PCN Clinical Pharmacist in Wareham

The Purbeck PCN Pharmacy Team includes Clinical Pharmacists, Pharmacy Technicians and a Care Co-ordinator, working alongside General Practice and the PCN clinical teams. This is a full time post of 37.5 hours a week but part time of a minimum of 24 hours over 3 days would be considered. The Clinical Pharmacist will be required to work flexibly to meet the needs of the service and this role will include supporting patients in care homes and also home visits for housebound patients.

The Clinical Pharmacist will need to liaise with GP practices, hospital pharmacy teams, local community pharmacists, social services, care homes and care agencies to ensure any continuing medicine management issues are addressed and managed throughout the patients' care pathway. The Clinical Pharmacist will provide relevant information to patients/carers and staff on matters relating to medication. The Clinical Pharmacist will counsel patients on how to take their medicines and identify any barriers to them taking their medication. The Clinical Pharmacist will undertake face to face and person-centred consultations with the emphasis on shared decision making. This post will involve assisting the PCN in achieving national requirements, NICE implementation, and utilisation of medicine optimisation initiatives.

Main duties of the job:

• Be part of a multi-skilled primary care team in a patient facing role providing patient centred medical services based on patient needs with a focus on continuity of care.
• Patient facing / telephone Clinical Medication Reviews.

About us:

Purbeck PCN is made up of 6 member practices and works closely with the wider locality to improve and enhance patient care. Purbeck PCN is committed to delivering an integrated neighbourhood team approach within the community and works to improve patient access to local services, by working with many sectors including the voluntary sector, mental health services, Help & Care, and Dorset Mind.

Job responsibilities:

• Be responsible for the care management of patients with chronic diseases and undertake clinical medication reviews to proactively manage people with complex polypharmacy, especially the elderly, people in care homes, those with multiple co-morbidities and people with learning disabilities or autism.
• Review the ongoing need for each medication, ensuring monitoring needs are performed and use the opportunity to support patients achieve better health outcomes through shared decision-making conversations.
• Support patients to take their medications to get the best from them, reduce waste and promote self-care.
• Make appropriate recommendations to prescribers.
• Promote safe disposal of medicines and recycling of inhalers.
• Help to set up pharmacist-run long term condition clinics particularly for patients with complicated medication regimes.
• Optimisation of blood pressure control utilising BP@Home.
• Undertake clinical medication reviews, formulate a medicines optimisation plan jointly with the patient/carer and facilitate its implementation by working with other professionals, services and agencies as necessary.
• Support patients to wean from medications including opioids, gabapentinoids and antidepressants in line with national guidance.
• Work with care home staff to improve safety of medicines ordering and administration.
• Take part in the pharmacy team central rota to answer relevant medicine-related enquiries from GPs, other practice staff, other healthcare teams (e.g. community pharmacy) and patients.
• Suggest and recommend solutions using clinical knowledge and trusted pharmaceutical sources.
• Carry out medication reviews and reconciliation for all new patients and for patients whose care is transferred back into primary care.
• Support initiatives for antimicrobial stewardship to reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing locally.
• Support the Pharmacy team in managing blood monitoring of High-Risk Drugs and DOACs across the PCN.
• Provide specialist expertise in the use of medicines whilst helping to address both the public health and social care needs of patients at the PCN's practices and to help in tackling inequalities.
• Undertake and lead on any specific medicines optimisation-based projects/portfolio areas of work as may be required by the Pharmacy Team, e.g., diabetes medication, blood pressure optimisation, lipid lowering therapy.

Collaborating Working Relationships:

• Having a leadership role in supporting further integration of general practice with the wider healthcare teams (including community and hospital pharmacy) to help improve patient outcomes, ensure better access to healthcare and help manage general practice workload.
• Work collaboratively with ICB medicines management teams.
• Develop relationships and work closely with other pharmacy professionals within and across the PCN and the wider health and social care system.
• Take a central role in the clinical aspects of shared care protocols, clinical research with medicines, liaison with specialist pharmacists, liaison with community pharmacists and anticoagulation.
• Explore the potential for collaborative working and take opportunities to initiate and sustain such relationships.

