PCN Clinical Pharmacist in Northampton

We are seeking a dedicated and professional Pharmacist to join our multidisciplinary team. This is a unique opportunity to contribute to a forward-thinking organisation within the Primary Care Network (PCN) framework. The PCN has already established excellent collaboration in delivering pharmacy provision to the many aspects of the DES within its locality. The post holder will help underpin and grow the team to move to working in line with the ever-evolving requirements of PCNs.

Main duties of the job

• Clinical Medicines Management
  • Provide expertise in clinical medicines management, including medication reviews and ensuring safe prescribing practices, especially during care transitions.
• Medication Reviews
  • Conduct remote or face-to-face structured medication reviews for patients, particularly those with polypharmacy, long-term conditions, or in care homes.
• Support for Patients
  • Offer patient-facing support, addressing medication queries and optimizing medication use to improve adherence and outcomes.
  • Reconcile and manage medicines post-hospital discharge, ensuring continuity of care and addressing unexplained changes.
• Quality Improvement
  • Lead clinical audits and contribute to quality improvement initiatives, including adherence to local and national prescribing guidelines.
• Service Development
  • Provide pharmaceutical advice for creating and implementing new services with medicinal components.
  • Review and improve the safety of medicines associated with unplanned hospital admissions and high-risk groups.
• Education and Guidance
  • Provide medication-related information to practice staff, healthcare teams, and patients, suggesting solutions and monitoring outcomes.
• Policy Implementation
  • Monitor compliance with local and national guidelines, assisting with practice formulary updates and adherence to NICE guidance.
  • Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams, attending case conferences and contributing to the delivery of high-quality care.

About us

We are a group of six GP practices covering Danes Camp, Rillwood, and The Parks Medical Centre. As an accredited training and research hub, we are committed to developing the next generation of healthcare professionals. Our clinical teams across all sites play an active role in supporting GP registrars, medical and nursing students, and contributing to both ongoing and newly emerging research programmes. Together, we strive to deliver high quality, forward thinking, and patient centred care.

Place of work

As this is a PCN role, you will be required to work at any of our 6 practices. You will not be required to work outside the United Kingdom. The member practices are The Parks Medical Practice; Grange Park, Roade, Hanslope and Blisworth branches, Rillwood Medical Centre and Danes Camp Medical Centre. Please note this is an on-site position and you will not be able to work from home.

Hours of work

Your normal hours of work are not variable. Your normal hours of work per week are 37.5 hours to be worked Monday to Friday normally between 08:00am and 18:30pm. Also inclusive of Enhanced Access. Actual days, start/finish times will be variable, the exact days/times will be agreed and may be subject to change in line with the needs of the Practice. Breaks are unpaid and in line with the Working Time Regulations. You may be required to work additional hours when authorized and as necessitated by the needs of the practice.

Job responsibilities

The post holder will work within their clinical competence as part of a multi-disciplinary team to provide expertise in clinical medicines management. This involves providing face to face structured medication reviews, managing long term conditions, ensuring safe prescribing at the transfer of care, implementing systems for safer prescribing, repeat prescription reauthorisation and dealing with acute prescription requests. The post holder will perform face to face medication review of patients with polypharmacy, especially for older people, people in residential care homes and those with multiple comorbidities. The post holder will provide leadership on quality improvement and clinical audit, and manage some aspects of the Quality and Outcomes Framework. This role is pivotal to improving the quality of care and operational efficiencies so requires motivation and passion to deliver an excellent service within general practice. The post holder will be supported to develop their role to become a non-medical prescriber, if that qualification is not already held.

Patient Facing Long-Term Conditions Clinics

See where appropriate patients with single or multiple medical problems where medicine optimisation is required (e.g. COPD, asthma). Review the ongoing need for each medicine, a review of monitoring needs and an opportunity to support patients with their medicines taking ensuring they get the best use of their medicines (i.e. medicines optimisation). Make appropriate recommendations to GPs for medicine improvement.

