Primary Care Network Clinical Pharmacist

NHS; Bolton; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

An established healthcare provider is seeking a dedicated Primary Care Network Clinical Pharmacist to enhance patient care in Bolton. This role involves supporting GP practices in effective medicine management, optimizing prescriptions, and ensuring patient safety through clinical reviews. The successful candidate will collaborate with healthcare teams to improve outcomes and implement innovative solutions in line with NHS guidelines. Join a dynamic environment where your expertise will directly impact community health and well-being, and contribute to the continuous improvement of primary care services.

Qualifications

• Minimum 2 years post qualification experience in Pharmacy.
• In-depth understanding of evidence-based healthcare principles.

Responsibilities

• Provide primary support for prescription and medication queries.
• Manage repeat prescribing and clinical medication reviews.

Skills

Therapeutic and clinical knowledge

Excellent written and verbal communication skills

Ability to work under pressure

Self-Motivation

Adaptability

Education

Pharmacy Degree

Current GPhC registration

Tools

SystmOne

EMIS

Job description

Primary Care Network Clinical Pharmacist

• POST TITLE: Primary Care Network Pharmacist
• RESPONSIBLE TO: Primary Care Network Manager
• HOURS PER WEEK: 30-37.5 hours per week
• DURATION: Permanent

We are looking for a Primary Care Network Clinical Pharmacist.

The role is responsible for supporting Bolton GP Federation's Primary Care Networks and member practices in implementing the NHS Long Term Plan, which includes effective medicine management, identifying areas for improvement and initiating and managing change.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will:

• Provide primary support to general practice staff with regards to prescription and medication queries.
• Help support the repeat prescriptions system.
• Deal with acute prescription requests.
• Complete 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(s).
• Provide clinical leadership on medicines optimisation and quality improvement and manage some aspects of the quality and outcomes framework and enhanced services.
• Take responsibility for areas of chronic disease management within the practice and undertake clinical medication reviews to proactively manage patients with complex polypharmacy.
• Ensure that practices integrate with community and hospital pharmacy to help utilise skill mix, improve patient outcomes, ensure better access to healthcare and help manage workload.

About us

Bolton GP Federation is a collective vehicle where Bolton's GP Practices come together to deliver primary care, providing a place for collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and co-ordination. The Federation is a voice of the priorities, needs & local intelligence of primary care into the wider healthcare system.

We are rated as Good by the Care Quality Commission and we are proud of the services that we run, which include Primary Care Networks, Extended Primary Care, an Experienced Nurse Network, and the Covid Vaccination Programme.

Our mission is to improve health & care. We meet everyday health and care needs for people by connecting primary care systems and using creative thinking to develop, improve and support great local services.

Job responsibilities

Job Role - may include the following:

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).
• 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.

Repeat prescribing:

• Produce and implement a repeat prescribing policy.
• 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 to the GP. Monitor and manage patients with polypharmacy.

Telephone and patient facing medicines support:

• Provide a telephone help line for patients with questions, queries and concerns about their medicines.
• Hold clinics for patients requiring face-to-face medicines use reviews, i.e. advise about medicines and adherence support.

Medication review:

• Undertake clinical medication reviews with patients and produce recommendations for the GPs on prescribing and monitoring.

Care home medication reviews:

• Undertake clinical medication reviews with patients and produce recommendations for the GP on prescribing and monitoring.
• Work with care home staff to improve safety of medicines ordering and administration.

Domiciliary clinical medication review:

• Undertake clinical medication reviews with patients and produce recommendations for the GPs on prescribing and monitoring.
• See patients with single medical problems where medicine optimisation is required (e.g., COPD, asthma).
• Make recommendations to GPs for medicine improvements.
• Contribute pharmaceutical advice for the development and implementation of new services that have medicinal components (e.g., advise on treatment pathways and patient information leaflets).

Care Quality Commission:

• Work with the Federation and Member Practices to ensure compliance with CQC standards where medicines are involved.
• Undertake risk assessment and management and ensure compliance with medicines legislation.

Public health:

• To contribute to public health campaigns, including flu vaccinations and adult immunisation programmes.

Cost saving programmes:

• Undertake changes to medicines (switches) designed to save on medicine costs where a medicine or product with lower acquisition cost is now available.

Medicine information to practice staff and patients:

• Answers all medicine-related enquiries from GPs, other practice staff and patients with queries about medicines.

Information management:

• Analyse, interpret and present medicines data to highlight issues and risks to support decision making.
• Undertake simple audits of prescribing in areas directed by the GPs, feedback the results and implement changes in conjunction with the practice team.

Training:

• Provide education and training to primary healthcare team on therapeutics and medicines optimisation.

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 setting and maintaining a practice formulary that is hosted on the practice's computer system.
• Auditing practices compliance against NICE technology assessment guidance.
• Provide newsletters or bulletins on important prescribing messages.
• Implement changes to medicines that result from MHRA alerts, product withdrawal and other local and national guidance.

Person Specification

Experience

• Minimum 2 years post qualification experience in Pharmacy (Hospital, Primary Care or Community).
• Experience of / familiarity with clinical systems such as SystmOne/EMIS.
• Independent prescribing.

Skills and Knowledge

• In depth therapeutic and clinical knowledge and understanding of the principles of evidence-based healthcare.
• An appreciation of the nature of primary care prescribing, concepts of rational prescribing and strategies for improving prescribing.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Able to recognise priorities.
• Able to work under pressure and to meet deadlines.
• Work effectively independently and as a team member.
• Self-Motivation.
• Adaptable.
• Full Driving License / willingness to travel across patch.
• Mandatory training up to date.
• An appreciation of the nature of GPs and general practice.

Qualifications

• Pharmacy Degree
• Current GPhC registration
• Experience of / familiarity with clinical systems such as Emis

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.