Senior Clinical Pharmacist

Job content

CLINICAL RESPONSIBILITIES Identify patients requiring medication review and conduct appropriate medication review clinics or home visits if required by the organisation/practices and liaise with carers, Community Health teams or social care staff in order to optimise drug therapy, reduce polypharmacy and minimise unnecessary waste, communicating directly with patients as necessary. Provide medicines and long term disease advice and support to GP practice staff, practice registered patients, and the wider practice team such as community staff (district nurses, mid-wifes, and physiotherapists) where appropriate. Help support the safe and effective operation of the prescribing system in the GP practice, including updating repeat medication regimes, issuing of appropriate acute prescriptions, ordering relevant laboratory testing, and where necessary completing patient referrals (for example audiology, x-ray, diabetes prevention schemes). Deal with appropriate patient presentations, such as minor illnesses, without direct GP involvement/ Provide pharmaceutical input to chronic disease management, as appropriate Provide make every contact count public health education interventions to patients.

Provide pharmaceutical support to a designated group of GP practices or care settings to enable them to develop, implement and monitor an agreed prescribing plan which meets the objectives of the medicines management plan. Assist practices/ care settings in developing formularies, guidelines and policies to ensure the implementation of NICE guidelines, National Service Frameworks and the requirements of the medicines-related aspects of the GMS contract. Advise GPs, care staff and primary health care teams on risk management processes relating to the prescribing and monitoring of specialist drugs e.g. controlled drugs and those subject to shared care arrangements.

Support practices to review specific areas of prescribing, specified by the line management or identified with the GP prescribing lead, including the interpretation of e-PACT data and the use of practice information to review prescribing and identify areas for action. Assist with the development and ongoing review of practice policy with regard to repeat prescribing systems and repeat dispensing to encourage the implementation of prescribing guidance and monitoring guidelines where appropriate. Liaise with Community Pharmacists to encourage them to reinforce changes made, encouraging them to identify savings which can be achieved with regard to generics, dose optimisations etc. and to assist in building their relationship with the practice.

Answer any medicine related queries from GPs, care settings, practice staff, PALS, social care staff and the general public in a timely and appropriate manner, using professional judgement where specific guidance is unavailable. Provide advice and support to improve the disease registers within each practice to ensure all suitable patients are identified and offered suitable treatment and monitoring for their condition. Facilitate and participate in multi-disciplinary meetings related to prescribing topics and to engage in the training of other healthcare professionals and practice staff on matters relating to medicines usage. Attend primary/secondary care interface meetings in designated specialist therapeutic areas to improve the cost effective and evidence based use of medicines across locality and develop links with the hospital pharmacists involved in these areas.

Undertake clinical audits of prescribing in areas identified by yourself and agreed by the PCN or as directed by the PCN, feedback the results and implement changes in conjunction with the relevant practice team. Undertake any other duties appropriate to the grade as allocated by line management Act as professional lead for strategic support and delivery of network DES at a population level. Proposals will be lead by the Senior Clinical Pharmacist and worked up with members of the network senior leadership team (i.e. Clinical Pharmacist Lead and Strategic Ops Manager) before being presented to the board for approval.

The senior clinical pharmacist will lead approved projects for various DES or IIF domains, including enhancing care in care homes. They will be accountable for the population level delivery of agreed DES and actively support other members of the pharmacy team via professional supervision to become upskilled members of practice level MDTs. Responsibilities for physical and financial resources Contribute to, and promote the delivery of, safe, effective and cost efficient prescribing across primary and secondary care to achieve the most effective use of the medicines resource at both practice level and across the entire health economy Analyse and use web based prescribing data (PACT and e-PACT) at practice to facilitate appropriate prescribing habits and keep drug budgets within limits. Evaluate this information to identify areas of increased expenditure and advise on actions to be taken to ensure prescribing is cost effective and evidence based.

Evaluate GP practices position with respect to QOF or other incentive schemes including achievement of both financial and quality targets and communicate this to practices updating the plan with the practice. Support in the development of other members of the clinical pharmacy team to replicate projects to support these incentive schemes in their own practice and project manage delivery Be responsible for the correct use and security of all equipment, information and data used. Support the delivery of medication and prescribing elements of the Impact and Investment Fund programme across the East PCN GP practices. Communications and leadership Be required to communicate information, sometimes complex, to a wide range of individuals and groups with different levels of understanding using a well developed range of verbal and written skills.

Provide written reports on therapeutic topics and summaries of clinical evidence for doctors as well as devising easily understood information for patients and practice staff. Demonstrate tact, diplomacy and negotiating skills to engage with doctors to persuade them to work towards objectives, overcoming resistance to change. Develop good working relationships with the whole range of practice staff and a network of contacts within the locality and secondary care to provide problem-solving advice on a wide range of matters relating to medicines. Advise community pharmacists in the vicinity of where prescribing and medicines management developments and/or changes are planned so they may anticipate the impact on their pharmacies and give a consistent message to patients.

Work in a discreet and professional manner, respecting and maintaining the confidentiality of patient specific and prescribing data (both at practice and organisational/locality wide level). Be aware of, and monitor, the advice given to practices by representatives of the pharmaceutical industry and to counter the impact of inappropriate information to prescribers. Provide mentoring, coaching and professional supervision to other members of the clinical pharmacy team. Directly provide professional support to junior members of the pharmacy team and work in conjunction with the locality lead to deliver the PCN Network contract requirements for professional development/support across the network.

Actively work with the Clinical Pharmacist Locality Lead to ensure all members of the pharmacy team receive appropriate supervision. Provide expert insight, leadership and specialism in a given clinical area of interest at a PCN level. Actively lead quality improvement in this area, linking in with financial incentives where relevant (e.g. leading for a given network DES within the purview of a specialisation) Deputise where necessary to the locality lead pharmacist for strategic meetings, projects and working groups.

Lead on a devolved number of projects as agreed with the locality lead. Policy and Service Development Support the development of prescribing policy in individual practices and care settings, the implementation of that policy and be involved in the development of policy in discreet areas of prescribing, involving working with clinicians in both primary and secondary care Produce best practice policies, protocols and SOPs for review by the clinical pharmacist lead and PCN board for adoption at a practice level across the network Planning and organising Be able to prioritise and meet set deadlines particularly when under pressure. Take the delegated lead responsibility for specific projects or key specialist areas of pharmacy practice as identified by line management. Organise and manage their personal workload in the face of competing priorities, managing their own time effectively and working closely with a range of practice staff and the administration and technical staff in the Medicines Management department.

Record and report to line management and practices on the work undertaken and the benefits produced, in a timely manner, using tools such as Microsoft Word, Excel, and e-mail. Analysis and data management Critically appraise information from drug industry to inform other staff members and healthcare professionals in practices. Assist in analysing medicines data, including interpreting e-PACT data (web-based electronic prescribing data analysis system) and providing reports at practice level for designated practices. Actively identify quality improvement areas based on practice level prescribing data across the PCN; propose neighbourhood and PCN level projects and provide professional leadership and accountability to project manage those projects approved by the PCN board or pharmacist lead.

For more information on key duties and responsibilities, please find attached the full job description.