Clinical Pharmacist (Independent Prescriber) - Newcastle South PCN

Job summary

Job Role: Clinical Pharmacist (Independent Prescriber)

Salary: £49,387 Band 7

Hours of Work: 37.5 Hours per week

Reports/responsible To:PCN Strategic Business Manager

Location:The postholder will be required to work across multiple locations.Some remote working may be required.

The purpose of the role is to lead improvements to maximise safe, cost-effective best practice in prescribing to improve the quality of patient care. The post holder will help patients to get the nest from their medicines by switching medications to agreed and approved protocols, improving repeat prescribing processes in General Practice, including promotion of repeat dispensing and online ordering, minimising clinical risk and aiming to reduce wasted medicines.

The postholder will practice as an independent prescriber, working with and alongside the general practice team, holding face to face consultations including for long term conditions within scope of competence.

In addition, the post holder will be responsible for encouraging the development of better understanding of the principles of medicines optimisation throughout the practice teams and promoting good practice in line with therapeutic developments. This will involve assisting the PCN in achieving national requirements and utilisation of medicines optimisation initiatives.

Main duties of the job

Main duties:

Clinical

Review letters from secondary care that recommend a change in medication.

Resolve queries from the prescribing team.

Review the records of patients whose repeat medication has reached the review date.

Monitor the MHRA and respond to alerts as necessary.

Ensure the effective implementation of repeat dispensing.

Engage with External Stakeholders.

Assist with minor illness clinics.

Management

Initiate and implement ideas to improve acute and repeat prescribing.

Support the doctors and nurse practitioners in maintaining good prescribing.

Administration

Maintain accurate and clear clinical records.

Be familiar with the current QoF, LES and DES requirements.

Initiate and participate in practice audit.

Contribute to the smooth running and future development of the practices.

About us

Newcastle South PCN is made up of 5 member GP Practices with a combined patient population of circa 43,000. The practices are from both urban and rural areas, with significantly differing patient demographics:

Silverdale Medical Centre

Madeley Practice

Kingsbridge Medical Centre

University of Keele Practice

Ashley Surgery

We are a dynamic and forward thinking PCN team comprising of Clinical Pharmacists, Pharmacy Technicians, Care Coordinators, Social Prescribing Link Workers, First Contact Physiotherapy and Mental Health Practitioners, Health and Wellbeing Coach and Dietician.

Details

• Date posted: 27 August 2026
• Pay scheme: Other
• Salary: £49,387 a year FTE
• Contract: Permanent
• Working pattern: Full-time
• Reference number: B0070-26-0029
• Job locations: Newcastle South PCN, And all practices within, ST5 2BQ, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities

Employed by Newcastle South Primary Care Network, the postholder will work as part of a multidisciplinary team of Pharmacists, Pharmacy Technicians, Care Coordinators, Social Prescribers, Health and Wellbeing Coach, Dietician, Mental Health Practitioners, and First Contact Physiotherapist.

The PCN is made up of five practices with a patient population of over 43,000 patients.

Scope and Purpose of Job Description

The following Job Description is intended to describe the general nature and level of work and is not intended to serve as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required. Duties may vary from time to time dependent upon factors such as workload, staffing levels, new legislation, and changes in technology or policy, in this event appropriate training will be provided.

Job Purpose

Job Responsibilities

1. Clinical

1.1 Letter from Secondary Care

Update the patients list of repeat medications.

If appropriate, communicate with the patient (or the person responsible with their care) and their nominated pharmacist.

If necessary, issue a prescription.

1.2 Prescription Queries

Request for medication not on the patients repeat list.

Request for medication that is not available.

The patient appears to be over or underusing medication.

1.3 Medication Reviews

Check that biological and laboratory measurements are up to date and within target.

Minimise polypharmacy.

Optimise prescription duration.

Check that doses are appropriate to age, renal and hepatic function.

Consider patient capacity and concordance.

Consider the possibility of prescription drug addiction.

If necessary, advise patient of need for consultation with nurse or doctor.

Issue a prescription.

1.4 MHRA Alerts

Run a computer search on the drug involved.

Arrange appropriate information to go the patients involved and update their records.

