Job description

Job responsibilities

Job Purpose

To work with line management and PCN Lead Pharmacists to support the delivery of the prescribing and medicines optimisation policies and guidance at practice and individual patient level.

To promote high quality, safe, cost effective and evidence-based use of medicines within primary care through advice, clinical medication review and audit.

To support our technicians and medicines co-ordinators in delivering our services

Key Roles & Responsibilities

The postholder will:

• Support Primary Care Networks in the delivery of the National Directed Enhanced Service framework.
• Provide specialist knowledge, advice, and guidance on prescribing and pharmaceutical matters to patients practices and other prescribers.
• To respond to medication queries and support practices as needed
• Take part in and assist others with clinical audit work on prescribing standards, activity and practice.
• Participate in teaching sessions to ensure that pharmaceutical care problems are identified and communicated.
• Assist in coordinating solutions to supply problems with medicines used within the specialty.
• Work across traditional boundaries of tertiary/secondary/primary care, such as coordinating with GP surgeries and community pharmacies to ensure seamless discharges.
• Ensure good quality patient care.
• Demonstrate clinical reasoning and judgement.
• Ensure consistent compliance with the local antimicrobial policy.
• Ensure consistent compliance with the local GMMG policy for management of medicines in GP practices.
• Ensure the delivery of cost-effective prescribing advice within specified contracts & an overall quality and clinical effectiveness framework.
• Conduct clinical structured medication reviews.
• To support and influence prescribers.
• Work with the wider prescribing/ medicines management system to influence change by liaising with hospital and community staff as necessary.
• To work as an autonomous clinician
• To prescribe medicines for agreed patients within their capacity of an Independent Prescriber in line with current legislation, local policies and best practice guide, and within their own level of experience and competence.

Responsibility for Patient Care

The postholder will.

• Provide and be accountable for holistic, clinical, structured medication reviews and lifestyle advice for identified patients using all levels of medication review with a patient centred approach.
• Ensure patients are provided with cost and clinically effective medication regimens that met their individual needs.
• Ensure patients receive appropriate monitoring to ensure good clinical care and safe use of medicines.
• Support patient adherence with medication through a variety of processes.
• Maintain patient confidentiality and confidence in our service and general practice.
• Ensure accurate and appropriate record keeping on all work undertaken.
• Undertake basic clinical monitoring of patients which may include venepuncture.
• Actively use Independent Prescribing qualification for patients within the legal framework, personal competence, and local and personal prescribing formulary.

Responsibilities for Physical and Financial Resources

The postholder will:

• Support and audit delivery of agreed targets relevant to service contracts.
• Provide regular reports on or a range of activities, guidance or individual groups of medicines as required.
• Provide evidence-based advice on the cost and clinical effectiveness of medicines.
• Protect all physical assets of Viaduct care and ensure safe and effective use of such assets.

Communications and Leadership

• Build strong relationships with clinicians, practice staff and other prescribers to facilitate delivery of prescribing priorities. Continue to develop and support practice prescribing leads as conduit for influencing prescribing behaviour in practices.
• Undertake a programme of visits to practices/prescribers as defined by line management
• Support Networks and practices to achieve agreed targets.
• Agree key messages and initiatives for practices with line manager/ locality leads
• Act as a conduit for dissemination and sharing of best practice between prescribers and practices within and across Networks
• Disseminate and support the implementation of system wide prescribing and therapeutic policy into practices and to other prescribers.
• Work collaboratively across other multi-disciplinary Teams and Networks within the organisation and the locality to progress the prescribing agenda as directed.
• Work with colleagues in hospital and community pharmacy to facilitate change and deliver safe and effective care, particularly at the interfaces.
• Respond to patients, clinicians and other agencies on matters relating to prescribing, medication, and medicine use.
• Demonstrate the ability to negotiate, persuade, influence, motivate and reassure all groups of stakeholders with empathy.
• Lead on the delivery of allocated projects within their area of work.

Policy and Service Development

• Support policy implementation within the terms of service in all relevant contracts.
• Proactively research and disseminate to practices and other prescribers, opportunities to improve patient care or prescribing patterns.
• Identify opportunities for efficiencies and savings in relation to medicines management activity in practices.
• In discussion with Line Manager/Service Lead Pharmacist arrange appropriate additional specialist pharmacy support into practices in support of the overall prescribing agenda.

Planning and organising

• Demonstrate well-developed organisational and planning skills to provide safe and effective support to prescribers.
• Utilise project management skills as appropriate, particularly when working collaboratively with others to achieve a specific outcome.
• Facilitate collaborative working both within the Network and Between them.
• Deliver change in prescriber behaviours and practice.

