PCN Pharmacist

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.