Clinical Pharmacy Team
Our dedicated clinical pharmacy team covers all 7 practices within the PCN and is made of the following:
CLINICAL PHARMACIST
Our Clinical Pharmacists are highly qualified experts in medicines and can help people in a range of ways.
These can include:
Clinical leadership on medicines optimisation
Working with Care Home staff to improve the safety of medicine prescribing and administration.
Liaise with both hospital pharmacy and the community pharmacy team to improve patient care.
Carrying out Structured Medication Reviews for patients with ongoing health problems including those on multiple medicines to ensure they are being prescribed the best medication for their condition in a person centred consultation.
Give pharmaceutical advice to practices to aid in the development and implementation of new services.
Implement changes to medicines that result from safety alerts, product withdrawal and updates in local and national guidance.
PHARMACY TECHNICIAN
Our Pharmacy Technicians main purpose is to optimise prescribing processes and services and improve the quality of patient care, under the guidance of the Clinical Pharmacist.
This can mean:
Supporting with the gathering and preparing of information for structured medication reviews, ensuring medications are correctly recorded on the GP systems when a patient leaves hospital to ensure the patient receives a high standard and continuity of care.
Auditing prescribed medication in response to changes to guidelines or safety alerts to ensure patients are made aware quickly so that changes can be made if necessary.
Pharmacy Technicians provide support to the General Practice with prescription/medication queries they may have.
Ensuring prescribing activities are efficient, safe and cost effective.
What is a Structured Medication Review?
During a structured medication review the Clinical Pharmacist will go through all your medication with you. They will ask you what is important to you and about how you manage your medicines normally.
They will consider things like:
- A Structured Medication Review is a private, confidential discussion between you and a clinical pharmacist or another suitably qualified healthcare professional to discuss your medicines.
- The aim of the medication review is to check that you are prescribed the most appropriate medicines and that you get the best out of those medicines.
- Some tests may need to be carried out to determine whether your medicine is working (e.g. blood pressure checks) – N.B. Physical checks will not be possible if carrying out the review remotely, but efforts will be made to arrange for these checks to be carried out if needed
- Monitoring may also be necessary if you are taking certain medication, such as, blood tests.
- You will be asked how you are getting on with your medicines, so please inform your healthcare professional of any problems you may be experiencing with your medicines.
- You will have the opportunity to ask any questions you may have about your medicines.
- If any changes need to be made to your medication, your agreement will be sought before changes are made.
- A record of the review will be documented in your medical notes
How can I get the most from my appointment with my Clinical Pharmacist?
Think about how you use your medicines, what works well for you and what doesn’t. Think about what questions you may have about your medicines.
Always be honest with your Clinical Pharmacist, they aren’t there to judge you, just to ensure you get your
best from the medicines we give you.
Make a list of all medication that you take.
This includes:
- Any medicines that are prescribed for you.
- Any medicines that you buy over the counter from the chemist or supermarket or other stores e.g. herbal medicines, vitamins etc.
- Any medicines that you no longer take.
If you are not able to or haven’t managed to make a medication list, please ensure to have access to all your medicines prior to the medication review.
Make a list of questions that you may want to ask about your medicines.
Some questions that you may wish to consider:
- Why is it important to take this medicine(s)?
- When and how to take the medicine(s)?
- How long is the medicine(s) to be taken for?
- How do I know the medicine is working?
- What should I do if I have problems with the medicine?
- Are there any medicines or food that I should avoid taking whilst on these medicine(s)?
- What will happen if I miss a dose of the medicine or stop taking it?
What happens after the Structured Medication Review?
- Your regular GP will be informed of any medication changes agreed by you at the meeting.
- A summary of the meeting will be documented in your medical record.
- Any tests or referrals to other health care professionals if required will be agreed and acted upon.
- Depending on the changes made you may have a follow up appointment with the Clinical Pharmacist. If you have any concerns
- Any changes made following the review will be made with you at the centre of the decision, your views are very important to us.
- It may not be possible to discuss all the issues surrounding your medications within one appointment and a follow-up appointment may be required