• Job Description

  Req#: A3065-23-0006

  Job summary

  PLEASE NOTE WE ARE NOT AN AGENDA FOR CHANGE ORGANISATION. INTERVIEWS WILL BE HELD FACE TO FACE AT DUNSTON INNOVATION CENTRE ON THE AFTERNOON OF 13 JULY 2023

  Are you an experienced clinical pharmacist with proven leadership qualities who is passionate about advancing clinical pharmacy services in primary care through collaborative working? The Chesterfield and Dronfield Primary Care Network (PCN) is looking for a Senior Clinical Pharmacist to join their growing pharmacy team to support and enhance the clinical pharmacy service at practice level. This is an exciting opportunity to be part of a developing team of pharmacists.

  This role is to work across our Dronfield practices (Stubley Medical Centre, Oakhill Medical Practice, Dronfield Medical Practice).

  The ideal candidate will be a registered pharmacist with significant clinical and quality improvement experience and ideally an independent prescriber. We are looking for an individual with leadership and management qualities, who is committed to improving patient care and is passionate about clinical pharmacy. The candidate must be able to work effectively as part of a diverse practice team and work towards the PCN vision. Although prior experience in General Practice would be an advantage, pharmacists from other sectors with significant transferable skills will be considered for the role. You will be expected to enrol on the CPPE Primary Care Pharmacy Education Pathway if you have not completed already or can be exempted.

  Main duties of the job

  The post holder will be expected to:

  Line manage, motivate, support and develop a small team of clinical pharmacists and technicians

  Perform structured medication reviews (SMRs) to proactively manage patients with complex polypharmacy and care home residents

  Be involved in the management of long-term conditions

  Embrace service development to grow the capabilities of the clinical pharmacy team

  About us

  The Chesterfield and Dronfield PCN, formed by ten member practices is one of the largest Primary Care Networks in the UK and covers circa 100,000 patients in North Derbyshire. The PCN has an established and growing team of pharmacists who are embedded in practices across the PCN and are committed to delivering high quality care for our patients. We are seeking a senior clinical pharmacist to help manage a small team of clinical pharmacist and technicians to deliver the PCN strategy and key performance indicators. Operationally the role will require an inclusive and facilitative approach, support collaborative working and develop the PCN clinical pharmacists. Whilst being part of the PCN pharmacy team you will be based within a neighbourhood group of GP practices and will help to deliver the PCN Direct Enhanced Service (DES).

  Date posted

  26 June 2023

  Pay scheme

  Other

  Salary

  £48,526 to £54,619 a year Depending on experience

  Contract

  Permanent

  Working pattern

  Full-time, Part-time, Job share, Flexible working

  Reference number

  A3065-23-0006

  Job locations

  Arc Primary Care

  Dunston Road

  Chesterfield

  Derbyshire

  S41 8NG

  
  

  Job description

  Job responsibilities

  The post holder will be the Senior member of a Neighbourhood Team of Pharmacists who will work within their clinical competencies as part of a multi-disciplinary team to provide expertise in clinical medicines management, patient-facing structured medication reviews, manage long term conditions, management of medicines on transfer of care and systems for safer prescribing, manage repeat prescription authorisations and reauthorisation, acute prescription requests, while addressing both the public health and social care needs of patients in the GP practice(s) that make up the PCN.

  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 responsible for the day-to-day management and development of the pharmacists and technicians and the distribution of the pharmacist and technician resource within a Neighbourhood, liaising with the member practices and the PCN Pharmacy lead.

  Key areas of Focus

  Patient-facing medication reviews of patients with polypharmacy especially for older people, people in care homes and those with multiple co- morbidities.

  Leadership to practices and pharmacy team on quality improvement and clinical audit as well as managing some aspects of the Quality and Outcomes Framework.

  Working as part of a multi-disciplinary team to manage repeat prescription authorisations and reauthorisation, acute prescription requests, management of medicines on transfer of care and systems for safer prescribing.

  Providing expertise in clinical medicines management while addressing both the public health and social care needs of patients in the GP practice(s).

  Day to day management of the PCN pharmacists and technicians in the neighbourhood and agreeing allocation of the resource with member practices.

  Working across and assisting with both practice and PCN requirements

  Key duties and responsibilities

  1. Patient facing medicines support

  Hold clinics for patients requiring medication reviews i.e. a review of the ongoing need for each medicine, a review of monitoring needs and an opportunity to support patients with their medicine taking. Provide a telephone support for patients with questions, queries and concerns about their medicines.

