Clinical Pharmacist

Elmtree Surgery is seeking an accomplished and enthusiastic Independent Prescriber Clinical Pharmacist to join its friendly, forward thinking, and well established practice.

The successful postholder will play a key role in supporting the delivery of services for patients with new and long term health conditions, contributing to high quality, patient centred care across the practice.

The post is fulltime, working 37.5 hours across five days per week.

If you are an independent prescriber who is passionate about making a positive impact on patient care and thrive in a dynamic primary care environment, we encourage you to apply.

Main duties of the job

The successful candidate will have responsibilities that include overseeing the repeat prescribing process within the practice, will have a cohort of patients who may have medication queries or require medication reviews, and will take the lead in designing and delivering a service specifically tailored to their needs. Additionally, the candidate will be responsible for conducting review clinics for patients with chronic diseases such as Asthma, COPD, Pre‑Diabetes, Diabetes, Hypertension, and Heart Failure. These clinics may be conducted face‑to‑face, through telephone consultations, or via video calls.

The successful candidate will ensure safe prescribing practices, monitoring higher risk drugs, managing long‑term conditions, and identifying potential missed diagnoses in accordance with CQC standards. It is an ongoing process that requires continuous vigilance and management.

About us

Elmtrees surgery is part of Northolt, Greenford and Perivale PCN, one of the well‑established networks, comprising of 11 general practices that work collaboratively to improve patient outcomes and deliver excellent health‑care services. The network has fostered strong relationships among its staff members, creating a supportive and collaborative working environment.

Elmtrees surgery is committed to nurturing the professional growth and well‑being of their employees. They provide a supportive infrastructure, access to training opportunities, and a culture that promotes teamwork and mutual support.

