all medicine relatedenquiries from GPs, other practice staff and patients with queries aboutmedicines. Suggesting and recommending solutions. Providing follow up forpatients to monitor the effect of any changes.

14. Flexibility

To understand that this is a new and evolvingrole which may change with the needs of the Network. To be willing to changeand the facilitate change in others and the system to promote quality care.

15. Training

Provide education and training to primary healthcare team on therapeuticsand medicines optimisation. Provide training to visiting medical, nursing andother healthcare students where appropriate.

16. Implementationof local and national guidelines and formulary recommendations

Monitor practice prescribing against the local health economies RAGlist for medicines that should be prescribed by hospital doctors (red drugs) orsubject to shared care (amber drugs). Liaise directly with hospital colleagueswhere prescribing needs to be returned to specialists. Assist practices insetting and maintaining a practice formulary that is hosted on the practicescomputer system.

Suggest and develop computer decision support tools to help remindprescribers about the agreed formulary choice and local recommendations.Auditing practices compliance against NICEs technology assessment guidance.Provide newsletters on important prescribing messages to improve prescribersknowledge and work with the team to develop and implement other techniquesknown to influence implementation of evidence such as audit and feedback.

Person Specification Qualifications
  • Excellent communication and consultation skills both verbal (face to face and phone) and written.
  • Places patients and relatives at the center of all decisions regarding their care.
  • Can deliver clinics within appropriate time frames.
  • Develops and uses skills to take an appropriate history uses clinical examination skills and recognises common presentations and red flags treating or referring appropriately.
  • Refers to seniors and GPs when appropriate recognises personal limitations.
  • Demonstrates problem solving skills.
  • Conveys complex and sensitive information in an appropriate way for target audience.
  • Expert level understanding of therapeutics and clinical pharmacy.
  • Experienced in level 3 review and management of complex multimorbidity, polypharmacy and medicines optimisation.
  • Uses rational evidence based methods in prescribing and medication review.
  • Demonstrates expertise in managing long term health conditions, by reviewing, care planning, motivational lifestyle advice monitoring and optimisation.
  • Makes accurate contemporaneous succinct and cogent records in patient notes click apply for full job details