Lead Clinical Pharmacist/Clinical Pharmacist (Integrated Care)

Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the busiest and largest NHS hospital trusts in the country, with around 16,000 staff and an annual budget of £1.7 billion. We deliver high-quality care, clinical excellence, research, and innovation regionally, nationally, and internationally. We support people with rare and complex medical, surgical, and neurological conditions, cancers, and genetic disorders. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity, providing an inclusive environment, and recruiting a workforce that reflects the communities we serve.

Newcastle Hospitals are a leader in sustainability, with a long history of delivering Sustainable Healthcare in Newcastle (Shine) and the first healthcare organisation in the world to declare a climate emergency. Our strategy includes commitments to being Net Zero by 2030 for our direct carbon footprint and Net Zero by 2040 for our broader footprint.

About the role

We are offering an exciting part-time, fixed-term (maternity leave cover) post in partnership with Newcastle Outer West Primary Care Network. The role is supported and resourced by the Trust but based in the Outer West Primary Care Network. The successful candidate will join an established team of friendly, innovative, and enthusiastic Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians in a patient-facing role within General Practice.

You will make a real difference for multi-comorbid individuals and those at risk of medication-related harm. The role focuses on cardiovascular medicines optimisation clinics, intensifying and initiating treatment for hypertension and hyperlipidaemia in primary and secondary cardiovascular prevention. You will also conduct structured medication reviews in line with the NHS England Network DES and support multidisciplinary care of patients in the community.

Our ideal candidate will have completed or be enrolled on the Primary Care Pharmacy Education Pathway (PCPEP) with CPPE and be an experienced Independent Pharmacist prescriber working at Band 8a level. Band 7 applicants will be considered if the PCPEP statement of progression has been achieved or is being worked towards.

Hours: 18 hours, 45 minutes per week

Responsibilities

Band 8a

• Organise and develop clinical pharmacy services within designated patient populations, such as a primary care network, Directorate service, or other cohorts (e.g., care home residents or frail populations).
• Build and develop relationships between local community pharmacies and other NHS services.
• Promote the safe, rational, and cost-effective use of medicines by working closely with multidisciplinary colleagues to share good practice and change prescribing behaviours.
• Perform the professional role of a registered pharmacist, including advice, supervision, and cooperation with colleagues.
• Act as a registered Independent Prescriber, including prescribing and de-prescribing within your scope of competence.
• Provide expertise in structured clinical medicines review and address public health and social needs of patients across various settings (secondary care, primary care, intermediate care, or domiciliary).
• Run clinics for long-term conditions (e.g., heart failure, hypertension, anticoagulation, chronic lung diseases).
• Help patients meet health goals, reduce inappropriate poly-pharmacy, and minimise medicines waste through structured clinical medication review.
• Reconcile medicines following transfer between care settings and ensure patients receive necessary medicines post-transfer.
• Contribute to reductions in medicine-related hospital admissions and readmissions by supporting patients to achieve the best outcomes from their medicines.
• Interface and collaborate with community pharmacy, medicines optimisation, and hospital pharmacy colleagues to develop referral processes.
• Support the development of safe, efficient systems for prescribing and managing medicines, including advising on workflows and promoting facilitative technologies.
• Manage medicine queries from patients and healthcare professionals.
• Collaborate with colleagues to implement drug withdrawals, shortages, and alerts (e.g., from the Clinical Commissioning Group or Medicines Health Regulatory Authority).
• Work with healthcare professionals and patients to implement NICE, Shared Care, and other evidence-based guidelines.
• Contribute to multi-morbidity reviews, multidisciplinary reviews, and learning from serious incidents and near-misses.
• Provide medicines information, clinical supervision, and training to healthcare professionals and administrative staff.
• Review and interpret pathology results for patients in your care.
• Act as a source of medicines information for healthcare professionals, patients, and carers (e.g., doses, side effects, alternatives).

Band 7

• Promote the safe, rational, and cost-effective use of medicines by working closely with multidisciplinary team colleagues.
• Perform the professional role of a registered pharmacist, including advice, supervision, and cooperation with colleagues.
• Provide expertise in clinical medicines review and address public health and social needs of patients.
• Run clinics where medicines are the main intervention (e.g., anticoagulant monitoring clinics).
• Undertake up-titration of heart failure and hypertension medicines when clinically identified.
• Undertake minor ailments triage and support walk-in centre activity where required.
• Reduce inappropriate poly-pharmacy and wasteful prescribing through clinical medication review.
• Reconcile medicines following transfer from acute care and work with patients and community pharmacists to ensure continuity.
• Contribute to reductions in medicine-related hospital admissions and readmissions.
• Interface with community and hospital pharmacy colleagues to develop referral processes and promote repeat dispensing services.
• Manage the repeat prescribing reauthorisation process by reviewing requests and medicines reaching review dates.
• Manage medicine queries from patients and healthcare professionals.
• Implement drug withdrawals and alerts (e.g., MHRA) with support from Trust Pharmacy.
• Work with primary care professionals and patients to implement NICE and other evidence-based guidelines.
• Contribute to multi-morbidity reviews and multidisciplinary reviews.
• Provide medicines information and training to other healthcare professionals and administrative staff.
• Review daily pathology results for patients on known medicines.
• Act as a source of medicines information for the multidisciplinary team and patients (e.g., doses, side effects, alternatives).

Requirements

Essential criteria (Band 8a)

• MPharm (or equivalent) degree and pre-registration experience.
• Registered Pharmacist (GPhC).
• Clinical Diploma or equivalent experience.
• Independent Prescriber qualification.
• Evidence of continuing professional development (CPD).
• Well-developed clinical pharmacy knowledge across all aspects of drug use and therapeutics of long-term conditions.
• Knowledge of clinical audit and its role in pharmacy and medicine.
• Extensive post-registration experience in hospital pharmacy, community pharmacy, or primary care pharmacy, some at a senior level.
• Demonstrated involvement in developing clinical roles.