PCN Pharmacist in Gateshead

Gateshead Inner West Primary Care Network serves a diverse community of approximately 45,000 patients. We are looking for a highly motivated and enthusiastic Clinical Pharmacist to join our established team of Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians for a less than full-time equivalent (FTE) role. The position is 0.5 FTE, with the possibility of additional appointments depending on the quality and number of applications.

Main duties of the job

• The postholder will be an integral part of the General Practice team and the wider pharmacy network.
• They will optimise medicines use, improve patient care and safety, and support clinical staff in the management of patients.
• The role will provide direct, accessible and timely medicines expertise, including face-to-face consultations with patients and support across all five practice sites as required.

Job responsibilities

• Work as part of a multi-disciplinary team in a patient-facing role to clinically assess and treat patients using medicines for specific disease areas.
• Be a prescriber or complete training to become a prescriber, and work with the general practice team.
• Be responsible for the care management of patients with chronic diseases and undertake clinical medication reviews for complex polypharmacy, including the elderly, people in care homes, those with multiple co-morbidities (frailty, COPD, asthma) and people with learning disabilities or autism (through STOMP Stop Over Medication Programme).
• Provide specialist expertise in the use of medicines while helping to address public health and social care needs and tackling inequalities.
• Provide leadership on person-centred medicines optimisation, including encouraging antibiotic stewardship and contributing to the Quality and Outcomes Framework and enhanced services.
• Through structured medication reviews, support patients to take their medications effectively, reduce waste and promote self-care.
• Have a leadership role in integrating general practice with wider healthcare teams (community and hospital pharmacy) to improve patient outcomes and manage practice workload.
• Develop relationships and work closely with other pharmacy professionals across the wider health and social care system.
• Take a central role in the clinical aspects of shared care protocols, clinical research, liaison with specialist pharmacists (including mental health and reduction of inappropriate antipsychotic use) and with community pharmacists.
• The Clinical Pharmacist will have access to an assigned GP clinical supervisor for support and development.
• Act as the point of contact for all medicine-related matters, establishing positive working relationships.
• Consult patients within defined levels of competence and independently prescribe acute and repeat medication.
• Receive referrals and directed patients from triage services and other clinicians.
• Receive and resolve medicines queries from patients and other staff.
• Provide medication review services for patients in practice and during domiciliary visits to the local nursing home.
• Manage a caseload of complex patients.
• Maintain a therapeutic drug monitoring system and recall patients taking high-risk drugs such as anticoagulants, anticonvulsants and DMARDs.
• Deliver long-term condition clinics and home visits for patients with complicated medication regimes, prescribing accordingly.
• Provide pharmaceutical consultations to patients with long-term conditions as part of the multidisciplinary team.
• Review medications for newly registered patients.
• Improve patient and carer understanding of and confidence in medication compliance.
• Maintain accurate clinical records in conjunction with extant legislation.
• Encourage cost-effective prescribing throughout the organisation.
• Provide advice and answer medication-related queries from patients and staff.
• Organise and oversee the organisation’s medicines optimisation systems, including repeat prescribing and medication review systems.
• Improve the quality and effectiveness of prescribing through clinical audit and education, to improve performance against NICE standards and clinical guidance.
• Develop yourself and your role through participation in clinical supervision, training and service redesign activities.
• Ensure appropriate supervision of safe storage, rotation and disposal of vaccines and drugs, applying infection-control measures within the practice according to local and national guidelines.
• Provide subject-matter expertise on medication monitoring, implementing and embedding a system.
• Support clinicians with the management of patients suffering from drug and alcohol dependencies.
• Actively signpost patients to the correct healthcare professionals.
• Review the latest guidance, ensuring the organisation conforms to NICE, CQC etc.
• Be aware of duties and responsibilities regarding current legislation and adhere to practice policies and procedures on Safeguarding Adults and Safeguarding Children.
• Provide targeted support and proactive reviews for vulnerable, complex patients at risk of admission and re-admission to secondary care.
• Handle prescription queries and requests directly.
• Provide proactive leadership on medicines and prescribing systems to the organisation, patients and their carers.
• Support in the delivery of enhanced services and other service requirements on behalf of the organisation.
• Participate in the management of patient complaints when requested, and contribute to learning from clinical incidents and near-miss events.
• Undertake all mandatory training and induction programmes.
• Contribute to and embrace the spectrum of clinical governance.
• Attend a formal appraisal with your manager at least once every 12 months; once objectives are set, progress is reviewed regularly.
• Contribute to public health campaigns (e.g., COVID-19 or flu clinics) through advice or direct care.
• Maintain a clean, tidy, effective working area at all times.
• There may be, on occasion, a requirement to carry out other tasks, dependent upon workload and staffing levels.

Person Specification

• Occupational Health clearance
• Evidence of continuing professional development
• Access to own transport and ability to travel across the locality
• Good clinical system IT knowledge
• Broad knowledge of clinical governance

Qualifications

• GPhC Registered Pharmacist
• Proof of relevant professional and educational qualifications, coupled with details of any training
• Enrolled in or have qualified from an approved 18-month training pathway or equivalent that equips them to practice and prescribe safely and effectively in a Primary Care setting (e.g., the CPPE Clinical Pharmacist training pathways)
• Hold or be working towards a GPhC independent prescribing qualification
• Working towards faculty membership of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and, as such, a submission for disclosure to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) is required to check for any previous criminal convictions.