  2. Structured Medication Reviews (SMRs)

  Undertake structured medication reviews with patients with multimorbidity and polypharmacy and implement own prescribing changes (as an independent prescriber) and order relevant monitoring

  tests.

  3. Risk stratification

  Design, development, and implementation of computer searches to identify cohorts of patients at high risk of harm from medicines. Responsibility for management of risk stratification tools on behalf of the practice. Working with patients and the primary care team to minimise risks through medicines optimisation.

  4. Longterm condition clinics

  See patients in multimorbidity clinics and in partnership with primary healthcare colleagues and implement improvements to patients medicines, including deprescribing. Manage own case load, run own long-term condition clinics where responsible for prescribing as an independent prescriber for conditions where medicines have a large component (e.g. medicine optimisation for stable angina symptom control, warfarin monitoring and dose adjustment for patients requiring longterm anticoagulants). Review the ongoing need for each medicine, a review of monitoring needs and an opportunity to support patients with their medicines taking.

  5. Unplanned hospital admissions

  Devise and implement practice searches to identify cohorts of patients most likely to be at risk of an unplanned admission and readmissions from medicines. Work with case managers, multidisciplinary (health and social care) review teams, hospital colleagues and virtual ward teams to manage medicines-related risk for readmission and patient harm. Put in place changes to reduce the prescribing of these medicines to high-risk patient groups.

  6. Care home structured medication reviews

  Manage own caseload of care home residents. Undertake clinical medication reviews with patients and implement own prescribing changes (as an independent prescriber) and order relevant monitoring tests. Work with care home staff to improve safety of medicines ordering and administration.

  7. Repeat prescribing

  Produce and implement a practice repeat prescribing policy. Manage the repeat prescribing reauthorisation process by reviewing patient requests for repeat prescriptions and reviewing medicines reaching review dates; make necessary changes as an independent prescriber, and ensure patients are booked in for necessary monitoring tests where required.

  8. Medicines safety and quality improvement

  Identify and provide leadership on areas of prescribing requiring improvement. Conduct own audits and improvement projects and work with colleagues. Present results and provide leadership on suggested change. Demonstrate continuous QI activity focused upon prescribing safety as specified in the QOF guidance. This work for example might include the PINCER tool. Contribute to national and local research initiatives

  9. Leadership and management

  Provide leadership and management to clinical pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and pre-reg pharmacists working within assigned neighbourhoods. Responsibility for line managing clinical pharmacists and technicians within assigned neighbourhoods. Operational management of pharmacy team and clinical support.

  10. Domiciliary clinical medication review

  Manage own caseload of vulnerable housebound patients at risk of hospital admission and harm from poor use of medicines. Implement own prescribing changes (as an independent prescriber) and ordering of monitoring tests. Attend and refer patients to multidisciplinary case conferences.

  11. Service development

  Develop and manage new services that are built around new medicines or NICE guidance, where new medicine/recommendations allow the development of a new care pathway (e.g. new oral

  anticoagulants for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation).

  12. Care Quality Commission

  Provide leadership to the practice manager and GPs to ensure the practice is compliant with CQC

  standards where medicines are involved.

  13. Population and Public Health

  To devise and manage population and public health campaigns to run within the network. To provide specialist knowledge on immunisation.

  14. Cost saving programmes

  Make recommendations for, and manage pharmacy technicians to, make changes to medicines

  (switches) designed to save on medicine costs where a medicine or product with lower acquisition cost is now available

  15. Medicine information to practice staff and patients

  Answers all medicine related enquiries from GPs, other practice staff and patients with queries about medicines. Providing follow up for patients to monitor the effect of any changes.

  16. Information management

  Analyse, interpret and present medicines data to highlight issues and risks to support decision making.

  17. Training

  Provide education and training to primary healthcare team on therapeutics and medicines optimisation. Provide training to visiting medical, nursing and other healthcare students where

  appropriate.

  18. 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 manage these changes without referral to a GP, perform a clinical medication review, produce a post discharge medicines care plan including dose titration and booking of follow up tests and working with patients and community pharmacists to ensure patients receive the medicines they need post discharge 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).

  Work in partnership with hospital colleagues (e.g. care of the elderly doctors and clinical pharmacists) to proactively manage patients at high risk of medicine related problems before they are discharged to ensure continuity of care.

