Clinical Pharmacist in Bury St Edmunds

Main duties of the job

• Key Responsibilities

• Medication review: Deliver a programme of structured medication review for the practices, to include patients with multi‑morbidity and polypharmacy or complex health needs.
• Care Home Review: Undertake clinical medication review for patients residing in care homes, working with the Pharmacy Technicians and care home staff to improve safety of medicines ordering and administration, and ensure safe transfer of care.
• Identify cohorts of patients at high risk of harm from medicines. Risks may be patient related, medicine related or both.
• Support practices with medication reconciliation following discharge from hospitals, through intermediate care and on admission to care homes, ensuring changes are actioned and implemented, and communicated in a timely manner.
• Advanced Care Planning: Work with case managers, hospital colleagues, Practice teams and Community Pharmacy as part of the neighbourhood multidisciplinary health and social care team to manage medicine related risk for re‑admission and patient harm.
• Long term conditions: Support the management of long term conditions as specified in the Pharmacy Workplan. Advise practices in the network, regarding medicine safety alerts, such as MHRA alerts, product withdrawal and other local and National Guidance.
• Quality Improvement: Work with practices to demonstrate continuous Quality Improvement.

About us

Bury GP Federation (BGPF) is a federation of 23 GP practices within Bury, Greater Manchester, providing a platform for collaboration, knowledge‑sharing and co‑ordination. Through working at scale, we redirect resources into delivering at‑scale support, relieving capacity pressures and enabling local general practice to maintain high standards of care for patients and to keep pace with best practice.

Job responsibilities

The post holder will work, within their professional boundaries, as part of a multidisciplinary team, across practices within the network. They will conduct clinical medication review to proactively manage patients with complex polypharmacy, including frail elderly and vulnerable adults as identified by the practices, and other members of the integrated neighbourhood teams. They will ensure that they consider medicine optimisation, medicine safety, antibiotic stewardship and de‑prescribing agendas as part of any structured medication review. They will integrate with the wider healthcare teams, including Community and Hospital Pharmacy and Intermediate Care colleagues, communicating and implementing medication changes as appropriate.

Key Working Relationships

• Work collaboratively with the Senior Pharmacist and GP Practice leads within the Primary Care network.
• Work as part of the Neighbourhood Multi‑disciplinary team, to provide Pharmacy Professional expertise.
• Work with Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians within the Pharmacy team to deliver the workplan.
• Work with Community Pharmacy colleagues to ensure consistency of patient care.
• Liaise with sub ICB colleagues including Medicine Optimisation Pharmacists and Technicians on prescribing related matters to ensure consistency of patient care.
• Liaise with Hospital Staff including Pharmacists and Intermediate Care staff to ensure smooth transfer of care.
• Liaise with other PCN Pharmacists in neighbouring networks as needed for the collective benefit of patients, and to provide continuity of service.
• Liaise with Practice Pharmacists to ensure complementary working and to avoid duplication of effort.
• Engage with Local Professional Networks to benefit from Peer support and enhance collaborative working relationships.

Key Responsibilities

• Medication review – undertake structured medication review with patients with multi‑morbidity and polypharmacy or complex health needs.
• Implement prescribing changes, within own prescribing competences, liaising with other prescribers as appropriate.
• Care home review – undertake clinical medication review for patients residing in care homes, working with the Pharmacy Technicians and care home staff to improve safety of medicines ordering and administration, and ensure safe transfer of care.
• Risk stratification – identify cohorts of patients at high risk of harm from medicines.
• Support practices with medicine reconciliation following discharge from hospitals, through intermediate care and on admission to care homes, ensuring changes are actioned and implemented, and communicated in a timely manner.
• Manage medicine related risk for re‑admission and patient harm in collaboration with case managers, hospital colleagues, Practice teams and Community Pharmacy.
• Long term conditions – support the management of long‑term conditions as specified in the Pharmacy Workplan.
• Advise practices in the network, regarding medicine safety alerts, such as MHRA alerts, product withdrawal and other local and National Guidance.
• Quality Improvement – work with practices to demonstrate continuous Quality Improvement, conduct audit and implement changes in collaboration with the Practice teams within the network.
• Ensure compliance with CQC standards where medicines are involved – provide advice and support to practices in the network regarding compliance with CQC standards where medicines are involved.
• Repeat Prescribing – record medication review within patient electronic record and update prescription record as appropriate and in accordance with Repeat Prescribing policy.
• Education and Training – provide education and training to patients and the primary healthcare team on therapeutics and medicine optimisation.

Leadership

• Demonstrate an understanding of the Pharmacy role in governance and be able to implement this appropriately within the workplace.
• Demonstrate an understanding of, and contribute to, the workplace vision.
• Demonstrate ability to improve quality within the limitations of service.
• Demonstrate ability to lead a team and provide support to colleagues with differing abilities.
• Understand and demonstrate the characteristics of a role model to members in the team/service.
• Demonstrate ability to motivate self to achieve goals.
• Demonstrate understanding of and conform to relevant standards of practice.

Management

• Provide direct line management to members of the team as delegated by the Lead Pharmacist.
• Support the Lead Pharmacist to demonstrate ability to extend boundaries of service delivery within the team.
• Follow professional and organisational policy relating to performance management.
• Support the Lead Pharmacist to review progress and develop plans to achieve results within priorities set by others.
• Understand resource allocation and support the lead pharmacist to utilise this accordingly.
• Promote diversity and equality in people‑management techniques and lead by example.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the implications of national priorities for the team and service and support the Lead Pharmacist in managing the team through these changes.

Person Specification

• Personal Attributes: Commitment to continuing professional development, Self‑motivated, Ability to work on own initiative and as part of a team, Flexible and adaptable to work environment, Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines, Neat and tidy and well‑groomed appearance, Full driving licence and access to transport.

• Experience: Minimum of 2 years experience, In‑depth therapeutic and clinical knowledge and understanding of principles of evidence‑based healthcare, An appreciation of the nature of GPs and general practice, Excellent interpersonal, influencing and negotiating skills, Excellent written and verbal communication skills, Knowledge of IT systems, including ability to use word processing, email and the internet to create simple plans and reports.

• Qualifications: Vocational Masters degree in Pharmacy (MPharm) or equivalent, Clinical Diploma or equivalent, Non‑medical Prescribing Qualification, Completion of the CPPE Pathway PCPEP (or GPPTP or MOCH).

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.

£45,000 to £50,000 a year – dependent upon experience.