Job responsibilities

• Design, develop and implement computer searches to identify cohorts of patients with chronic disease who need review and medicines optimisation.
• Manage own case‑load. Do the necessary checks for QOF and Ealing Standard, entering the data correctly on the computer system. Implement improvements to the patients medication and prescribing independently where necessary.
• 3. Manage patients holistically
• Where patients have more than one condition; reviewing co‑morbidities in the same appointment and updating QOF and Ealing Standard as appropriate. Referring to other members of the Primary Health Care team and Secondary Care as necessary.
• 4. Medication reviews
• Undertake structured medication reviews with patients with multimorbidity and polypharmacy and implement own prescribing changes (as an independent prescriber) and order relevant monitoring tests. Provide a telephone support for patients with questions, queries and concerns about their medicines and deliver medicines reconciliation from secondary care recommendations.
• 5. Pathology
• Request and manage the results for the cohort of patients under your care in a safe and timely way.
• 6. Medicines safety and quality improvement
• Identify and provide leadership on areas of prescribing requiring improvement. Conduct own audits and improvement projects and work with colleagues. Present results and provide leadership on suggested change. Demonstrate continuous QI activity focused upon prescribing safety as specified in the QOF guidance. This work for example might include deliver against the prescribing indicators in the Impact Investment Fund (IIF). Contribute to national and local research initiatives.
• Develop and manage new services that are built around new medicines or NICE guidance, where new medicine/recommendations allow the development of a new care pathway.
• 8. Care Quality Commission
• Provide leadership to the practice manager and GPs to ensure the practice is compliant with CQC standards where medicines are involved as part of the regulatory role of this position.
• 9. Meetings
• Attend MDT, Network, Practice, ICB and Federation meetings as required. Being prepared to contribute to Network pharmacy issues as appropriate.
• 10. Oversight Network Pharmacy issues
• In addition to a clinical specialism this role involves oversight of prescribing across the two network practices and requires the ability to prepare and present reports as required.
• 11. Relationships
• To foster and maintain good relationships between, within and outside the Practices involved in the network.
• 12. Population and Public Health
• To devise and manage population and public health campaigns to run within the network if required.
• 13. Medicine information to practice staff and patients
• Answer all medicine related enquiries from GPs, other practice staff and patients with queries about medicines. Suggesting and recommending solutions. Providing follow up for patients to monitor the effect of any changes.
• 14. Flexibility
• To understand that this is a new and evolving role which may change with the needs of the Network. To be willing to change and the facilitate change in others and the system to promote quality care.
• 15. Training
• Provide education and training to primary healthcare team on therapeutics and medicines optimisation. Provide training to visiting medical, nursing and other healthcare students where appropriate.
• 16. Implementation of local and national guidelines and formulary recommendations
• Monitor practice prescribing against the local health economies 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’s 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.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• CPPE Qualification or working towards it. Excellent communication and consultation skills both verbal (face to face and phone) and written. Places patients and relatives at the center of all decisions regarding their care. Can deliver clinics within appropriate time frames. Develops and uses skills to take an appropriate history uses clinical examination skills and recognises common presentations and red flags treating or referring appropriately. Can prioritise workload. Refers to seniors and GPs when appropriate recognises personal limitations. Demonstrates problem solving skills. Conveys complex and sensitive information in an appropriate way for target audience. Expert level understanding of therapeutics and clinical pharmacy. Experienced in level 3 review and management of complex multimorbidity, polypharmacy and medicines optimisation. Uses rational evidence based methods in prescribing and medication review. Demonstrates expertise in managing long term health conditions, by reviewing, care planning, motivational lifestyle advice monitoring and optimisation. Makes accurate contemporaneous succinct and cogent records in patient notes. Manages risk and takes actions to minimise risk. Ability to use local clinical IT systems, can access patient data, run searches, understands read codes pathology and other functionality. Understands and utilises ePACT and other prescribing data for the improvement of patient care and governance of prescribing. Use and consider local policies such as red lists scriptswitch and shared care arrangements. Promotes safe and effective use of electronic prescribing. Engages in appropriate CPD development and maintains critically reflective practice. Understands implications of medicines licensing particularly in relation to specials liquids and medical devices and appliances. Deals with incidents and complaints sensitively appropriately and assertively. Respects equality and diversity and understands whistle blowing procedures. Follows legal, ethical, professional policies and practices. Has knowledge and understanding of the governance and regulatory frameworks in primary care.
• Recognises the roles of other colleagues within the practice and their role to patient care. Demonstrates use of appropriate communication to gain the cooperation of relevant stakeholders including patients, senior and peer colleagues and other professionals, other NHS or private organisations. Understanding of General Practice and GPs role in primary care. Is able to recognise personal limitations and refer to more appropriate colleague(s) when necessary. Liaises with colleagues including ICB and STP IIS Pharmacists on prescribing related matters to ensure consistency of patient care and benefit. Liaises with colleagues including ICB and STP IIS Pharmacists and Heads of Medicines Management/ Optimisation to benefit from peer support. Liaises with network GP Practices and neighbouring networks as needed for the collective benefit of patients. Has an experience/awareness of the breadth of common acute and long term conditions that are likely to be seen in a general medical practice. Minimum of 2 years post graduate experience in pharmacy as demonstrated within a practice portfolio. Able to plan, manage, monitor, advise and review general pharmaceutical care programmes for patients across core areas including disease states long term conditions. Accountable for delivering professional expertise and direct service provision. Uses skills in a range of routine situations requiring analysis or comparison of a range of options. Recognises priorities when problem solving and identifies deviations from normal pattern and is able to refer to seniors or GPs when appropriate. Able to follow legal ethical professional and organisational policies, procedures and codes of conduct. Involves patients in decisions about prescribed medicines and supporting adherence as per NICE guidelines. Understands provision of services clinics and specialities within local areas and within networks. Provides medicines information and training. Works as part of team and promotes utilisation of skill mix. Works under pressure and can meet deadlines. Accountable for own practice. Liaises successfully with colleagues in community pharmacy, ICB, secondary care, and private practice. Able to refer appropriately to other health care professionals. Can work as part of a multi‑disciplinary team. Engages with pharmacy professional bodies. Follows organisational policies and practices.

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.

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