Primary Care Senior Clinical Pharmacist

NHS Jobs; Greater London; On-site; GBP 52,000 - 62,000; Full time

Job summary

The Argyle Surgery in London seeks an experienced pharmacist to act as an autonomous clinician and senior member of the pharmacy team. The role combines advanced clinical practice, medicines optimisation, independent prescribing, quality improvement and service development within a thriving primary care setting.

You will work closely with GPs and the multidisciplinary team to improve patient outcomes, deliver safe care and support the development of junior pharmacists and technicians.

Qualifications

• Experienced pharmacist acting as autonomous clinician and senior member of the pharmacy team.
• Registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council.
• Independent prescribing qualifications and ongoing professional development.
• Experience in primary care/pharmacy integration and service development.

Responsibilities

• Independently manage patients with long-term conditions, undertake reviews, optimise medicines and prescribe within scope of competence.
• Undertake structured medication reviews for patients with polypharmacy and complex needs.
• Manage caseload for common/minor/self-limiting ailments within scope of practice.
• Provide medicines advice clinics, answer medicine-related enquiries from GPs, staff and patients, and offer follow-up on changes.
• Reconcile medicines on discharge and ensure continuity of medicines supply to high-risk groups.
• Lead on medicines safety, audits and quality improvement initiatives within the practice.

Skills

Independent prescribing

Medicines optimisation

Clinical pharmacist

Leadership

General practice

Education

Pharmacist degree

Job description

Job Summary

The post holder is an experienced pharmacist who acts within their professional boundaries as an autonomous clinician and senior member of the pharmacy team at The Argyle Surgery. The role combines advanced clinical practice, medicines optimisation, independent prescribing, quality improvement and service development. The post holder will work closely with GPs, Advanced Nurse Practitioners and the wider multidisciplinary team to improve patient outcomes and deliver safe, effective and patient-centred care. As a senior member of the pharmacy team, the post holder will support the development of the Clinical Pharmacist, Prescription Technician and Foundation Trainee Pharmacists. The successful candidate will be supported by an experienced Chief Pharmacist as well as the Clinical Lead and will contribute to the continued development of pharmacy services within the practice.

Patient facing long term condition clinics

Independently manage patients with long-term conditions, undertake reviews, optimise medicines and prescribe within scope of competence.

Structured Medication Reviews

Undertake structured medication reviews for patients with polypharmacy and complex needs.

Management of common/minor/self- limiting ailments

Managing caseload for 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

Differential/ Undifferential diagnosis

Manage own caseload for patients and diagnosis people with long term and/or acute/common conditions/ailments while remaining within scope of practice and limits of competence. Referring to GP and/or other healthcare professionals where appropriate

Patient facing medicines support

Provide face-to-face and remote medicines advice clinics. Medicine information to practice staff and patients Answers all medicinerelated enquiries from GPs, other practice staff, other healthcare teams (e.g. community pharmacy) and patients with queries about medicines. Suggesting and recommending solutions. Providing follow up for patients to monitor the effect of any changes.

Unplanned hospital admissions

Implement practice searches to identify cohorts of patients most likely to be at risk of an unplanned admission and readmissions from medicines. Work with case managers, multidisciplinary (health and social care) review teams, hospital colleagues and virtual ward teams to manage medicines-related risk for readmission and patient harm. Put in place changes to reduce the prescribing of these medicines to high-risk patient groups.

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. Manage these changes without referral to a GP Perform a clinical medication review, produce a post discharge medicines care plan including dose titration and booking of follow up tests and working with patients and community pharmacists to ensure patients receive the medicines they need post discharge and working with patients and community pharmacists to ensure patients receive the medicines they need post discharge. 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). Work in partnership with hospital colleagues (e.g. care of the elderly doctors and clinical pharmacists) to proactively manage patients at high risk of medicine related problems before they are discharged to ensure continuity of care. Train more junior pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and trainees on high quality medicines reconciliation.

Telephone triage

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 test results, common/minor ailments, acute conditions, long term condition reviews etc.

Repeat prescribing

Engage with practice repeat prescribing policy use and improvement. Manage the repeat prescribing reauthorisation process by reviewing patient requests for repeat prescriptions and reviewing medicines reaching review dates;, and ensure patients are booked in for necessary monitoring tests and reviews where required.

Risk stratification

Design, development and implementation of computer searches to identify cohorts of patients at high risk of harm from medicines. Responsibility for management of risk stratification tools on behalf of the practice. Working with patients and the primary care team to minimise risks through medicines optimisation.

Service development

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

Antibiotic Stewardship

Promotion of evidence-based practice and interventions to encourage adherence with prevailing antimicrobial prescribing policy. Work closely with organisation, ICB & PCN leads to identify areas where are reduction in inappropriate prescribing of antimicrobials is high priority.

Information management

Analyse, interpret and present medicines data to highlight issues and risks to support decision-making.

Medicines Quality Improvement Programmes

Identify and provide leadership on areas of prescribing and medicines improvements. Conduct clinical audits and improve projects or work with colleagues such as GP registrars, practice managers etc. Undertake QI & audits of prescribing in areas directed by the Partners or Chief Pharmacist, feedback the results and implement changes in conjunction with the practice team. Present results and provide leadership on suggested changes. Contribute to national and local research initiatives.

Medicines safety

Identify national and local policy and guidance that affects patient safety through the use of medicines, including MHRA alerts, product withdrawals and emerging evidence form clinical trials. Encourage reporting of medicines safety issues and clinical interventions in line with NRLS and local reporting mechanisms. Manage the process of implementing changes to medicines and guidance for practitioners.

Care Quality Commission

Provide leadership to the general practice team to ensure the practice is compliant with CQC standards where medicines are involved. Undertake risk assessment and management and ensure compliance with medicines legislation.

Implementation of local and national guidelines and formulary recommendations

Monitor practice prescribing against the local health economys RAG list for medicines that should be prescribed by hospital doctors (red drugs) or subject to shared care (amber drugs). Liaise directly with hospital colleagues where prescribing needs to be returned to specialists. Assist practices in setting and maintaining a practice formulary that is hosted on the practices computer system. Suggest and develop computer decision support tools to help remind prescribers about the agreed formulary choice and local recommendations. Auditing practices compliance against NICE technology assessment guidance. Provide newsletters on important prescribing messages to improve prescribers knowledge and work with the team to develop and implement other techniques known to influence implementation of evidence such as audit and feedback.

Education and Training

Proactively devise, lead and provide education and training to junior pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, trainees and primary healthcare team on therapeutics and medicines optimisation.

Public health

To support public health campaigns. To provide specialist knowledge on all public health programmes available to general public.