Lead Practice PharmacistNHS

Job summary

Central and West Warrington Primary Care Network (CWW PCN) is seeking to recruit a Lead Practice Pharmacist to develop and support medicines optimisation across our seven GP practices.

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced and motivated primary care pharmacist to join an established, forward-thinking PCN team. Our pharmacy team includes Clinical Pharmacists, Pharmacy Technicians and a Care Coordinator, supported by a Senior Pharmacist, PCN Clinical Director, and the wider PCN team.

The post will be directly employed by a core practice but will work collaboratively across multiple practices within CWW PCN to support delivery of the Primary Care Network DES and local practice priorities.

We are keen to hear from pharmacists with experience in primary care, who have completed the CPPE Primary Care Pharmacy Education Pathway and Independent prescriber (IP) qualification.

Main duties of the job

The Lead Practice Pharmacist will be committed to improving health outcomes and putting patients first. Key qualities include the ability to build effective relationships with patients, GPs, nurses, community pharmacists, hospital teams, and practice staff, alongside alongside the ability to lead and work effectively within a multidisciplinary team.

The post holder will:

• Work as part of a multidisciplinary team in a patient-facing role, providing leadership to the practice pharmacy function
• Support delivery of Primary Care Network DES specifications
• Conduct and oversee structured medication reviews (SMRs) for patients with complex polypharmacy, including patients in care homes
• Provide expert clinical medicines advice to patients and practice teams
• Lead initiatives to improve prescribing practices across the Practice(s) and PCN
• Drive quality improvement and service development, including audits and implementation of best practice
• Work with community and hospital colleagues to resolve medication-related issues and improve care pathways
• Take overall responsibility for pharmacy governance and patient safety within the Practice(s), including overseeing the timely actioning of safety alerts and ensuring safe drug monitoring processes are in place
• Provide clinical leadership, support, and supervision to junior pharmacy colleagues and trainees

Job description

• Working as part of a multidisciplinary team in a patient facing role to clinically assess and treat patients using expert knowledge of medicines for specific disease areas. The role will contribute to successful clinical management of patients and build capacity in the workforce at the right levels.
• Using clinical skills to provide specialist medication review and assessment of patients with long term conditions having complex medicine regimes and produce the best outcomes for the patient.
• To further proactively manage people with complex polypharmacy, especially the elderly, people in care homes, those with multiple co-morbidities (in particular Frailty, COPD and Asthma); people with Learning Disabilities or Autism (through STOMP-Stop Over Medication Programme)
• Providing specialist expertise and advice in respect to the management and use of medicines and medicines management to patients, carers, practice staff as well as a wide range of health and social care professionals in helping to tackle inequalities
• Be an Independent Prescriber and safely prescribe within your scope of competence, ensuring evidence-based, patient-centred care.
• Provide leadership on person-centred medicines optimisation (including ensuring prescribers in the Practice conserve antibiotics in line with local antimicrobial stewardship guidance) and quality improvement whilst contributing to the quality and outcomes framework and enhanced services
• Through structured medication reviews, support patients to take their medications to get the best from them, reduce waste and promote self-care
• Have a leadership role in supporting further integration of general practice with the wider healthcare teams (including community and hospital pharmacy) to help improve patient outcomes, ensure better access to healthcare and help manage general practice workload
• Develop relationships and work closely with other pharmacy professionals across PCNs and the wider health and social care system
• Take a central role in the clinical aspects of shared care protocols, clinical research with medicines, liaison with specialist pharmacists (including mental health and reduction of antipsychotic use in people with learning disabilities) liaison with community pharmacists and anticoagulation
• Be part of a professional clinical network and have access to appropriate clinical supervision.
• To maintain registration as a pharmacist and comply with appropriate professional codes
• To develop and facilitate a good working relationship with all local providers of healthcare
• To plan and organise own workload, including audit and project work, and training sessions.
• To record personally generated information and maintain a database of information relating to the work done in the practice(s) personally generated information includes information and records relating to audit and clinical work undertaken by the post holder, reference notes relating to clinical/technical information, etc the database includes maintaining up-to-date, detailed
• Maintain records of all work done in the practices for which the post holder is accountable, assisting the GP Practice team with appropriate monitoring and management of prescribing budgets
• As appropriate to the post, to maintain and develop professional competence and expertise, keep up to date with medical/therapeutic evidence and opinion, and local and national service, legislation and policy developments, agree objectives and a personal development plan and participate in the appraisal process
• To attend Practice meetings and other meetings (e.g. PPG/CCG) as appropriate to report on workstreams and to give advice on appropriate use of medicines.
• Help plan, develop and support the introduction of new working processes within the Practice to optimise the quality of prescribing
• Take overall responsibility for all pharmacy related governance within the Practice ensuring safe processes are in place for the following:

-Ensuring national and local guidance is adhered to

-Ensuring all safety alerts and MHRA guidance is acted upon in a timely and safe manner

-Ensuring safe processes are in place within the Practice e.g., DMARD monitoring and DOAC monitoring

• Ensuring plans are in place to review all those requiring a SMR

-Provide support to all Practice colleagues regarding safe prescribing

-Undertake quality improvement exercises as required and have a workplan for these within your Practice(s)

-Provide supervision to junior colleagues and lead the Pharmacy team in Practice on a day-to-day basis

-Regularly liaise with senior team members

-Keep up to date with all Practice and PCN contractual requirements, ensuring systems are in place to achieve

-Supervise undergraduate and pre-registration colleagues as required

-Mentor colleague undertaking CPPE or those who require development

• To undertake any other duties commensurate with the post holders grade as agreed with the post holders line manager

About us

Central and West Warrington PCN is a dynamic team of 7 Practices who have a strong and cohesive relationship:

Causeway Medical Centre

Dallam Lane Medical Centre

Eric Moore Partnership

Folly Lane Medical Centre

Helsby Street Medical Centre

Penketh Health Centre

Westbrook Medical Centre

We are committed to delivering good quality care to our patients.

Our vision is to provide safe, effective and sustainable healthcare for our member practice patient population in partnership with other local healthcare providers.

Training Support

Most roles in our PCN require a training element. Staff partaking in training that meets certain requirements will be required to sign a Training Agreement that outlines associated costs to the training. Staff may be liable for reimbursing those costs to the Practice / PCN if they leave their PCN role before, during or after the training. Further detail will be provided to you if this applies to you and your role.