Education and Training:

• Enrol in the NHS England CPPE Primary care pharmacy education program (if not already undertaken) and complete the 18-month course. This will be fully supported by the PCN, and time allocated for study days.
• Complete the Independent Prescribing course (if not already undertaken).
• Demonstrate self-development through continuous professional development.
• Develop a good working knowledge of the clinical systems used by the practices.
• Attend internal and external meetings and training courses, and supervision sessions with designated GP supervisor on a regular basis.
• Complete regular mandatory training.
• Provide clinical supervision for clinical pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in the PCN pharmacy team.

Practice Support:

• Support the implementation of national prescribing policies and guidance within GP practices, care homes and other primary care settings. This will be achieved through undertaking clinical audits, supporting quality improvement measures and contributing to the Quality and Outcomes Framework and enhanced services.
• Support the delivery of the pharmacy and medicines optimisation elements of the network service specifications within the Network Contract DES (Pharmacy Quality Scheme).
• Help the GPs with reauthorising medication and repeat prescribing process and medication reviews.
• Understand the role of CQC in General practice and adhere to practice policies.
• Take part in significant event meetings and practice protected learning meetings.
• Work with GPs and Pharmacy Technicians to create processes and Standard Operating Procedures for use within the practice and pharmacy teams, which offer improvement in consistency and delivery of our services to patients.
• Contribute pharmaceutical advice for the development and implementation of new services.
• Identify areas of good practice and help to disseminate across the PCN.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT:

• Discuss development needs with line manager and establish an agreed development plan in order to consistently achieve best practice and continuously improve personal performance.
• Identify own training needs and attend relevant study days/courses as agreed by the line manager and in accordance with the Personal Development Plan.
• Demonstrate appropriate behaviour in stressful and difficult situations, recognising personal limitations.

WORKING CONDITIONS:

The role requires flexibility, as there are often changes to the planned programme of work, according to matters arising for independent contractors requiring urgent attention.

COMMUNICATION AND WORKING RELATIONSHIPS:

The post holder will:

• Work actively to develop good and effective working relationships with colleagues in the PCN and with individuals and organisations external to the Trust in order to develop the service, facilitate collaborative working and mutually beneficial solutions to problems.
• Act as an ambassador for the Team and the PCN in terms of telephone and in personal contacts and as a friendly and competent point of access to the PCN for outside organisations.
• Work collaboratively with colleagues to ensure that resources are used flexibly to meet the demand, including providing assistance in times of particular pressure in any area.
• Assimilate, manage, and communicate a wide range of information, some of which will be sensitive and complex and may involve matters relating to individual staff or patient matters or to matters of commercial confidence.

ENVIRONMENTAL:

The post holder may be required to concentrate for sustained periods.

Person Specification:

Personal Qualities:

• Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively with individuals from all agencies and at all levels including service users, carers, and professionals.
• Demonstrated ability in having excellent communication and organisational skills.
• Self-motivated and able to work with limited direction.
• Ability and commitment to engage with and empower service users and carers.
• Excellent written and oral presentation skills.
• Demonstrated ability to work methodically and accurately.
• Demonstrated ability to support colleagues and check own or colleagues work as appropriate.
• Ability to work independently without direct supervision.
• Subject to the provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act, able to travel using own vehicle.
• Demonstrable skills in written and spoken English, adequate to enable the post holder to carry out the role effectively.
• Demonstrated ability in training.

Experience:

• Can plan, manage, monitor, advise and review medication for patients in core areas, including long term conditions.
• An appreciation of NHS agenda, national policies and government targets.
• Basic IT skills, normally obtained through practice or practical training.
• Primary Care experience.
• Recent experience of developing and implementing pharmaceutical care initiatives.
• Relevant theoretical and practical knowledge of Primary Care Networks and General Practice.
• An understanding of the current PCN DES specifications.
• Awareness of GP budget management and funding systems to enable GP clinical pharmacist services to assist delivery of PCN and NHS priorities and requirements for financial balance and quality.
• Awareness of systems to support management of patients in a primary care setting, delivering pharmaceutical input and support in the context of pathways of care and the business of the organisations.
• Evidence of involvement in education and training of other professionals.
• A wide range of IT skills especially Microsoft 365 software and specifically Excel.
• Experience of working with clinical management systems, especially SystmOne.

Qualifications:

• Pharmacy Degree.
• Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education primary care Pharmacy.
• Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) registration.
• Education Pathway (PCPEP) qualification or working towards/willing to enrol.
• Membership of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.
• Postgraduate diploma in Clinical Pharmacy or equivalent experience.
• Registered non-medical prescriber.

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.