Patient facing Clinical Medication Review

Undertake clinical medication reviews with patients and produce recommendations for senior clinical pharmacist, nurses and/or GP on prescribing and monitoring.

Patient facing Care Home Medication Review

Undertake clinical medication reviews with patients and produce recommendations for the senior clinical pharmacist, nurses or GPs on prescribing and monitoring. Work with care home staff to improve safety of medicines ordering and administration.

Patient facing domiciliary clinical medication review

Undertake clinical medication reviews with patients and produce recommendations for the senior clinical pharmacists, nurses and GPs on prescribing and monitoring. Attend and refer patients to multidisciplinary case conferences.

Management of common minor self-limiting ailments

Managing caseload of patients with common/minor/self-limiting ailments while working within a scope of practice and limits of competence. Signposting to community pharmacy and referring to GPs or other healthcare professionals where appropriate. Provide patient facing clinics for those with questions, queries and concerns about their medicines in the practice.

Medicine Information to Practice Staff and Patients

Answers relevant medicine-related enquiries from GPs, other practice staff, other healthcare teams (e.g. community pharmacy) and patients with queries about medicines. Suggesting and recommending solutions. Providing follow up for patients to monitor the effect of any changes.

Unplanned Hospital admissions

Review the use of medicines most commonly associated with unplanned hospital admissions and readmissions through audit and individual patient reviews. Put in place changes to reduce the prescribing of these medicines to high-risk patient groups.

Management of medicines at discharge from hospital

To reconcile medicines following discharge from hospitals, intermediate care and into care homes, including identifying and rectifying unexplained changes and working with patients and community pharmacists to ensure patients receive the medicines they need post discharge. Set up and manage systems to ensure continuity of medicines supply to high-risk groups of patients (e.g. those with medicine compliance aids or those in care homes).

Service Development

Contribute pharmaceutical advice for the development and implementation of new services that have medicinal components (e.g. advice on treatment pathways and patient information leaflets). Undertake clinical audits of prescribing in areas directed by the GPs, feedback the results and implement changes in conjunction with the practice team.

Implementation of local and national guidelines and formulary recommendations

Monitor practice prescribing against the local health economy's RAG list and make recommendations to GPs for medicines that should be prescribed by hospital doctors (red drugs) or subject to shared care (amber drugs). Assist practices in seeing and maintaining a practice formulary that is hosted on the practice's computer system. Auditing practices compliance against NICE technology assessment guidance.

Operating arrangements:

Responsibility for one or more sites dependent upon patient list size. Based across one or more sites with the opportunity to work remotely from other sites. This is an evolving role and the responsibilities may augment over time in consultation with the post-holder. From time to time the post-holder may be required to work from other sites.

Other Tasks

Duties may be varied from time to time under the direction of the line manager dependent on current and evolving practice workload and staffing levels.

Other administration and professional responsibilities:

Participate in the administrative and professional responsibilities of the practice team. Ensure appropriate items of service claims are made accurately, reporting any problems to the practice administrator. Ensure collection and maintenance of any required statistical information. Attend and participate in practice meetings as required.

Training and personal development:

Maintain professional registration with the GPhC. If it is necessary to expand the role to include additional responsibilities, full training will be given.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Registration as a Pharmacist with the General Pharmaceutical Council.
• Evidence of CPD.
• Completion of CPPE pathway, or working towards completion.
• Independent prescriber or working towards.
• Specialist knowledge acquired through postgraduate diploma level or equivalent training/experience.

Experience

• Evidence of CPD.
• Minimum of 2 years post-qualification experience.
• Experience of 1 year working in general practice.
• Membership of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.
• A member of or working towards Faculty Membership of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.
• Experience of working across multiple sectors of Pharmacy (Community Pharmacy, Hospital Pharmacy, CCGs, Industry).

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.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website.