Clinical Pharmacist in Stafford

The Clinical Pharmacist will play a key role within our Primary Care Network, supporting high quality, patient centred care across a population of approximately 34,000 patients. Working as part of a multidisciplinary team, the post holder will contribute to the delivery of the Network DES through medicines optimisation, structured medication reviews, and proactive management of long‑term conditions across the network practices. The role will focus on improving patient outcomes, reducing clinical risk, and supporting preventative care initiatives, including cardiovascular health improvement. This position offers the opportunity to work autonomously while collaborating closely with GPs, nurses, and wider PCN colleagues to enhance the safety, quality, and efficiency of prescribing across the network.

Main duties of the job:

• Providing specialist medicines‑management advice to GPs, practice nurses, community pharmacists, community nurses and other healthcare professionals to support high quality, evidence‑based and cost‑effective prescribing.
• Delivering structured medication reviews.
• Supporting practices in achieving PCN DES/IIF and QIF targets.
• Leading and promoting quality improvements in medicines‑management across GP practices, ensuring best practice is consistently adopted.
• Working closely with pharmacy technicians to deliver medicines‑management objectives and enhance workflow efficiency.
• Strengthening pharmaceutical knowledge and understanding across the wider primary care team.
• Undertaking risk assessment and management activities, ensuring compliance with medicines legislation and promoting safe systems of work.
• Liaising with primary and secondary care colleagues to ensure alignment with system‑wide prescribing strategies and seamless patient care.
• Contributing to the development and implementation of new medicines‑management initiatives and services within PCN practices.
• Supporting clinical medication review services for care homes and participating in additional PCN workstreams as required.
• Providing and exchanging complex information relating to medicines and medicines‑management, including clinical information, therapeutics, and prescribing data derived from audits and prescribing activity.
• Communicating effectively with patients, carers and a wide range of healthcare professionals, adapting communication style to meet individual needs, including language or cognitive barriers.
• Persuading and negotiating where necessary to support safe, effective prescribing and medicines‑management objectives.
• Analysing and interpreting complex clinical and medicines‑related information, applying specialist knowledge to inform decision‑making in a range of situations.
• Delivering highly specialised advice for individual patients and patient groups, including recommendations on drug choice, dosing, side‑effects and therapeutic alternatives.
• Ensuring compliance with medicines legislation, national safety alerts and established best practice to minimise risk.
• Contributing to the design, development and implementation of policies, guidelines and service changes that impact across practices, community pharmacies and the wider Medicines Management and practice teams.
• Planning and organising personal workload, including audits and project work/training.
• Supporting and supervising the day‑to‑day work of the pharmacy technician(s).
• Promoting best value and minimising waste in relation to medicines, contributing to efforts to reduce fraud and ensure responsible use of NHS resources.
• Participating in relevant audits to support quality improvement and service development.
• Maintaining professional registration and complying with all relevant professional standards and codes of practice.
• Enrolling on and completing the CPPE for PCN clinical pharmacists (if not already completed).
• Maintaining and developing professional competence, keeping up to date with clinical evidence, therapeutic developments, national policy and local service changes.
• Agreeing objectives, maintaining a personal development plan and participating fully in the appraisal process.
• Attending relevant local, regional and national meetings to support ongoing development and service alignment.
• Undertaking any other duties appropriate to the role and grade, as agreed with the line manager.

About us:

Primary Care Networks (PCNs) have been created to facilitate delivery of more integrated care. They cover defined geographical areas to enable them to better respond to the needs of local populations and build relationships across wider primary care within natural neighbourhoods. By design they are small enough for relationships to flourish, but large enough to provide a broad scope of services.

Location: PCN Hub, Fillybrooks Stone ST15 0DJ.

Person Specification:

Experience:

• Minimum of 2 years post‑qualification experience.
• In‑depth therapeutic and clinical knowledge and understanding of the principles of evidence‑based healthcare.
• An appreciation of the nature of GPs and general practices.
• An appreciation of the nature of primary care prescribing, concepts of rational prescribing and strategies for improving prescribing.
• Excellent interpersonal, influencing and negotiating skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate complex and sensitive information in an understandable form to a variety of audiences (e.g. patients).
• Ability to plan, manage, monitor, advise and review general medicine optimisation issues in core areas for long‑term conditions.
• Ability to obtain and analyse complex technical information.
• Recognises priorities when problem‑solving and identifies deviations from the normal pattern and is able to refer to seniors or GPs when appropriate.
• Ability to work under pressure and to meet deadlines.
• Produces timely and informative reports.
• Gains acceptance for recommendations and influences/persuades the audience to comply with recommendations or agreed course of action where there may be significant barriers.
• Works effectively and independently and as a team member.
• Demonstrates accountability for delivering professional expertise and direct service provision.
• Self‑motivation.
• Adaptability.
• Full driving licence.
• Safeguarding – adult and children level 3.
• Information Governance toolkit completion.
• Immunisation status.
• Basic life support training.

Qualifications:

• Mandatory registration with General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).
• Independent prescribing qualification (or working towards).
• Completion of the CPPE pathway.
• DBS required.
• Immunisation status.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check:

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.

Salary: £48,672 to £52,962 a year – pay based on experience.

Confidentiality:

During the course of providing care, patients entrust us with sensitive information about their health and personal circumstances. This information is given in confidence, and all staff are expected to respect patient privacy and handle such information appropriately. In carrying out the duties of this role, the post holder will have access to confidential information relating to patients, carers, practice staff and other healthcare professionals. The post holder may also access confidential information relating to the business operations of the organisation. All such information, regardless of source, must be treated as strictly confidential. Confidential information relating to patients, carers, colleagues, other healthcare workers or the practice may only be shared with authorised individuals and strictly in accordance with organisational policies on confidentiality and the protection of personal and sensitive data.

Quality:

• Alert other team members to issues of quality and risk.
• Work to practice protocols and standard operating procedures.
• Assess own performance and take accountability for own actions, either directly or under supervision.
• Contribute to the effectiveness of the team by reflecting on own and team activities and making suggestions on ways to improve and enhance the team's performance.
• Work effectively with individuals in other agencies to meet patients' needs.
• Effectively manage own time, workload and resources.

Health & Safety:

• Using personal security systems in accordance with organisational guidelines.
• Identifying risks associated with work activities and carrying them out in a way that effectively manages those risks.
• Making full use of training opportunities to maintain up‑to‑date knowledge and skills.
• Applying appropriate infection prevention and control procedures, and ensuring work areas are kept clean, safe and free from hazards.
• Reporting any identified risks or concerns promptly through the appropriate channels.

Equality and Diversity:

The post holder must adhere to all organisational policies and procedures that promote equality of employment. All colleagues, patients and visitors must be treated with fairness, dignity and respect, regardless of gender, ethnicity, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion or any other protected characteristic.

General:

To contribute flexibly to the wider PCN team functions, undertaking other relevant duties aligned with the role and personal ability. This job description is intended as a basic guide to the scope and responsibilities of the post and is not exhaustive. It will be subject to regular review and amendment as necessary in consultation with the post holder.

Special Working Conditions:

The post holder will be required to travel independently between practice sites and may be required to attend meetings hosted by external organisations.