Pharmacist - Independent Prescriber Role

Job Summary

The Practice Pharmacist is an integral part of the clinical team, using and sharing pharmacy expertise to support the GPs and the whole practice in effective medicines management and optimal patient care. The Independent Prescriber Qualification will bring additional benefits to the role and to the practice.

Main Duties of the Job

The GP Practice Pharmacist with Independent Prescribing Qualification duties will include:

• Medication Review and Optimisation
• Medicines Reconciliation
• Medicines Information/Education
• Prescribing Systems and Policies
• Chronic Disease Medicines Management
• Liaison with Community and Hospital Pharmacies
• Prescribing
• Teaching/Training

About Us

Principal Medical Limited is a successful not-for-profit, GP-led organisation providing various NHS community and primary care clinical services to patients across Oxfordshire and Northamptonshire. We have evolved as a NHS healthcare provider since 2004 and in the last few years have grown significantly, now employing around 300 staff with a turnover of circa £16m.

We Welcome Applicants

We welcome applicants from a diverse range of backgrounds and circumstances and people with protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010.

Job Responsibilities

Medication Review and Optimisation:

• To respond to reception queries to amend prescriptions, reauthorise repeats, clarify doses, clarify products, give appropriate alternatives when availability issues occur
• To discuss specific patient and prescribing issues (complicated regimes/polypharmacy, compliance difficulties, multiple adverse effects, medication reduction regimes) with other clinicians as necessary
• Face-to-face clinics: to identify patients in need of medication review and develop the system of patient invitation with the admin team, and see patients face-to-face for medication reviews and to discuss specific issues, such as those described in the previous point
• To discuss medication issues with patients as needed and appropriate by telephone, adverse effects/interactions, overdose/inadvertent ingestion, OTC remedies, queries from reception, queries from care homes
• Prescribing Pharmacists will also complete DTA forms for District Nurses

Medicines Reconciliation:

Working alongside the Pharmacy Technician:

• To review secondary care requests for new medication (as communicated by discharge summaries, outpatient letters, etc.) and raise any queries with the relevant GP, and discuss how to respond when inappropriate prescribing requests arise.
• To review and continue repeat medications for new patients who have just registered with the practice, and suggest GP medication review where appropriate.

Medicines Information/Education:

• To monitor and inform colleagues as relevant about ongoing prescribing issues, new guidelines (national and local), new products being requested by secondary care, manufacturing and supply problems, new prescribing restrictions or contradictions, and individual and systematic errors made by colleagues
• To advise on cost-effective prescribing and prescribing budget issues

Prescribing Systems and Policies:

• To liaise with reception, admin and clinical staff in discussing, developing, and implementing medicines management systems in the practice
• To work with the GPs (especially the Clinical Lead) and Practice Management to review, develop and implement prescribing policies and strategies for the whole practice
• To suggest and design audits in relation to prescribing targets, implementation of locality policies and the Quality Outcomes Framework (QOF)
• To work with the GPs, Practice Management, and Data Team on choosing and delivering targets for the local Prescribing Quality Scheme (PQS)
• To monitor the practice's prescribing performance (via the CCG prescribing dashboard, progress on the PQS, ePACT, etc.), and suggest changes to practice prescribing as appropriate

Chronic Disease Medicines Management:

• According to experience and training, this may include:
• Annual Asthma reviews with patients
• Hypertension (lifestyle advice and medication initiation and optimisation)
• Diabetes, with referral to GP/Community Diabetes Nurse
• CHD (medicines optimisation, with referral to GP where necessary)
• Depression reviews
• Heart failure

Liaison with Community and Hospital Pharmacies:

• To support and advise practice teams when needed
• Communicate updates and changes in practice policy
• Liaise when medicine availability issues occur

Prescribing:

Having achieved the Independent Prescriber qualification:

• To undertake where appropriate and within clinical competency
• To keep clinical competency up to date and inform others of changes (the reception team and other clinical colleagues)
• To sign Patient Specific Directions and GR as appropriate
• To pass prescribing tasks to an alternative clinician if without area of competency

Teaching/Training:

We are a training practice, and often have learners (GP trainees, medical students and Parenteral Nutrition trainees) sat in on consultations and occasionally having tutorials one-to-one. The practice Pharmacist will sometimes be asked to participate in the education of trainees in these settings

Confidentiality:

In the performance of duties outlined in this Job Description, the post-holder may have access to confidential information relating to patients and their carers, practice staff and other healthcare workers. They may also have access to information relating to the practice as a business organisation. All such information from any source is to be regarded as strictly confidential.

Information requested by individual members will be collated and authorised through formal channels.

Information relating to patients, carers, colleagues, other healthcare workers or the business of the practice may only be divulged to authorised persons in accordance with the practice policies and procedures relating to confidentiality and the protection of personal and sensitive data

Equality and Diversity:

The post-holder will support the Equality, Diversity and rights of patients, carers and colleagues, to include:

• Acting in a way that recognises the importance of people's rights, interpreting them in a way that is consistent with Practice/Consortium procedures and policies, and current legislation
• Respecting the privacy, dignity, needs and beliefs of patients, carers and colleagues

Behaving in a manner which is welcoming to and of the individual, is non-judgemental and respects their circumstances, feelings, priorities and rights

Personal/Professional Development:

The post-holder will participate in any training programme implemented by the practice as part of this employment, such training to include:

• Participation in an annual individual performance review, including taking responsibility for maintaining a record of their own personal and/or professional development
• Taking responsibility for their own development, learning and performance and demonstrating skills and activities to others who are undertaking similar work

Quality:

The post-holder will strive to maintain quality within the practice and will:

• Alert other team members to issues of quality and risk
• Assess their own performance and take accountability for their own actions, either directly or under supervision
• Contribute to the effectiveness of the team by reflecting on their own and team activities and making suggestions on ways to improve and enhance the team's performance
• Work effectively with individuals in other practices to meet patients' needs
• Effectively manage their own time, workload and resources

Communication:

The post-holder should organise the importance of effective communication within the team and will strive to:

• Communicate effectively with other team members
• Communicate effectively with patients and carers
• Recognise people's needs for alternative methods of communication and respond accordingly

Contribution to the Implementation of Services:

The post-holder will:

• Apply practice policies, standards and guidance
• Discuss with other members of the team how the policies, standards and guidelines will affect their own work