Primary Care Network Clinical Pharmacist

Primary Care Network Clinical Pharmacist Acton Primary Care Network (PCN) is seeking an experienced Clinical Pharmacist to join our team to work across our network practices in a dynamic role. The successful candidate will play a crucial role in delivering a high-quality medicines optimisation and management service to patients with chronic diseases. Additionally, they will work towards meeting various local and national enhanced service delivery specifications, aiming to improve patient care.

As a Clinical Pharmacist, you will be ensuring that our network practices have robust governance systems and processes in place to manage patient care effectively. Your focus will be on safe prescribing, monitoring of higher risk drugs, management of long-term conditions, and early detection of potential missed diagnoses, aligning with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) standards.

Acton PCN comprises 13 GP practices, serving a population of 80,000 patients. We pride ourselves on our well established and collaborative inter practice relationships, with a shared goal of improving the health and outcomes of our patients within the local community.

We are seeking a motivated and passionate individual who is dedicated to delivering excellent service within the general practice setting. If you are enthusiastic about making a positive impact on patient care and thrive in a dynamic healthcare 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 network practices, which may complement the existing clinical pharmacists in their roles. You will have a designated cohort of patients who may have medication queries or require medication reviews, and you will take the lead in designing and delivering a service specifically tailored to their needs. Additionally, you 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.

Ensuring 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.

As the post holder, you will be expected to lead in implementing and managing MHRA and drug safety alerts and updates. Using appropriate searches, you will identify patient cohorts within the network to ensure safe practices and promptly communicate necessary updates or changes to the practice teams.

About us Ealing GP Federation is a prominent membership organisation that represents 72 general practices within the London Borough of Ealing. Our mission is to provide comprehensive support and guidance to our member practices, enabling them to deliver high quality care to their patients.

As an organisation, we value the well being and work life balance of our employees. We offer a generous annual leave entitlement of 25 days, and we provide flexibility for leave to be carried over when necessary. We understand the importance of continuous learning and personal development, which is why we also offer up to 5 days of study leave to support our staff in pursuing further education or professional qualifications.

Acton PCN, one of our well established networks, comprises 13 general practices that work collaboratively to improve patient outcomes and deliver excellent healthcare services. The network has fostered strong relationships among its staff members, creating a supportive and collaborative working environment.

At Ealing GP Federation and Acton PCN, we are committed to nurturing the professional growth and well being of our employees. We provide a supportive infrastructure, access to training opportunities, and a culture that promotes teamwork and mutual support.

Job responsibilities Key Dutiesand Responsibilities

1. 1. Riskstratification
   
   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.
2. 3. Managepatients 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.
3. 4. Medicationreviews
   
   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.
4. 5. Pathology
   
   Request and manage the results for the cohort of patients under your care in a safe and timely way.
5. 6. Medicinessafety 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.
6. 7. Servicedevelopment
   
   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.
7. 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.
8. 9. Meetings
   
   Attend MDT, Network, Practice, ICB and Federation meetings as required. Being prepared to contribute to Network pharmacy issues as appropriate.
9. 10. OversightNetwork 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.
10. 11. Relationships
    
    To foster and maintain good relationships between, within and outside the Practices involved in the network.
11. 12. Populationand Public Health
    
    To devise and manage population and public health campaigns to run within the network if required.
12. 13. Medicineinformation 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.
13. 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.
14. 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.
15. 16. Implementationof local and national guidelines and formulary recommendations
    
    Monitor practice prescribing against the local health economies RAGlist 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 NICEs 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

• 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.
• 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 . click apply for full job details