Care jobs in United Kingdom

As a portfolio pharmacist, the postholder will handle two roles within their portfolio working in conjunction. Half of the week in a Neighbourhood health team (CLCH) andhalf of the week in a PCN (HCL GP federation). The role enables the postholder tostrike a balance of work that suits them and the prospect of gaining experience and skills in different settings.

While at CLCH, the postholder will work within a neighbourhood health team tosupport medicines optimisation serving the PCN where the postholder will spend theremainder of their week.

While at HCL, the postholder will be based in a Primary Care practice to deliverGeneral Practice Clinical Pharmacist roles as well as supporting Federation projects.

• To deliver a high quality Medicines Optimisation Service to improve medicines related outcomes for high risk patients and ensure the safe, cost effective and evidence based use of medicines
• Conduct clinical medication reviews with patients, within patients homes, clinic, local hub, or practice setting. The role may involve working within care homes.
• Undertake Proactive Structured Medication Reviews using a holistic approach to medicines management
• To build relationships with key stakeholders delivering neighbourhood health care
• Ensure proactive liaison with relevant healthcare professionals regarding changes to medication regimes. e.g. regular GP, nursing/ care home, community pharmacist ensuring they have the information they need and that follow-up appointment are clear where necessary
• Make prescribing recommendations as per local and national guidance.
• Prescribe within competence for patients to improve patient care
• Case manage patients who are frequently admitted to acute trusts as a result of medicines related problems
• To provide professional support and compose patient-agreed medication care plans and communicate these with other health and social care professionals e.g. Community Pharmacists, hospital teams, carers etc.

Healthcare Central London is the GP Federation covering the Central London borough area. The organisation supports 31 General Practices and 4 Primary Care Networks (PCNs). We operate a number of NHS contracts including a Care Navigation Service, a Clinical Pharmacy Service, a Community Dermatology Service etc.

Our vision is to be recognised as a leading GP provider network, run by clinicians for the benefit of our local population. We will achieve this by working with patients and partners to ensure that general practice remains sustainable and independent.

Our approach is to deliver exceptional assistance to our 30 General Practice members and to operate our NHS contracts in a manner that supports our Practices and their patients by providing services economically, locally, promptly, and in a familiar environment.

To deliver a high quality Medicines Optimisation Service to improve medicines related outcomes for high risk patients and ensure the safe, cost effective and evidence based use of medicines

Conduct clinical medication reviews with patients, within patients homes, clinic, local hub, or practice setting. The role may involve working within care homes.

Undertake Proactive Structured Medication Reviews using a holistic approach to medicines management

To build relationships with key stakeholders delivering neighbourhood health care

Ensure proactive liaison with relevant healthcare professionals regarding changes to medication regimes. e.g. regular GP, nursing/ care home, community pharmacist ensuring they have the information they need and that follow-up appointment are clear where necessary

Make prescribing recommendations as per local and national guidance.

Prescribe within competence for patients to improve patient care

Case manage patients who are frequently admitted to acute trusts as a result of medicines related problems

To provide professional support and compose patient-agreed medication care plans and communicate these with other health and social care professionals e.g. Community Pharmacists, hospital teams, carers etc.

Work with Neighbourhood health MDT to ensure patients are supported to get the best out of their medicines. Ensure liaison with the regular GP, hospital clinicians, community nurses, carers, family, community pharmacists and care coordinators to ensure an integrated approach to medicines management, with a view to ensuring continuity of pharmaceutical care for patients in different healthcare settings.

Develop a range of practical solutions to enable patients to maintain their independence to selfadminister their medication where possible and improve adherence and concordance

To liaise with the ICB Medicines Management Teams to ensure consistency across local prescribing strategies and support cost-effective prescribing

Work collaboratively with system partners to improve medicine pathways

Ensure that developments are linked in with organisational priorities and Local Delivery Plans including cost-effective prescribing

Contribute to agreed meetings within and outside the organisation and represent pharmacy as appropriate

Respond to unpredictable work patterns and urgent requests for help by phone or email within a reasonable time frame

To deliver training sessions to relevant staff groups and/or patients

Coordinate and participate in antibiotic stewardship

Respond to medicines information queries from the greater Community Adult Health Service team, including therapists, community nurses, healthcare assistants, social workers etc.

Key Responsibilities at Healthcare Central London:

The post-holder will work as part of a multi-disciplinary team in primary care in a patient-facing role. The post holder will take responsibility for areas of chronic disease management within the practice and undertake clinical medication reviews to proactively manage patients with complex polypharmacy, especially for older people, people in residential care homes and those with multiple co-morbidities.

