Prescribing Pharmacist

Job responsibilities

Key Responsibilities

Long-Term Conditions

• Contribute to improved health outcomes in long term conditions for the practices.
• Support patients to manage their long-term conditions.
• Carry out clinical medication reviews for patients on multiple medications for long term conditions.
• Review if prescribing is appropriate in line with current guidance, cost-effective and safe; identify unmet need, stop unnecessary/ineffective medicines. Implement own prescribing changes as an independent prescriber.
• Review of pathology results for patients under their care.
• Contribute to achievement of QOF targets to improve health outcomes.
• Make appropriate recommendations to the wider clinical team including senior pharmacists, senior clinical practitioners and GPs.

Clinical Medication Reviews

• Undertake clinical medication reviews with patients
• Produce recommendations for senior clinical practitioner, GP etc. for ongoing prescribing and monitoring recommendations.
• To review medications for new patients, to ensure safe, cost-effective prescribing in line with practice/local prescribing policies.

Care Home Medication Reviews

• Undertake clinical medication review with patients and staff within the care home.
• Work with care home staff to improve safety of medication ordering and administration.

Domiciliary Reviews

• Undertake clinical medication reviews with patients and produce recommendations.
• Attend and refer patients (if needed) to the multidisciplinary team.
• Work with patients to educate about medication safety, storage and ordering within the home.

Risk Stratification

• Identification of patients at high risk of harm from medicines through computerised searches.
• Review all relevant safety alerts (e.g. MHRA) and ensure any action required is undertaken.
• Conduct medication reviews for patients identified as above.

Unplanned Hospital Admissions

• Review the use of medications most commonly associated with unplanned admissions and re-admission through audit and individual patient reviews.
• Put protocol and policies in place to implement changes to reduce the prescribing of these medicines to high-risk patient groups.

Management of common/minor/self-limiting ailments

• Managing caseload of patient with common/minor/self-limiting ailments whilst working within a scope of practice and limits of competence.
• Signposting to the community pharmacy and referring ro GPs and other healthcare professionals where appropriate.

Medicines Support and Information for practice staff and patients (patient facing or telephone)

• Answer medical information queries from GPs, Nurses, practice staff, patients and third-party providers.
• Provide education on medicines related topics to the clinical team.
• Provide advice on suitable alternative medications in the event of a medicine being unavailable.
• Provide education for the clinical team on new medicines.
• Provide specialist knowledge and advice on pharmaceutical matters.
• Provide regular education sessions for the clinicians at the practices to discuss audit results and agree an action plan for improving standards within clinical areas.
• To provide specialist knowledge on medication monitoring and ensure a system for implementation is in place.
• To answer queries from administration staff regarding medication requests where appropriate to save GP time.

Management of medicines at discharge from hospital

• To reconcile medicines following discharge from hospital/ intermediate care; identify and rectify unexplained changes, manage these changes without referral to the GP; perform a clinical medication review; produce a post-discharge medicines care plan including dose titration and booking of follow-up test, and work with patients and community pharmacists to ensure patients receive the medicines they need post discharge.
• Set up and manage systems to ensure continuity of medicines supply to high-risk groups of patients (e.g. those with medicine compliance aids).
• Reconcile medication from clinic appointment correspondence, identifying any unexplained changes and rectifying these by communication with the secondary care provider. Ensure patients are fully aware of any changes and that a plan for monitoring/dose titration is in place.

Repeating Prescribing

• Produce and implement repeat prescribing policy within the surgery.
• To re-authorise medication for future repeat prescribing within scope of competence.
• Manage medication review dates and ensure that any clinical monitoring or reviews are actioned.
• To ensure the practice repeat prescribing system is safe, efficient and helps minimise waste.

Service Development

• Review NICE and other evidence-based guidance as it is issued, to evaluate any impact on medicines and prescribing.
• Undertake regular clinical audit to support implementation of clinical guidance across the practice.
• To take part in practice clinical meetings when appropriate.
• Encourage cost effective prescribing within the practice, including adherence to local formulary.
• Build good working relationships with local Medicines Management Team members.
• Improve communication about medication-related issues between the practice and both the patient and other care providers

Leadership and Management

• Be the first line manager for the prescribing team.
• Support new starters with induction, training and mentoring.
• Liaise with clinicians, managers and team leads.
• Deal with immediate responses to complaints relating to prescription requests, escalating as appropriate.
• Implement changes as per management instruction.
• Continually assess and evaluate the prescribing systems, recommend changes and improvements to the management team as appropriate.
• Participate in clinical meetings and manage prescribing team meetings.
• Identify team training needs.
• Help the team prioritise workload.

Administration

• Liaise with community pharmacists to ensure efficient and well managed repeat prescribing systems.
• Liaise with other prescribing leads within the PCN and the ICB.
• Liaise with Care Home managers ensuring they have a point of contact if they have any queries.

Personal Development

Personal development is a cornerstone of professional growth and is integral to expanding the scope of practice for healthcare professionals. The commitment to ongoing learning and skill enhancement is not only a personal journey but also a fundamental aspect of providing high-quality patient care.

Through continuous personal development, you will deepen your expertise, stay abreast of advancements in your field, and acquire new competencies. This commitment to growth is not only reflected in the pursuit of additional certifications and training but also in the cultivation of qualities such as adaptability, critical ...