How Clinical Pharmacists can Assist your Practice or PCN?

• 29th April 2023

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Updated: March 2024

It’s critical more than ever for healthcare professionals to work together to ensure that patients receive the best possible care, also in terms of improving patient access which is high on the agenda of the recent contract changes.

This includes Clinical pharmacists as they play a vital role by providing expert advice and knowledge in relation to medicines management.

In this blog, we will discuss how clinical pharmacists can assist a practice or Primary Care Network (PCN).

Table of Contents

1. PCNs and Clinical Pharmacists
2. What does a PCN Pharmacist do?
3. What is the Role of a PCN Pharmacist?
4. What are some Responsibilities of a typical Clinical Pharmacist?
5. How to Become a Clinical Pharmacist: Which Qualifications are Needed?
6. What the Future Holds for Clinical Pharmacists

PCNs and Clinical Pharmacists

The formation of PCNs has provided a great opportunity for clinical pharmacists to work collaboratively with GPs and other healthcare professionals to provide high-quality patient care.

PCNs were introduced in 2019 as part of the NHS Long Term Plan to help practices work together more effectively. PCNs are groups of GP practices that work together to provide healthcare services based on the needs of their local communities.

The introduction of PCNs has allowed for a greater focus on proactive, preventive care, and has provided an opportunity for clinical pharmacists to work at scale, supporting multiple practices within a network.

Clinical pharmacists play a key role in PCNs by providing expertise in medicines management and medicines optimisation. If you’re wondering  what is a Clinical Pharmacist, they support practices to improve patient access and improve patient outcomes.”

What does a PCN Pharmacist do?

A PCN pharmacist significantly contributes to a group of GP practices, embodying the answer to “what do clinical pharmacists do” by offering pharmaceutical expertise to their teams and patients. They ensure that medication management aligns with individual patient needs, emphasising medication reviews, prescribing advice, and education on safe medication use. Their role is pivotal in managing long-term conditions and enhancing patient care standards.

PCN Pharmacists also support PCN’s in the delivery of the PCN Network DES, conducting structured medication reviews for applicable patient cohorts.

What is the Role of a PCN Pharmacist?

The role of a PCN pharmacist is to provide pharmaceutical support to GP practices. This involves working closely with GPs and other healthcare professionals to ensure that patients receive the best possible care in terms of their medication. PCN pharmacists can help practices to improve patient safety, reduce medication errors, improve the management of long-term conditions and improve prescribing practices along with completing medication audits.

Going into a little more detail on this, below is the role of a GP Pharmacist.

GP pharmacists work within practices to provide pharmaceutical expertise and support. They work closely with GPs, practice nurses and other healthcare professionals to ensure that patients receive the best possible care in terms of their medication. GP pharmacists can support practices with a range of activities, including:

• Medicines optimisation, reviews and safety: This involves reviewing patients’’ medications to ensure that they are taking the right drugs, at the right dose, and at the right time. GP pharmacists can also provide advice on switching to more cost-effective drugs or alternative therapies
• Medicines reconciliation: This involves ensuring that patients’’ medication records are accurate and up-to-date when they are admitted to the hospital or transferred to another care setting
• Polypharmacy reviews: This involves reviewing patients who are taking multiple medications to ensure that they are not at risk of adverse drug reactions or interactions
• Chronic disease management: This involves working with patients who have long-term conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, and COPD, to ensure that their medications are optimised and that they are adhering to their treatment plans
• Prescribing: Some GP pharmacists have completed additional training that allows them to prescribe medication independently within their scope of competence, working in partnership with GPs.
• Identify patients: Who are at high risk of medication-related harm, to develop and implement strategies to reduce this risk
• Leadership: Providing leadership in relation to the medicines management and medicines optimisation processes
• And much more

Pharmacists are now widely seen are integral members of the wider multidisciplinary team in primary care and add significant value. They can be employed by individual GP practices, PCN’s or GP Federations.

What are some Responsibilities of a typical Clinical Pharmacist?

