JOB DESCRIPTION

Job Title: Primary Care Pharmacist
Job Location: South Dartmoor and Totnes Primary Care Network Locality
Responsible to: Network Lead Manager
Hours of work: 37.5 hour (job share may be considered)
Salary: Band 7 to 8a (depending on experience)

JOB SUMMARY

The South Dartmoor and Totnes Primary Care Network has an exciting opportunity for another clinical pharmacist to join our growing pharmacy team. 

Overall this job is intended to complement the work of one or more of the existing Primary Healthcare Teams (PHT) within the Primary Care Network, with an emphasis on assisting with current medicines-related workload and maximising prescribing safety & efficiency for our patient population.

This job is intended for a pharmacist with up to date registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council. Experience in General Practice would be an advantage but is not essential if the applicant is clinically up-to-date and understands the process of a full medication review in the primary care setting.

The pharmacist appointed will be expected to maintain their clinical competence with appropriate continuing professional development, and provide evidence of this annually to the Primary Care Network.

The pharmacist appointed will have access to peer support from two Band 8 Primary Care Pharmacists, the lead PCN pharmacist and the practice pharmacist based at Leatside surgery. Both have been working in primary care for a number of years and are valued members of the PHTs in the Network.

It is expected that the pharmacist appointed will undertake the necessary training to become a Pharmacist Independent Prescriber and practice competently in the Primary Care setting in order to achieve the duties and responsibilities detailed below.

It is also expected that this job is likely to develop over the next few years which may require a change of job location and roles within the geographical area of the Primary Care Network. Any such change will closely involve the pharmacist appointed and therefore provide him or her with an opportunity to shape the job in order to maximise the delivery of best practice.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

The following sets out the key role responsibilities for all Clinical Pharmacists in General Practice:
1.	Work as a valued team member of one or more of the five PHTs within the Primary Care Network.
1.1.	This is likely to involve working closely with more than one PHT, and therefore travel between and working in more than one GP Surgery within the Network area is expected. However, a base workplace will be agreed with the pharmacist, and remote working may be possible
1.2.	This may also involve being familiar with two Primary Care clinical computer record-keeping IT systems (EMIS and SystmOne)
1.3.	This will involve assisting or leading PHTs with updating or developing Shared Care Protocols, Specific Operating Procedures and other operational requirements related to medicines
1.4.	This will involve direct patient contact and communication by a variety of means
2.	Promote prescribing quality and safety including:
2.1.	Assist with or undertake annual medication reviews for patients
2.2.	Ensure medicines rationalisation accuracy when patients move between places or providers of care
2.3.	Identify and minimise the risk of medication interactions
2.4.	Minimise patient-specific medication safety concerns
2.5.	Ensure recommended or required monitoring is undertaken, and any safety concerns are identified are addressed in a timely fashion, for specific medications
2.5.1.	Including assisting with maintaining point of care anticoagulant monitoring to a high standard
2.6.	Review regular medication use to maximise concordance and minimise hospital admissions, falls, and/or polypharmacy risks; especially with patients identified as frail
2.7.	Identify and minimise the risks associated with long-term opiate use
2.8.	Ensure PHT prescribers are aware of MHRA medicine safety and medicine withdrawal alerts in a timely fashion

2.9.	Undertake additional audits as may be identified as beneficial in promoting quality and safe prescribing
2.10.	Develop IT systems which assist prescribers or resolve safety or Formulary adherence concerns in as unobtrusive a way as possible
3.	Promote Primary Healthcare Team prescribing objectives, including:
3.1.	achievement of national Quality & Outcome Framework (QOF) Quality Improvement prescribing safety indicators including undertaking audits and attending peer review meetings
3.2.	Assist with the management of patients with one or more long-term conditions as agreed between the pharmacist and the Network, including:
3.2.1.	maintaining accurate QOF disease registers where applicable
3.2.2.	undertaking patient reviews including regular medication tolerance/concordance and promotion of patient self-management or self-care with respect to monitoring target achievement
3.3.	Possible development of a Network Formulary for PHT prescribers to assist with consistency of drug choice, dosing instructions and quantities
3.4.	Sharing examples of best practice between PHTs within the Network
4.	Resolve patient or carer/family queries about medications
5.	Engage closely with local Care Homes including:
5.1.	Medicines reconciliation for new residents, or after discharge from another place of care
5.2.	Medicine reviews and de-escalation where appropriate, following national or agreed guidelines
6.	Engage closely with local Community Pharmacies and their Pharmacists to increase co-working efficiency, including:
6.1.	Advising on medicine out of stock queries and other Community Pharmacy queries
6.2.	Ensuring Community Pharmacies are aware of medicine reconciliation changes and blister pack queries
7.	Engage closely with the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) Medicines Optimisation Team and promoting their prescribing objectives, provided they do not directly contradict Primary Healthcare Team prescribing objectives, including:
7.1.	Promoting CCG Formulary adherence with PHT prescribers, including liaising over issues raised by OptimiseRx or other alternative prescription suggestion software
7.2.	Promoting self-care medication use with the patient population and individual patients
7.3.	Promoting Primary Healthcare Team prescribing adherence to Medicines Optimisation Team prescribing indicators
7.4.	Identifying causes for high PHT EPACT quarterly cost data, and suggest, agree with the PHT, and implement solutions
7.5.	Reduce medicines wastage
8.	Engage closely with local NHS and private health and social care providers (eg Community Services, local Acute Trusts, Mental Health workers) including:
8.1.	Medicines rationalisation
8.2.	Non-CCG Formulary prescribing variations
8.3.	Resolving prescribing factors contributing to admissions
9.	Assist PHTs with engaging in clinical research involving their patients
10.	Assist PHTs with the training of undergraduate and post-graduate pharmacists, doctors and nurses
11.	On completion of Pharmacist Independent Prescriber certification, also:
11.1.	Prescribe for agreed long term conditions
11.2.	Prescribe alternatives when medication compatibility or tolerance concerns are identified
11.3.	Prescribe alternatives when medicines are out of stock
11.4.	Offer minor illness appointments for patients including prescribing for those illnesses within an agreed scope