  19. Implementation of local and national guidelines and formulary recommendations

  Monitor practice prescribing against the local health economys RAG list for medicines that should be prescribed by hospital doctors (red drugs) or subject to shared care (amber drugs). Liaise directly with hospital colleagues where prescribing needs to be returned to specialists. Assist practices in setting and maintaining a practice formulary that is hosted on the practices computer system. Suggest and develop computer decision support tools to help remind prescribers about the agreed formulary choice and local recommendations. Auditing practices compliance against NICE technology assessment guidance. Provide newsletters on important prescribing messages to improve prescribers knowledge and work with the team to develop and implement other techniques known to influence implementation of evidence such as audit and feedback.

  20. Medicines safety

  Horizon scan to identify national and local policy and guidance that affects patient safety through the use of medicines, including MHRA alerts, product withdrawals and emerging evidence form clinical trials. Manage the process of implementing changes to medicines and guidance for practitioners.

  Collaborative working arrangements

  Work collaboratively with their PCN clinical leads

  Recognise the roles of other colleagues within the network and their role in patient care

  Demonstrate use of appropriate communication to gain the co-operation of relevant stakeholders (including patients, senior and peer colleagues, and other professionals, other

  NHS/private organisations e.g. ICBs)

  Demonstrate ability to lead a team

  Job description

  Job responsibilities

  The post holder will be the Senior member of a Neighbourhood Team of Pharmacists who will work within their clinical competencies as part of a multi-disciplinary team to provide expertise in clinical medicines management, patient-facing structured medication reviews, manage long term conditions, management of medicines on transfer of care and systems for safer prescribing, manage repeat prescription authorisations and reauthorisation, acute prescription requests, while addressing both the public health and social care needs of patients in the GP practice(s) that make up the PCN.

  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 responsible for the day-to-day management and development of the pharmacists and technicians and the distribution of the pharmacist and technician resource within a Neighbourhood, liaising with the member practices and the PCN Pharmacy lead.

  Key areas of Focus

  Patient-facing medication reviews of patients with polypharmacy especially for older people, people in care homes and those with multiple co- morbidities.

  Leadership to practices and pharmacy team on quality improvement and clinical audit as well as managing some aspects of the Quality and Outcomes Framework.

  Working as part of a multi-disciplinary team to manage repeat prescription authorisations and reauthorisation, acute prescription requests, management of medicines on transfer of care and systems for safer prescribing.

  Providing expertise in clinical medicines management while addressing both the public health and social care needs of patients in the GP practice(s).

  Day to day management of the PCN pharmacists and technicians in the neighbourhood and agreeing allocation of the resource with member practices.

  Working across and assisting with both practice and PCN requirements

  Key duties and responsibilities

  1. Patient facing medicines support

  Hold clinics for patients requiring medication reviews i.e. a review of the ongoing need for each medicine, a review of monitoring needs and an opportunity to support patients with their medicine taking. Provide a telephone support for patients with questions, queries and concerns about their medicines.

  2. Structured Medication Reviews (SMRs)

  Undertake structured medication reviews with patients with multimorbidity and polypharmacy and implement own prescribing changes (as an independent prescriber) and order relevant monitoring

  tests.

  3. Risk stratification

  Design, development, and implementation of computer searches to identify cohorts of patients at high risk of harm from medicines. Responsibility for management of risk stratification tools on behalf of the practice. Working with patients and the primary care team to minimise risks through medicines optimisation.

  4. Longterm condition clinics

  See patients in multimorbidity clinics and in partnership with primary healthcare colleagues and implement improvements to patients medicines, including deprescribing. Manage own case load, run own long-term condition clinics where responsible for prescribing as an independent prescriber for conditions where medicines have a large component (e.g. medicine optimisation for stable angina symptom control, warfarin monitoring and dose adjustment for patients requiring longterm anticoagulants). Review the ongoing need for each medicine, a review of monitoring needs and an opportunity to support patients with their medicines taking.

  5. Unplanned hospital admissions

  Devise and implement practice searches to identify cohorts of patients most likely to be at risk of an unplanned admission and readmissions from medicines. Work with case managers, multidisciplinary (health and social care) review teams, hospital colleagues and virtual ward teams to manage medicines-related risk for readmission and patient harm. Put in place changes to reduce the prescribing of these medicines to high-risk patient groups.