Delving deeper into what do clinical pharmacists do – they have a range of responsibilities, including:

• Conducting medication reviews to ensure that patients are taking the right medication at the right time
• Providing prescribing advice to GPs and other healthcare professionals
• Providing patient education on the safe use of medication
• Monitoring patients with long-term conditions to ensure that their medication is appropriate and effective
• Identifying patients who are at high risk of medication-related harm and developing strategies to reduce this risk
• Collaborating with other healthcare professionals to ensure that patients receive the best possible care
• Completing Structured Medication Reviews
• And much more

How to Become a Clinical Pharmacist: Which Qualifications are Needed?

Below is the most common route students take to become a qualified clinical pharmacist.

• Obtains a Masters degree (Mphram)
• Complete a 1 year pre registration training
• Pass the GPHC exam
• Upon completion, you will become a qualified pharmacist
• Once qualified, further training and studies for your role could include an independent prescribing course and relevant clinical mentoring

What the Future Holds for Clinical Pharmacists

The future for clinical pharmacists in this setting looks bright. The NHS Long Term Plan has identified the need for a significant increase in the number of clinical pharmacists working in GP practices and PCNs, with a target of 7,000 clinical pharmacists working in general practice by 2023/24. This demonstrates a recognition of the vital role that clinical pharmacists play in improving patient outcomes and reducing the burden on GP practices.

NHS Long term plan: https://www.longtermplan.nhs.uk/

Furthermore, there is increasing recognition of the importance of the pharmacist’s role in the primary care team, with a growing number of practices and PCNs looking to expand their pharmacy teams. This trend is likely to continue as practices and PCNs seek to improve the quality of care for their patients and reduce the workload on GPs.

Clinical pharmacists are increasingly taking on additional clinical responsibilities in primary care settings to improve patient outcomes and reduce the burden on general practitioners (GPs) and primary care teams. With their extensive knowledge of medicines management, clinical pharmacists are well placed to take on new roles and contribute to the delivery of high-quality patient care.

Having the right structure in place will make it easier to integrate clinical pharmacists into primary care networks.

One area where clinical pharmacists are taking on additional clinical responsibilities is in developing specialist interest in hypertension. Hypertension is a complex condition that requires careful management and monitoring to prevent complications such as blindness, kidney disease and cardiovascular disease. Clinical pharmacists can play an important role in supporting patients with hypertension, including medication management, lifestyle advice, blood monitoring and medication initiation and titration. By taking on these responsibilities, clinical pharmacists can reduce the workload on GPs, improve patient outcomes and reduce the cost of the local health economy.

Another area where clinical pharmacists are increasingly involved is in the use of technology and healthcare platforms to improve patient outcomes. Advances in technology, such as electronic prescribing, telemedicine and remote monitoring and innovative technology platforms, have the potential to transform the way healthcare is delivered at scale. Clinical pharmacists can play an important role in the implementation and adoption and implementation of new technologies, working with GPs and other healthcare professionals to ensure that patients receive the best possible care. By embracing technology, clinical pharmacists can improve patient outcomes, reduce the burden on GPs and streamline current processes.

Finally, clinical pharmacists can also help to streamline current processes in primary care settings. Many practices and PCNs are looking for ways to improve efficiency and reduce the workload on GPs. Clinical pharmacists can play an important role in this, by reviewing current processes and identifying areas where improvements can be made. For example, clinical pharmacists can help to reduce medication errors by reviewing prescribing practices and ensuring relevant recalls are in place for drug monitoring. By streamlining processes and reducing the workload on over-stretched primary care teams, clinical pharmacists can improve patient outcomes and patient access and contribute to the delivery of high-quality patient-centric care.

In conclusion, clinical pharmacists can make a valuable contribution to primary care resilience, providing support in areas such as medication reviews, chronic disease management, drug monitoring and prescribing. By working collaboratively with GPs and other healthcare professionals, clinical pharmacists can help to improve patient outcomes and reduce medication-related errors.

To hire a clinical pharmacist for your practice or PCN, please get in touch with us as we are supporting many PCN’s GP Federations and Practices with a fully managed technology-enabled service.

You can send us a direct message via our contact page, or visit our careers page for more information.