Job description

Job responsibilities

1. Clinical Practice

Work as an autonomous advanced practitioner, using complex decision-making to inform the diagnosis, investigation and complete management of episodes of care within a broad scope of practice.

Assess and triage patients, including same-day presentations, and provide definitive treatment (including prescribing in line with policy, NICE and local guidelines and care pathways) or make appropriate referrals to other members of the primary care team.

Manage undifferentiated and undiagnosed presentations within scope, identifying red flags and serious underlying pathology and taking appropriate action.

Prescribe safely and cost-effectively as an independent prescriber, within own competence and current legislative frameworks, maintaining a documented scope of practice reviewed with the clinical supervisor.

Undertake complex structured medication reviews for patients with multimorbidity, polypharmacy or frailty, and for care home residents, contributing to Enhanced Health in Care Homes multidisciplinary working and proactive care for people at greatest risk of deterioration.

Manage patients with long-term conditions in clinical areas aligned to the PCN priorities.

Take a personalised care approach, enabling shared decision-making with patients and carers.

Act as the PCNs senior source of medicines expertise, resolving complex queries from clinicians, community pharmacy, secondary care and patients.

Lead the PCN pharmacy response to medicines safety alerts, incidents and near misses, ensuring learning is shared across practices.

Maintain complete, accurate and contemporaneous records using the correct SNOMED codes.

2. Leadership and management of the PCN pharmacy team

Line manage the PCN clinical pharmacists, including recruitment, induction, objective setting, appraisal, personal development plans, attendance, performance and wellbeing, in line with employer policies.

Provide monthly structured clinical supervision for the clinical pharmacists, in line with NHS England supervision guidance for PCN multidisciplinary teams, ensuring each pharmacist has an agreed, documented scope of practice.

Coordinate clinical and educational supervision for pharmacists undertaking the CPPE Primary Care Pharmacy Education Pathway and other formal training.

Working in partnership with the Lead Pharmacy Technician, lead the PCN pharmacy team as a single integrated team: agree shared priorities, lead regular team meetings, and ensure pharmacists and pharmacy technicians work to the top of their respective scopes.

Identify, test and evaluate innovative ways of working, such as skill-mix models, shared protocols, digital tools and population health management searches.

Maintain a team learning programme, identifying individual and collective learning needs and securing training opportunities.

Advise on pharmacy skill mix, recruitment and retention, contributing to the PCNs annual ARRS workforce plan.

Complete the relevant training to provide multi-professional clinical and CPD supervision to other roles in primary care, such as first contact practitioners and personalised care roles.

Role model the PCNs values and foster a supportive, psychologically safe team culture.

3. Service delivery and practice liaison

Act as the principal link between the pharmacy team, the PCN and each member practice, agreeing service priorities, deployment of pharmacy capacity and reporting arrangements with practice leads.

Ensure the pharmacy service supports delivery of relevant contracts, including the Network Contract DES medicines optimisation requirements (structured medication reviews for high-risk cohorts; reducing polypharmacy, over-prescribing and dependency on prescription medicines), the Enhanced Health in Care Homes service, IIF and QOF indicators where relevant, and ICB medicines optimisation and prescribing quality schemes.

Lead development and delivery of the PCN medicines optimisation plan, targeted at population need and health inequalities in line with the CORE20PLUS5 approach.

Monitor and report on pharmacy activity, outcomes and impact to the Clinical Director(s), PCN Manager and PCN board, using data to demonstrate value and address unwarranted variation.

Work with the ICB Medicines Optimisation team, community pharmacy, secondary care and Integrated Neighbourhood Team partners to improve medicines pathways, including transfers of care.

Support member practices to meet CQC expectations for medicines management and safe repeat prescribing systems.

Ensure accurate activity coding and support accurate pharmacy workforce data submissions.

4. Education and workforce development: Northamptonshire Primary Care Training Hub

Act as the pharmacy professions ambassador for the Northamptonshire Primary Care Training Hub, representing pharmacists and pharmacy technicians working in general practice and PCNs across the county.

Undertake and maintain a learning needs analysis for primary care pharmacy professionals in Northamptonshire, identifying gaps and priorities.

Identify training and funding opportunities, signpost and help shape local provision, and advocate for protected learning time and supervision capacity for pharmacy professionals.

Work closely with the Training Hub team, in particular the Training Hub Advanced Clinical Practice Lead, to align advancing practice for pharmacists with the wider multi-professional advanced practice agenda.

Build and maintain relationships beyond the Training Hub, including the Leicester, Northamptonshire and Rutland (LNR) Pharmacy Faculty and regional and national workforce, training and education teams (currently NHS England Workforce, Training and Education, Midlands, including the Midlands Faculty for Advancing Practice, and their successor bodies), and CPPE.

Promote growth of supervision capacity in primary care, including Designated Prescribing Practitioners, designated supervisors for foundation trainee pharmacists, and primary care placements.

Contribute to multi-professional teaching and education events locally and regionally.

5. Research, audit and quality improvement

Lead clinical audit and quality improvement projects in medicines use and safety, implementing change and re-auditing to demonstrate impact.

Critically appraise and apply research evidence, identifying gaps in the evidence base and promoting evidence-based practice across the PCN.

Evaluate own and team practice, including through patient feedback, and share learning locally, regionally and nationally where appropriate.

Support research activity within the PCN where opportunities arise.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Registered Pharmacist with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC), including an Independent Prescriber annotation
• Capability across four pillars of advanced practice, and willingness to undertake credentialling
• Evidence of training and competence in clinical history-taking and physical assessment

Experience

Essential

• Post-registration experience in managing at least 4 of the following conditions: CVD, DM, CKD, depression, menopause, pain management, frailty, or polypharmacy
• Autonomous management of complex patients, including multimorbidity, polypharmacy and frailty
• Leading a team, including line management or formal supervisory responsibility
• Providing clinical supervision or mentoring to pharmacists or other clinicians
• Leading audit or quality improvement with demonstrable outcomes

Skills and Knowledge

Essential

• In-depth therapeutic knowledge and understanding of evidence-based practice
• Knowledge of the Multi-professional Framework for Advanced Practice in England and how it applies to pharmacists
• Understanding of the Network Contract DES, ARRS, QOF, IIF and primary care structures
• Understanding of clinical governance, medicines safety and information governance
• Excellent communication, with the ability to influence and negotiate with GPs, managers and system partners
• Ability to prioritise and manage competing demands across multiple sites
• Ability to interpret and present data

Job Circumstances

Essential

• Reliable transportation to facilitate a hybrid work arrangement and occasional travel for mandatory meetings as required by the position
• Eligible to work in the UK and able to successfully complete required pre-employment checks, including a DBS check.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

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.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details

Employer name

General Practice Alliance Ltd

Address

129 Hazeldene Road

Northampton

Northamptonshire

NN2 7PB

United Kingdom

Employer's website

http://www.northantsgpalliance.com/ (Opens in a new tab)