Repeat the search after a suitable time interval.

1.5 Repeat Prescribing

Ensure the effective implementation of repeat dispensing by:

Identifying patients suitable for repeat dispensing.

Work closely with prescribers and community pharmacies.

Issue medication for future repeat prescribing within scope of competence as an independent prescriber.

1.6 External Stakeholders

Provide patients on treating self-limiting conditions through face to face or remote consultation with referral to community pharmacy services as appropriate.

Build rapport and work with relevant ICB team members to achieve local incentives with includes antimicrobial stewardship, cost effective prescribing and medicine safety management in line with local formulary and guidance.

1.7 Assist with minor illness clinics

2. Management

3. Administration

4. Professional Development

Pursue self-directed learning: identifying areas of weakness and taking steps to improve.

Complete significant event forms when these occur.

Maintain continued education by attendance at appropriate courses and study days as agreed with the PCN Leadership Team.

Maintain registration with the GPHC.

Adhere to the GPHC code of professional conduct.

Maintain a safe and therapeutic environment for all workers, carers and patients. Ensure that all statutory regulations (eg Health and Safety, Control of Substances Hazardous to Health) are implemented.

Promote a professional approach at all times by attire and attitude to patients and staff both in and out of the Practice.

5. Code of Conduct

All staff are required to work in accordance with the code of conduct for their professional group (e.g. Nursing and Midwifery Council, Health Professions Council, General Medical Council, NHS Code of Conduct for Senior Managers).

6. Health, Safety and Welfare

In accordance with the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 you have a duty to take reasonable care to avoid injury to yourself and to others by your work activities.

The post holder will assist in promoting and maintaining their own and others Health, Safety, Welfare and security as defined in the Practices Health & Safety Policy and in accordance with The Health and Safety at Work Act to include:

Using personal security systems within the workplace according to practice guidelines.

Identifying the risk involved in work activities and undertaking such activities in a way that manages those risks.

Making effective use of training to update knowledge and skills.

Using appropriate infection control procedures, maintaining work areas in a tidy and safe way and free from hazards.

Managing risks and reporting.

You will be issued with an identity badge which you must wear at all time on site.

You are responsible for the security of any keys, smartcards, passwords, etc., issued to you.

7. Infection Control

It is the responsibility of all staff, whether clinical or non-clinical, to familiarise themselves with and adhere to current policy in relation to the prevention of the spread of infection.

Clinical staff, on entering and leaving clinical areas and between contacts with patients, must follow the practices handwashing policy. Staff are required to communicate any infection risks to the practice manager.

8. Equality and diversity

The post-holder will support the equality, diversity and rights of patients, carers and colleagues, to include:

Acting in a way that recognizes the importance of people's rights, interpreting them in a way that is consistent with practice procedures and policies, and current legislation.

Respecting the privacy, dignity, needs and beliefs of patients, carers and colleagues.

Behaving in a manner which is welcoming to and of the individual, is non-judgmental and respects their circumstances, feelings priorities and rights.

9. Clinical Governance and Risk Management

The PCN believes everyone has a role to play in improving and contributing to the quality of care provided to our patients. As an employee of the PCN you are expected to take a proactive role in supporting the PCN and Practices clinical governance agenda by:

Taking part in activities for improving quality such as clinical audit.

Identifying and managing risks through incident and near miss reporting and undertaking risk assessments.

Following polices, guidelines and procedures.

Maintaining continued professional development.

Clinical staff making entries into patient health records are required to follow any standards of record keeping.

10. Information Quality Assurance

As an employee of the PCN it is expected that you will take due diligence and care in regard to any information collected, recorded, processed or handled by you during the course of your work and that such information is collected, recorded, processed and handled in compliance with PCN and Practice requirements and instructions.

11. Freedom of Information

The post holder should be aware of the responsibility placed on employees under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and is responsible for helping to ensure that the PCN and Practices comply with the Act when handling or dealing with any information relating to PCN or Practice activity.

12. Communication

The post-holder should recognise the importance of effective communication within the team and will strive to:

Communicate effectively with other team members.

Communicate effectively with patients and carers.

UK Registration

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