Clinical Prescribing PCN Pharmacist

Thornton Road Surgery, part of the Bourne Health Partnership, is seeking a proactive and enthusiastic Pharmacist with an Independent Prescribing qualification to join our friendly and supportive team. We would particularly welcome applicants with hospital pharmacy experience and expertise in diabetes management, as the successful candidate will work closely with our nurses and GPs to enhance patient care. This role forms part of a wider pharmacy team working across our associate practices within a Hub model, offering collaborative working and shared learning opportunities.

Main duties of the job:

• As the role develops, the successful candidate will take responsibility for areas of Chronic Disease Management and undertake Clinical Medication Reviews, proactively managing patients with complex poly-pharmacy needs.
• The role would also entail providing primary support to GP staff regarding prescriptions (including repeat prescribing), medication queries, and complex clinical queries.
• There will be training to manage low-level investigation results following strict protocol and supervision.
• The Pharmacist would have an allocated GP Partner to mentor, support, and guide them.

Job responsibilities:

• Carrying out virtual medication reviews when reviewing repeat prescription requests from patients, care homes, and pharmacies.
• Reviewing and answering clinical medication related queries from GPs, practice nurses, and other healthcare professionals.
• Answering complex medication related queries from patients.
• Liaising with secondary care teams when needed for medication related issues.
• Reviewing hospital discharge letters and carrying out medication reconciliation.
• Managing complex medication queries from community pharmacies when these cannot be dealt with by the prescription clerks.
• Audits for medication safety with a view to make recommendations to amend practice processes where necessary to improve safety.
• Reviewing and processing shared care medication requests from secondary care specialists.
• Face to face medication reviews where indicated.
• Reviewing and actioning MHRA medication safety alerts as and when these are received.
• Prescribing repeat medications and reviewing acute requests, switching over to repeat meds as appropriate.

This list is not exhaustive, and all team members should be prepared to accept additional, or surrender existing duties, to enable the efficient running of the organisation.

Key Relationships:

• Internal: Members of the Senior Management team, Members of the Partnership Board, Colleagues within The Bourne Health Partnership.
• External: Suppliers of services, Other GP practices and practice groups, Other external organisations.

Confidentiality, Data Protection, Freedom of Information:

Post holders must maintain the confidentiality of information about patients, staff, and other health service business in accordance with the Data Protection Act of 1998. Post holders must not, without prior permission, disclose any information regarding patients or staff. If any member of staff has communicated any such information to an unauthorised person, those staff will be liable to disciplinary action up to and including dismissal.

Moreover, the Data Protection Act 1998 also renders an individual liable for prosecution in the event of unauthorised disclosure of information. Following the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) 2005, post holders must apply the organisations FOI procedure if they receive a written request for information.

Information Governance:

All staff must comply with information governance requirements. These include statutory responsibilities (such as compliance with the Data Protection Act), following national guidance (such as the NHS Confidentiality Code of Practice) and compliance with local policies and procedures (such as the Trust's Confidentiality policy).

Health and Safety:

All post holders have a responsibility, under the Health and Safety at Work Act (1974) and subsequently published regulations, to ensure that The Bourne Partnerships health and safety policies and procedures are complied with to maintain a safe working environment for patients, visitors, and employees.

Infection Control:

All post holders have a personal obligation to act to reduce healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs). They must attend mandatory training in Infection Control and be compliant with all measures required to reduce HCAIs.

Risk Management:

All post holders have a responsibility to report risks such as clinical and non-clinical accidents or incidents promptly. They are expected to be familiar with The Bourne Health Partnerships use of risk assessments to predict and control risk, as well as the incident reporting system for learning from mistakes and near misses in order to improve services.

Flexible Working:

As an organisation we are committed to developing our services in ways that best suit the needs of our patients. This means that some staff groups will increasingly be asked to work a more flexible shift pattern and multiple sites so that we can offer services in the evenings or at weekends.

Safeguarding children and vulnerable adults:

Post holders have a general responsibility for safeguarding children and vulnerable adults in the course of their daily duties and for ensuring that they are aware of the specific duties relating to their role.

Sustainability:

It is the responsibility of all staff to minimise the environmental impact by recycling wherever possible, switching off lights, computers monitors and equipment when not in use, minimising water usage and reporting faults promptly.

Person Specification:

• Must have completed an accredited Independent Prescribing (IP) course.
• Must be registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).
• Must have a degree in pharmacy (typically an MPharm or equivalent).
• Experience in (or a willingness in) supervising junior pharmacists and/or technicians.
• Experience in chronic Asthma or COPD reviews.
• Experience in doing diabetic reviews or willing to be trained.

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.