  6. Care home structured medication reviews

  Manage own caseload of care home residents. Undertake clinical medication reviews with patients and implement own prescribing changes (as an independent prescriber) and order relevant monitoring tests. Work with care home staff to improve safety of medicines ordering and administration.

  7. Repeat prescribing

  Produce and implement a practice repeat prescribing policy. Manage the repeat prescribing reauthorisation process by reviewing patient requests for repeat prescriptions and reviewing medicines reaching review dates; make necessary changes as an independent prescriber, and ensure patients are booked in for necessary monitoring tests where required.

  8. Medicines safety and quality improvement

  Identify and provide leadership on areas of prescribing requiring improvement. Conduct own audits and improvement projects and work with colleagues. Present results and provide leadership on suggested change. Demonstrate continuous QI activity focused upon prescribing safety as specified in the QOF guidance. This work for example might include the PINCER tool. Contribute to national and local research initiatives

  9. Leadership and management

  Provide leadership and management to clinical pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and pre-reg pharmacists working within assigned neighbourhoods. Responsibility for line managing clinical pharmacists and technicians within assigned neighbourhoods. Operational management of pharmacy team and clinical support.

  10. Domiciliary clinical medication review

  Manage own caseload of vulnerable housebound patients at risk of hospital admission and harm from poor use of medicines. Implement own prescribing changes (as an independent prescriber) and ordering of monitoring tests. Attend and refer patients to multidisciplinary case conferences.

  11. Service development

  Develop and manage new services that are built around new medicines or NICE guidance, where new medicine/recommendations allow the development of a new care pathway (e.g. new oral

  anticoagulants for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation).

  12. Care Quality Commission

  Provide leadership to the practice manager and GPs to ensure the practice is compliant with CQC

  standards where medicines are involved.

  13. Population and Public Health

  To devise and manage population and public health campaigns to run within the network. To provide specialist knowledge on immunisation.

  14. Cost saving programmes

  Make recommendations for, and manage pharmacy technicians to, make changes to medicines

  (switches) designed to save on medicine costs where a medicine or product with lower acquisition cost is now available

  15. Medicine information to practice staff and patients

  Answers all medicine related enquiries from GPs, other practice staff and patients with queries about medicines. Providing follow up for patients to monitor the effect of any changes.

  16. Information management

  Analyse, interpret and present medicines data to highlight issues and risks to support decision making.

  17. Training

  Provide education and training to primary healthcare team on therapeutics and medicines optimisation. Provide training to visiting medical, nursing and other healthcare students where

  appropriate.

  18. 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 manage these changes without referral to a GP, perform a clinical medication review, produce a post discharge medicines care plan including dose titration and booking of follow up tests and working with patients and community pharmacists to ensure patients receive the medicines they need post discharge 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).

  Work in partnership with hospital colleagues (e.g. care of the elderly doctors and clinical pharmacists) to proactively manage patients at high risk of medicine related problems before they are discharged to ensure continuity of care.

  19. Implementation of local and national guidelines and formulary recommendations

  Monitor practice prescribing against the local health economys RAG list for medicines that should be prescribed by hospital doctors (red drugs) or subject to shared care (amber drugs). Liaise directly with hospital colleagues where prescribing needs to be returned to specialists. Assist practices in setting and maintaining a practice formulary that is hosted on the practices computer system. Suggest and develop computer decision support tools to help remind prescribers about the agreed formulary choice and local recommendations. Auditing practices compliance against NICE technology assessment guidance. Provide newsletters on important prescribing messages to improve prescribers knowledge and work with the team to develop and implement other techniques known to influence implementation of evidence such as audit and feedback.

  20. Medicines safety

  Horizon scan to identify national and local policy and guidance that affects patient safety through the use of medicines, including MHRA alerts, product withdrawals and emerging evidence form clinical trials. Manage the process of implementing changes to medicines and guidance for practitioners.