Analysis and data management

• The role will involve both undertaking and supporting others in prescribing related audits within practices to encourage clinicians to critically appraise their current practice.
• Use data management information systems, including information technology and be willing to undertake or deliver appropriate training.
• Undertake appropriate analysis of prescribing data to inform discussions with individual practices/prescribers. Ensure that effective and relevant analytical information is provided regularly to prescribers to support quality and cost-effective prescribing decisions. Ensure that information is presented in format which is easy to understand and accessible.
• Work with the Network Lead Pharmacist to provide regular performance and reporting information on practice prescribing trends line management as required.
• Maintain suitable information resources relating to practice prescribing performance to be able to respond to ad hoc queries and to feed into the financial management process.
• Support prescribing related audit work with practices in line with service agreements.
• Provide specialist support to practices to improve quality standards and to support them in delivering cost effective and clinically effective prescribing.

Clinical Governance, Safety and Controls Assurance

• Promote and be able to demonstrate compliance with local and national guidance such as, NICE guidance and quality standards, GMMMG policy and guidance, relevant collegiate guidance and the professional standards set for Pharmacists
• Maintain an overview of medicines management arrangements in practices and ensure that appropriate risk management and delegated responsibility arrangements are in place.
• Ensure compliance with local protocols, policies, operating procedures, and best practice guidance.
• Support or complete incident reporting and learning as per policy and professional requirements, to continually improve patient care, safety, and experience.

Special Conditions

• Responsibility for keeping professionally and clinically up to date, demonstrating awareness of both policy and practice changes.
• Attend meetings out of office hours as required.
• Be flexible in working arrangements in terms of hours and location to meet the needs of the service.
• Undertake other responsibilities as may be assigned from time to time by the line manager commensurate with the posts grade.

Responsibilities for Human Resources

• Support our Foundation Pharmacists, Pharmacy Technicians& Medicines Co-ordinators to deliver the work required.
• Act as a role model for others in the Team and provide support and mentorship for line reports and other Team members in line with service priorities.
• Take line management responsibility for designated Team members and ensure they operate within Viaduct policies in delivering their contract and service responsibilities. This may include providing training, directing or reviewing work undertaken, undertaking assessments, providing feedback, evaluating and managing performance and monitoring work habits and productivity.
• Participate in education and training activities relevant to both the role and project delivery. This may include cascade of training received as well as development and delivery of bespoke training to meet the service needs.

This job description aims to illustrate the range and nature of responsibilities held by the post holder. The list of duties and responsibilities is not exhaustive, and the post holder is expected to be flexible in their approach. The duties associated with the post will inevitably vary and develop and therefore the role will be reviewed on a regular basis and changes made in consultation with the post-holder.

Person Specification

Experience

Essential

• 2 years post-registration experience or equivalent primary care
• experience.
• Be an active prescriber making autonomous prescribing decisions in your routine practice.

Desirable

• Experience or working in general practice or secondary care clinical services,
• Experience in the use of information and IT to support decision making.
• Experience of delivering projects or change.
• Experience of working in primary care.

Skills and Abilities

Essential

• Good communication skills, both written and verbal, including presentation skills.
• Ability to interpret numerical information and data and use effectively
• Good interpersonal skills.
• Good influencing and negotiating skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively as part of a team.
• Ability to develop effective working relationships with all levels of people.
• Good IT skills using Microsoft software.
• Well developed organisational and time management skills.
• Ability to gain the respect of clinicians.
• Ability to work unsupervised and plan own time effectively.
• Audit skills.
• Problem solving skills.

Desirable

• Well developed performance management skills.
• Research Skills.
• Evidence of competency in basic health monitoring, monitoring tests and venepuncture.

Additional Attributes

Essential

• Team Player.
• Self motivated.
• Proactive and constructive outlook.
• Flexible and adaptable approach.
• Good Problem solving skills.
• Ability to work under pressure.
• Willing to work in multiple practices.
• Flexibility in working hours to meet deadlines.
• Ability to travel.

Qualifications

Essential

• Professional knowledge acquired through vocational Masters Degree in pharmacy or equivalent.
• 1 year pre-registration training.
• Registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council.
• Completion of the CPPE pathway or demonstrated equivalence for ARRS funded pharmacists in primary care.
• Qualification and GPhC registration as an Independent Prescriber.

Desirable

• Relevant post-graduate diploma.

Knowledge

Essential

• An understanding of the role of organisation, and an awareness of prescribing policy and issues, particularly in relation to general practice.
• Awareness of change management techniques, particularly in relation to changing individual behaviour. Knowledge and ability to manage common clinical conditions e.g., diabetes, cardiovascular disease.

Desirable

• Awareness of the role of Primary Care Networks/Intergrated Care Systems in the commissioning of health care.

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 .

Employer details

Employer name

Viaduct Care

Address

Merseyway Innovation Centre

21-23 Merseyway

Stockport

Greater Manchester

SK1 1PN

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