Responsibilities will include (but will not be limited to):

To deliver pharmacy related aspects of the Network Direct Enhanced Service such as conducting structured medication reviews (SMRs)

To review patients in multimorbidity clinics and in partnership with primary care colleagues in order to implement improvements to patients medicines, including de- prescribing

To manage own case load and run long-term condition clinics - where responsible for prescribing as an independent prescriber

To routinely review the on-going need for each medicine, a review of monitoring needs and an opportunity to support patients to get the best use of their medicines (i.e. medicines optimisation)

To support the medicines optimisation of designated care home residents/ vulnerable housebound patients as needed and within own scope of competence/practice to reduce risk of hospital admission and/or harm from poor use of medicines

To attend and refer patients to multidisciplinary case meetings. Identifying key areas of need for vulnerable patients and contribute to the formulation of care plans.

To signpost to community pharmacy and referring to GPs or other healthcare professionals where appropriate

To respond to medicinerelated enquiries from GPs, other practice staff, other healthcare teams (e.g. community pharmacy) and patients

To provide follow up for patients to monitor the effect of any changes to therapy to optimise effectiveness and safety of medicines

To devise and implement practice searches to identify cohorts of patients most likely to be at risk of an unplanned admission and readmissions from medicines and take appropriate action on results

To reconcile medicines following discharge from hospitals, intermediate care and into care homes, following outpatient clinics etc. - including identifying and rectifying unexplained changes. To manage these changes as may be appropriate

To 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

To 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)

To 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.

To identify and provide leadership on areas of prescribing and medicines optimization within the practice

To conduct clinical audits and improvement projects or work with colleagues such as GP registrars, practice managers etc. to promote patient safety as relates to medicines

To present results and provide leadership on suggested improvements to colleague pharmacists, GP practices and other healthcare partners. To contribute to national and local research initiatives.

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 national guidance e.g. NICE

To provide leadership to the general practice team to ensure the practice is compliant with CQC standards where medicines are involved

To undertake risk assessment and management and ensure compliance with medicines legislation

Implementation of local and national guidelines and formulary recommendations

To 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).

To 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.

To audit the practices compliance against NICE guidance. Share and discuss newsletters, alerts and changing guidance with other clinicians relating to important prescribing developments or changes

To provide education and training to the primary healthcare team on therapeutics, medicines optimization and common chronic disease management as relates to medicines as appropriate

To support public health campaigns. To provide specialist knowledge on all public health programmes available to general public.

To demonstrate self-development through continuous professional development activity

To support and engage with the HCL clinical supervision and training in place for all pharmacists

To demonstrate the ability to critically evaluate and review literature, identify gaps in evidenced based practice and support the implementation/promotion of evidenced based care at practice level

To adopt a whole system approach to medicines management

• Up to date clinical and pharmaceutical knowledge
• Sound knowledge of prescribing, pharmacy and medicines
• management issues faced in primary and secondary care
• Understanding of the NHS and political environment

• Post-qualification experience of clinical pharmacy,
• medicines information and prescribing advice
• Experience of working in secondary care and in a
• multidisciplinary environment
• Primary care experience
• Experience of training
• Experience of audit techniques
• Experience in supervising a team/service and line
• management
• Community Health Services experience

• Undergraduate Degree in Pharmacy: MPharm (or
• equivalent prior to 2002)
• Professional registration with the General Pharmaceutical
• Completion of CPPE Primary care pharmacy education
• pathway
• Takes personal responsibility for Continuing Professional
• Development as evidenced by portfolio
• Uses reflective practice for personal and professional
• development
• Postgraduate clinical pharmacy qualification to at least

• Excellent communication skills both verbal and written
• including presentation skills and report writing
• Team player but able to work independently
• Demonstrates initiative
• Demonstrates excellent decision-making skills and is able to
• understand complex information
• Effective negotiation skills and ability to persuade others
• Ability to assimilate, analyse and interpret clinical and
• Good inter-personal skills and ability to build relationships
• Ability to provide succinct and objective advice
• To manage own time, prioritise workload effectively and
• work to tight deadlines
• Computer literate working knowledge of office
• applications, internet, email and electronic diary systems
• Ability to plan, set objectives, priorities and review
• performance against objectives
• Ability to command and deal sensitively with emotive
• situations and be seen as credible by professional
• colleagues
• Can identify and manage risks and evaluate quality of own
• work and service
• Ability to adapt to different working environments

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.

£64,000 to £68,000 a yearDepending on experience