SENIOR CLINICAL PHARMACIST

at  Wokingham North PCN

We are looking for a very experienced pharmacist to work as part of a multi-disciplinary team in a clinical role and will have senior leadership responsibilities. They will manage a team of Clinical Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians across the 3 practices. Provide clinical supervision, training, support and mentorship. Set objectives within the team that match both the professional development of each team member and the priorities of the three surgeries.
They will develop the clinical skills of the Pharmacy Team within their scope of practice and allocate work accordingly, with direction from the 3 practices. 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, especially for older people, people in residential care homes and those with multiple co-morbidities. 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, medicine 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 practices. They will provide clinical leadership on medicines optimisation and quality improvement, manage some aspects of the quality and outcomes framework (QOF) and enhanced services and contribute to the delivery of the local medicines optimisation strategy.
They will ensure that the practices liaise with community and hospital pharmacy to help utilise 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 requires motivation and passion to deliver excellent service within general practice. Primary Duties and Areas of Responsibility Long-term condition patients -Telephone consultations with patients with multimorbidities and, in partnership with primary healthcare colleagues, implement improvements to patients medicines. Development of long-term condition patient facing clinics, including participation in group consultations.
Review the on-going need for each medicine to ensure they get the best use of their medicines. Support achievement of relevant QOF, QIPP, PQS and IIF targets. Clinical Medication Review -Undertake clinical medication reviews with patients with multimorbidity and polypharmacy and care home residents. Implement own prescribing changes (as an independent prescriber) and order relevant monitoring tests.
Support and develop the clinical pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to be able to carry out medication reviews within their scope of practice. Patient facing medicines support -Develop patient facing clinics for the Pharmacy Team for patients with questions, queries and concerns about their medicines in the practice. Telephone medicines support -Provide telephone support for patients with questions, queries and concerns about their medicines. Medicine information to practice staff and patients -Act as a source of medicines information for all the practice team and patients and suggest and recommend solutions.
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 highrisk groups of patients (e.g. those with medicine compliance aids or in care homes). Work in partnership with hospital and local provider 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. Signposting -Ensuring that patients are referred to the appropriate healthcare professional for the right care, with an emphasis on training reception teams to help with pathways and liaising with external facilitators where necessary to improve processes. Ensuring that the addition of the pharmacist to the clinical team results in a reduction in workload for other clinicians. Unplanned Hospital Admissions -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. Repeat prescribing -Produce and implement a practice 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. Ensure patients have appropriate monitoring tests in place when required.
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 from clinical trials. Manage the process of implementing changes to medicines and guidance for practitioners. Medicines Quality Improvement Programme -Working with colleagues, identify and provide leadership on areas of prescribing and medicines optimisation. Conduct clinical audits and medicine optimisation projects or work with colleagues such as GP registrars, practice managers etc., 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. Frailty -Take a leading role in the contractual requirements to support frail patients with their medication including medication review and patient identification Work with the ICB to implement local and national guidelines including NICE etc. Liaise with hospital colleagues where prescribing needs to be returned to specialists.
Education and Training -Provide education and training to primary healthcare team on therapeutics and medicines optimisation. Provide training to visiting medical, nursing, pharmacy and other healthcare students where appropriate. Supervision -Provide support and mentorship to junior clinical pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. Care Quality Commission -Work with the general practice team to ensure the practice is compliant with CQC standards where medicines are involved.
Undertake risk assessment and ensure compliance with medicines legislation. Public Health -To support public health campaigns. Communication -They should recognise the importance of effective communication within the team and will strive to: Communicate effectively with other team members Communicate effectively with patients and carers Recognise peoples needs for alternative methods of communication and respond accordingly. Confidentiality -They will have access to confidential information relating to patients and their carers, practice staff and other healthcare workers.
They may also have access to information relating to the practice as a business organisation. Information relating to patients, carers, colleagues, other healthcare workers or the business of the practice may only be divulged to authorised persons in accordance with the practice policies and procedures relating to confidentiality and the protection of personal and sensitive data Health & safety -They will implement and lead a full range of promotion and management of their own and others health and safety and infection control as defined in the practice Health & Safety policy, the practice Health & Safety manual, and the practice Infection Control policy and published procedures. Equality and diversity -They will support the equality, diversity and rights of patients, carers and colleagues, to include: Acting in a way that recognizes the importance of peoples rights, interpreting them in a way that is consistent with practice procedures and policies, and current legislation Respecting the privacy, dignity, needs and beliefs of patients, carers and colleagues Behaving in a manner which is welcoming to and of the individual, is non-judgmental and respects their circumstances, feelings priorities and rights. Personal/Professional development -They will participate in any training programme implemented by the practice as part of this employment, with such training to include: Participation in an annual individual performance review, including taking responsibility for maintaining a record of own personal and/or professional development Taking responsibility for own development, learning and performance and demonstrating skills and activities to others who are undertaking similar work Quality -They will strive to maintain quality within the practice, and will: Alert other team members to issues of quality and risk Assess own performance and take accountability for own actions, either directly or under supervision Contribute to the effectiveness of the team by reflecting on own and team activities and making suggestions on ways to improve and enhance the teams performance Work effectively with individuals in other agencies to meet patients needs Effectively manage own time, workload and resources Contribution to the Implementation of Service Apply practice policies, standards and guidance Discuss with other members of the team how the policies, standards and guidelines will affect own work Participate in audit where appropriate Additional responsibilities for practice participating in the Dispensing Services Quality Scheme.
Staff competency recording,development and maintenance of standard operating procedures, andrecording and analysis of medication dispensing and prescribing significant events

Please refer the Job description for details