  Collaborative working arrangements

  Work collaboratively with their PCN clinical leads

  Recognise the roles of other colleagues within the network and their role in patient care

  Demonstrate use of appropriate communication to gain the co-operation of relevant stakeholders (including patients, senior and peer colleagues, and other professionals, other

  NHS/private organisations e.g. ICBs)

  Demonstrate ability to lead a team

  Person Specification

  Other

  Essential

  • Adaptable
  • Self Motivated
  • Appropriate Immunisation Status
  • Access to own transport and ability to travel across the locality on a regular basis, including to visit people in their own homes

  Skills and Knowledge

  Essential

  • In-depth therapeutic & clinical knowledge and an understanding of evidence based healthcare
  • An appreciation of GPs and General Practice environment
  • An appreciation of the nature of primary care prescribing, concepts of rational prescribing and strategies for improving prescribing
  • Excellent Interpersonal, influencing & negotiating skills
  • Excellent verbal & written communication skills
  • Ability to lead and manage a team
  • Demonstrate the ability to communicate complex and sensitive information in an understandable form to various audiences (e.g. patients)
  • Able to plan, manage, monitor, advise & review general medicines optimisation issues in core areas for long term conditions (LTCs)
  • Good IT communication skills
  • Able to obtain and analyse complex technical information
  • Recognises priorities when problem solving and identifies deviations from the normal pattern and able to refer to Leads or GPs when appropriate
  • Able to work under pressure and meet deadlines
  • Produce timely & informative reports
  • Gain acceptance for recommendations and influence/motivate/persuade audience to comply with recommendations/agreed course of action where there may be significant barriers
  • Work effectively independently and as a team member
  • Develop and maintain effective working relationships with colleagues.
  • Demonstrates accountability for delivering professional expertise and direct service provision
  • Meets DBS reference standards and has a clear criminal record, in line with the law on spent convictions

  Desirable

  • Experience of working in Primary Care

  Qualifications

  Essential

  • Minimum of 5 years post qualification experience

  Desirable

  • Clinical Diploma
  • Independent Prescribing or currently working towards qualification

  Professional Registration

  Essential

  • Mandatory registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council

  Desirable

  • Membership Primary Care Pharmacists Association
  • Membership Royal Pharmaceutical Society

  Person Specification

  Other

  Essential

  • Adaptable
  • Self Motivated
  • Appropriate Immunisation Status
  • Access to own transport and ability to travel across the locality on a regular basis, including to visit people in their own homes

  Skills and Knowledge

  Essential

  • In-depth therapeutic & clinical knowledge and an understanding of evidence based healthcare
  • An appreciation of GPs and General Practice environment
  • An appreciation of the nature of primary care prescribing, concepts of rational prescribing and strategies for improving prescribing
  • Excellent Interpersonal, influencing & negotiating skills
  • Excellent verbal & written communication skills
  • Ability to lead and manage a team
  • Demonstrate the ability to communicate complex and sensitive information in an understandable form to various audiences (e.g. patients)
  • Able to plan, manage, monitor, advise & review general medicines optimisation issues in core areas for long term conditions (LTCs)
  • Good IT communication skills
  • Able to obtain and analyse complex technical information
  • Recognises priorities when problem solving and identifies deviations from the normal pattern and able to refer to Leads or GPs when appropriate
  • Able to work under pressure and meet deadlines
  • Produce timely & informative reports
  • Gain acceptance for recommendations and influence/motivate/persuade audience to comply with recommendations/agreed course of action where there may be significant barriers
  • Work effectively independently and as a team member
  • Develop and maintain effective working relationships with colleagues.
  • Demonstrates accountability for delivering professional expertise and direct service provision
  • Meets DBS reference standards and has a clear criminal record, in line with the law on spent convictions

  Desirable

  • Experience of working in Primary Care

  Qualifications

  Essential

  • Minimum of 5 years post qualification experience

  Desirable

  • Clinical Diploma
  • Independent Prescribing or currently working towards qualification

  Professional Registration

  Essential

  • Mandatory registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council

  Desirable

  • Membership Primary Care Pharmacists Association
  • Membership Royal Pharmaceutical Society

  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 (opens in a new window).

  Additional information

  UK Registration

  Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

  Employer details

  Employer name

  Arc Primary Care

  Address

  Arc Primary Care

  Dunston Road

  Chesterfield

  Derbyshire

  S41 8NG

  
  

  Employer's website

  http://www.arcprimarycare.co.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

  Employer details

  Employer name

  Arc Primary Care

  Address

  Arc Primary Care

  Dunston Road

  Chesterfield

  Derbyshire

  S41 8NG

  
  

  Employer's website

  http://www.arcprimarycare.co.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

• About the company

  National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly-funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). The founding principles were that services should be comprehensive, universal and free at the point of delivery—a health service based on clinical need, not ability to pay. Each service provides a comprehensive range of health services, free at the point of use for people ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom apart from dental treatment and optical care.

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