Clinical Pharmacist inOxford inOxford PUBLISHED THU 24 OCT 2024

We are looking for a Clinical Pharmacist to join our pharmacy team of two. The ideal candidate would have a can-do attitude and lots of focus of team work.

Being a prescriber is not essential but previous experience in a GP would be a bonus

The postholder will provide primary support to general practice staff with regards to prescription and medication queries. They will help support the repeat prescriptions system, deal with acute prescription requests, medication 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 Practice

The postholder will ensure that the practice integrates with community and hospital pharmacy to help utilise the skill mix, improve patient outcomes, ensure better access to healthcare and help manage workload.

The post holder will work as part of a multi-disciplinary team in a patient facing role. 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 care homes and those with multiple co-morbidities.

About us

RESPONSIBILITIES

Clinical Duties

• Provide face to face clinical medication reviews for patients with single or
• multiple long term conditions including patients on multiple medications, focusing on single conditions as appropriate
• Provide support to patients to maximise the benefit from their medication
• Provide medication review to complex patients in their place of residence
• Manage a case load of patients presenting with common or self limiting
• minor ailments within the scope of practice signposting to appropriate community services
• Provide telephone support for patients with medication queries
• Discuss patients with long term needs at any local MDT meetings and refer
• to the named professional in line with recommendations
• Provide professional telephone and Email advice and support to patients and
• their carers
• Reconcile the medications of patients whose care is transferred back to primary care in a timely and effective manner liaising with patients and other providers to ensure patients receive appropriate medication on discharge
• Proactively engage with patients whose care has been transferred to reduce potential readmission including identifying and rectifying unexplained variation
• To maintain full and complete records of all patient contacts using appropriate clinical templates and coding.
• Provide feedback and seek advice from GPs for patients where the post holder has clinical concerns around competence to safely manage their medications
• Support the effective utilisation of the GP workforce
• Medicines Management and Repeat Prescribing
• Review the ongoing need for medications and make suitable recommendations to the registered GPs or amend within the scope of practice
• Manage requests to prescribe medication from specialists in line with locally agreed guidelines
• Work with the Practice to ensure that safe and effective systems for the repeat prescribing of medication are developed and maintained making recommendations on the reduction of potential wastage
• Set up systems to ensure the effective and continuous supply of medication to high risk patients
• Set up systems to ensure safe and effective management of high risk medication
• Implement changes to medicines in line with MHRA alerts, produce withdrawal and other local or national guidance
• Support the practice with the implementation of appropriate NICE guidance in line with local agreements
• Support the practice by ensuring compliance with local guidelines
• Advise patients on effective techniques required for the use of medication delivered by devices
• Refer patients to their community pharmacist for support with using their medicines
• Update patient medication records in line with incoming clinical correspondence
• Take monitoring observations and record in the patient record such as blood pressure, peak flow rate and urine dip stick
• Make appropriate prescribing decisions and/or recommendations based on clinical information obtained during consultation or in the patients record

Audit and Risk Stratification

• Participate in the effective care planning and management of high risk patients as part of the multi disciplinary team
• Participate in audit activities in the Primary Care Network and within the practice to optimise the use of prescribing resource
• Feedback results of clinical audit activities in areas agreed with GPs and implement recommendations and completing full audit cycle
• Make recommendations based on the outcomes of audit and shared learning activities
• Proactively identify and recall patients due for medication review ensuring all appropriate monitoring tests are performed
• Analyse, interpret and present prescribing information at practice and population level to supportive effective decision making and change in evidence based clinical practice

Other Duties

• Liaise with other pharmacists based in the community and acute settings to ensure an integrated and robust service to patients
• Support the development of integrated care across the Primary Care Network
• Adhere to relevant policies and procedures as outlined on GPTeamNet
• Provide training and education on therapeutic and medicines optimisation within the practice or Primary Care Network
• Support public health campaigns at national and local level
• Work with the Practice to ensure full compliance with the Care Quality Commission for safe and effective care
• Oversight and leadership of all IIF targets that have a prescribing component to it
• This is more than just the section headed Medication in the spec prescribing related things feature in several other areas of IFF eg sustainable
• Running the relevant audits/searches, developing our plans, template letters etc and advising the individual practices on what they need to do in house to meet the targets and then monitoring progress during the year
• Oversight and leadership of Network activities that feature in QOF and relate to prescribing. For the current year this would be the work on Prescription Drug Dependency.
• Oversight and leadership of Prescribing Quality Scheme (prev known as PIS)
• Receiving all MHRA alerts and making decision on whether action required. Circulating alert (and action plan if required) to practices when necessary.

Personal Development and Training

The post-holder will participate in any training programme implemented by the Practice as part of this employment, 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
• Attendance or completion of all Mandatory and Statutory training requirements as indicated by the Compliance Manager

Quality

The post-holder 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 whilst embracing the practices ethos of recording of any errors or near misses and learning by mistakes without blame
• 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

Health and Safety

The Pharmacist will assist in promoting and maintaining their own and others health, safety and security as defined in the Health and Safety Policy

Equality and Diversity

The post-holder will support the equality, diversity and rights of patients, carers and colleagues, to include:

• Acting in a way that recognises 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.

Confidentiality

• In the course of seeking treatment, patients entrust us with, or allow us to gather, sensitive information in relation to their health and other matters. They do so in confidence and have the right to expect that staff will respect their privacy and act appropriately
• In the performance of the duties outlined in this Job Description, the post-holder may 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. All such information from any source is to be regarded as strictly confidential
• 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