ARRS Clinical Pharmacist

NHS; Southampton; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

A healthcare practice in Southampton is seeking a Clinical Pharmacist to join their multi-disciplinary team. The role involves conducting medication reviews, promoting safe prescribing, and providing expert guidance to patients. Candidates should have a pharmacy degree, be GPhC registered, and possess independent prescribing qualifications. This position provides an opportunity to contribute to patient care and enhance pharmacy services in primary care.

Benefits

Supportive team environment

Opportunity for professional development

Participation in public health campaigns

Qualifications

• At least 2 years post-registration experience in a hospital, community or general practice setting.
• Evidence of recent CPD.
• Minor ailments certification.

Responsibilities

• Conduct medication reviews and optimize prescribing for long-term conditions.
• Provide expert advice to patients and colleagues.
• Develop relationships with local healthcare teams.

Skills

Clinical assessment

Medication management

Patient communication

Team collaboration

Education

Degree in Pharmacy

GPhC registration

Independent prescriber

Job description

Overview

At Peartree Practice, we are seeking a Clinical Pharmacist to join our supportive and friendly team, where your expertise is valued and your ideas shape the future of patient care.

As a valued member of the Peartree Practice, your key duties will include:

• Conduct structured medication reviews and optimise prescribing for long-term conditions.
• Promote safer prescribing practices and reduce medication-related harm.
• Use audits to enhance clinical outcomes and improve patient safety.
• Provide expert advice and support to patients and colleagues, including our medicines management team.
• Support elements of the Quality and Outcomes Framework, local Medicines Optimisation Incentive Scheme and Local Enhanced Services.
• Contribute to the evolution of pharmacy services in primary care.

Review the ongoing need for each medicine, a review of monitoring needs and an opportunity to support patients with their medicines, ensuring they get the best use of their medicines.

Undertake clinical medication reviews with patients with multimorbidity and polypharmacy and implement own prescribing changes and order relevant monitoring tests.

Main duties of the job

1. Work as part of a multi-disciplinary team in a patient-facing role to clinically assess and treat patients using their expert knowledge of medicines for specific disease areas.

2. Be responsible for the care management of patients with chronic diseases and undertake clinical medication reviews to proactively manage people with complex polypharmacy.

3. Provide specialist expertise in the use of medicines whilst helping to address both the public health and social care needs of patients at the practice and to help in tackling inequalities.

4. Provide proactive support to the Medicines Management team, ensuring high standards of safe patient care.

5. Provide leadership on person-centred medicines optimisation and quality improvement, while contributing to the quality and outcomes framework and enhanced services.

6. Through structured medication reviews, support patients to take their medications to get the best from them, reduce waste and promote self-care.

7. Have a role in supporting further integration of general practice with the wider healthcare teams (including community and hospital pharmacy) to help improve patient outcomes, ensure better access to healthcare and help manage general practice workload.

8. Develop relationships and work closely with other pharmacy professionals across the local community and the wider health and social care system.

9. Agree and review prescribing formularies and protocols and monitor compliance levels.

About us

We are a diverse and friendly team of GPs, Physician Associates, Clinical Pharmacists, Advanced Nurse Practitioners, Paramedics, Social Prescribers, Nurses and HCAs who work together to provide high-quality care for 20,000 patients in the Southampton area.

We are a well organised and hardworking team with a long-established high QoF achievement. We actively support learning through regular clinical meetings and teaching events. Everyone has an opportunity to voice opinions as to how the practice can be improved. The clinical workload is set at a realistic level, with time allocated for admin and additional responsibilities.

Our friendly and supportive admin/reception team assist in reducing admin workload as much as possible. We are also a teaching practice for allied professional students across Hampshire.

During the COVID pandemic, we have adapted our service to operate a triage system that helps us identify and prioritise our sickest patients and those who can safely be re-directed to self-care services. We also launched an online platform called eConsult, where patients can contact us digitally. All our rooms are equipped with videocalling and double screen monitors.

We are active in the Bitterne Primary Care Network, with a partner having shared responsibility as a clinical director. Our PCN Education Environment Lead also helps to ensure staff opportunities to meet any personal development goals.

Job responsibilities

The following is not an exhaustive list, and the post holder may occasionally need to undertake additional duties as required by the PCN.

• Promote safer prescribing practices and reduce medication-related harm.
• Use audits to enhance clinical outcomes and improve patient safety.

1. Inappropriate antipsychotic use in people with learning difficulties, liaison with community pharmacists and anticoagulation.

2. Be part of a professional clinical network and have access to appropriate clinical supervision.

3. To act as a point of contact for all medicine related matters, establishing positive working relationships.

4. To consult patients within defined levels of competence and independently prescribe acute and repeat medication.

5. To receive referrals and directed patients from triage services and other clinicians.

6. To receive and resolve medicines queries from patients and other staff.

7. To provide medication review services for patients in the practice and during domiciliary visits to the local nursing home.

8. To manage a caseload of complex patients.

9. To manage a therapeutic drug monitoring system and the recall of patients taking high risk drugs, i.e., anticoagulants, anticonvulsants and DMARDs etc.

10. To deliver long term conditions clinics particularly for patients with complicated medication regimes and prescribe accordingly.

11. To provide pharmaceutical consultations to patients with long term conditions as an integral part of the multi-disciplinary team.

12. To review medications for newly registered patients.

13. To improve patient and carer understanding of confidence in and compliance with their medication.

14. To encourage cost-effective prescribing throughout the practice.

15. To liaise with the clinical partners and implement and embed a robust repeat prescribing system for use across the practice.

16. To provide advice and answer medication related queries from patients and staff.

17. To organise and oversee the practice's medicines optimisation systems including the repeat prescribing and medication review systems.

18. To improve the quality and effectiveness of prescribing through clinical audit and education to improve performance against NICE standards and clinical and prescribing guidance.

19. To provide subject matter expertise on medication monitoring, implementing and embedding a system.

20. To actively signpost patients to the correct healthcare professional.

21. To review the latest guidance ensuring the organisation conforms to NICE, CQC etc.

22. To provide targeted support and proactive reviews for vulnerable, complex patients and those at risk of admission and re-admission to secondary care.

23. To handle prescription queries and requests directly.

24. To support in the delivery of enhanced services and other service requirements on behalf of the practice.

25. To participate in the management of patient complaints when requested to do so and participate in the identification of any necessary learning brought about through clinical incidents and near-miss events.

26. To undertake all mandatory training and induction programmes.

27. To contribute to and embrace the spectrum of clinical governance.

28. To attend a formal appraisal with your manager at least every 12 months. Once a performance/training objective has been set, progress will be reviewed on a regular basis so that new objectives can be agreed.

29. To contribute to public health campaigns (e.g., COVID-19 or flu clinics) through advice or direct care.

30. To maintain a clean, tidy, effective working area at all times.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Degree in Pharmacy
• GPhC registered with current registration
• Evidence of recent CPD
• Independent prescriber
• At least 2 years post-registration experience in a hospital, community or general practice setting
• Experience working with clinicians and multidisciplinary team
• Minor ailments certification
• Completion of the CPPE Clinical Pharmacist training pathway

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.