PERSON SPECIFICATION 

Criteria	Description	Essential	Desirable	
Personal Qualities & Attributes	Commitment to reducing health inequalities and proactively working to reach people from all communities 
	X		
	Demonstrates 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. CCGs) 	X		
	Is able to recognise personal limitations and refer to more appropriate colleague(s) when necessary 	X		
	Ability to identify risk and assess/manage risk when working with individuals 	X		
	Able to work under pressure and meet deadlines 	X		
	Demonstrates accountability for delivering professional expertise and direct service provision 	X		
	Able to provide leadership and to finish work tasks	X
		
	Ability to maintain effective working relationships and to promote collaborative practice with all colleagues 	X		
	Demonstrates personal accountability, emotional resilience and works well under pressure 	
X		
	Ability to organise, plan and prioritise on own initiative, including when under pressure and meeting deadlines 	
X		
	High level of written and oral communication skills 	X
		
	Ability to work flexibly and enthusiastically within a team or on own initiative 	
X		
	Knowledge of and ability to work to policies and procedures, including confidentiality, safeguarding, lone working, information governance, and health and safety 	X		
Professional registration	Mandatory registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council 	X		
	Membership Primary Care Pharmacy Association (PCPA) 		X	
	Membership of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society 		X	
	Completion of an undergraduate degree in pharmacy and registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council 	X		
	May hold or be working towards an independent prescribing qualification 		X	
	Clinical Diploma 		X	
	Demonstrates and understanding of, and conforms to, relevant standards of practice 	X		
	Follows professional and organisational policies/procedures relating to performance management 	X		
Experience	Minimum of three years’ experience as a pharmacist	X		
	Experience and an awareness of the breadth of common acute and long-terms conditions that are likely to be seen in general practice 	X		
	Demonstrates ability to integrate general practice with community and hospital pharmacy team’s community groups 	X		
	Experience of partnership/collaborative working and of building relationships across a variety of organisations 	X		
	Experience of working with CCGs / PCTs 		X	
Skills and Knowledge	In depth therapeutic and clinical knowledge and understanding of the principles of evidence-based healthcare 	X		
	Understanding of the wider determinants of health, including social, economic and environmental factors and their impact on communities 	X		
	An appreciation of the nature of primary care prescribing, concepts of rational prescribing and strategies for improving prescribing 	X		
	Knowledge of IT systems, including ability to use word processing skills, emails and the internet to create simple plans and reports 	X		
	Able to plan, manage, monitor and review general medicine optimisation issues in core areas for long term conditions 	X		
	Able to obtain and analyse complex technical information 	X		
	Able to gain acceptance for recommendations and influence/motivate/persuade the audience to comply with the recommendations/agreed course of action where there may be significant barriers 	X		
	Able to identify and resolve risk management issues according to policy/protocol. 	X 		
	Able to follow legal, ethical, professional and organisational policies/ procedures and codes of conduct	X		
Other 	Meets DBS reference standards and has a clear criminal record, in line with the law on spent convictions 	X		
	Adaptable 	X		
	Self-Motivation   	X		
	Safeguarding and other mandatory training 
	X		
	Immunisation status 	X		
	Ability to work flexibly with the ability to travel between sites and undertake domiciliary visits

	X