The interview date for this post will be Wednesday 3 September 2025.

This is an exciting opportunity to join a growing team of Clinical Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians. Due to the necessary expansion of the team and services Primary Healthcare Darlington are looking for a highly motivated and aspirational clinical pharmacist to join our established team.

This role is critical in supporting the delivery of the PCN Contract DES specifications and will help lead improvements to maximise safe, evidenced-based best practice to improve the quality of patient care across Darlington and surrounding communities.

We are most interested in candidates with:

• Up-to-date clinical knowledge who understand the nature of primary care prescribing, medication review, and strategies for improving prescribing or are willing to add these skills to their portfolio.
• A commitment to addressing health inequalities and proactively reaching people from all communities.
• The ability to recognise their own personal limitations and boundaries and to understand those of their colleagues.
• The ability to thrive when working in a devolved, flexible, autonomous environment

In this position, you will be employed by Primary Healthcare Darlington on behalf of Darlington PCN in a role funded through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) helping to deliver the General Practice Network Contract Directed Enhanced Service (2024/25) (the DES). You will be working to support the GP practices.

Main duties of the job

The Clinical Pharmacist will support the Lead Pharmacist & other Pharmacy colleagues in thePCN Pharmacy Hub team to work with the PCN and GP practices to deliver aprogramme of medicines optimisation. This work includes managing hospital dischargemedication changes, secondary care implemented medicines and practicemedication queries. The post holder willbe responsible for encouraging the development of better understanding of theprinciples of medicines optimisation for the population of Darlington. Movingbetween a select number of practices within the PCN the role will have a remoteelement to it. Responsibilities will include conducting consultations via telephone including medicationreconciliation post discharge, chronic disease management, repeat prescriptionmanagement and structured medication reviews. This will also include themanagement and review of patients with polypharmacy.

About us

Primary Healthcare Darlington was established in 2014 as the local GP Federation covering 11 GP Practices covering an ever-increasing population of registered patients in Darlington, County Durham. We have a close working relationship with Darlington Primary Care Network who commission projects that PHD provide for the town. We have close links with Darlington Borough Council and local NHS Foundation Trusts and have the full support and backing of North East and North Cumbria ICB.

Working from dedicated premises close to Darlington Memorial Hospital we provide NHS, Public Health and Private Medical Services. This role is will involve hybrid working as part of your working week. There is a requirement to attend the offices in Darlington at least one day per week.

We are an award-winning company who places the wellbeing of our staff at the heart of everything we do. We have a wellbeing lead who offers staff access to multiple wellbeing resources, and as a company we offer staff access to free counselling services, protected time to develop professionally, access to high-quality training and development, free tea and coffee and chilled, filtered water and much more. We also offer staff an opportunity to volunteer for 4 days annually in the local community. In the past year staff have supported Groundwork, Age UK, Dogs Trust and many more community projects.

We are on the doorstep of some of the most beautiful and historic sites in the region.

Job responsibilities

Key responsibilities

Contribute to the deliveryof effective daily processes for the transferof care between hospitalsand GPs including effective signposting, recommendation of medication changesand communication accordingly.

Support colleagues and patientswith medication queriesand monitoring.

To support other pharmacist and pharmacy technician colleagues.

Undertake clinicalmedication reviews to proactively manage people with complex polypharmacy.

Provide specialist expertise in the use of medicines, while helping to address both the public healthand social care needs of patients.

Using audit and actionplanning, help to tackleinequalities.

Provide leadership on person-centered medicines optimisation (including ensuring prescribers in thePCN practices conserve antibiotics in line with local antimicrobial stewardshipguidance) and quality improvement.

Use structured medication reviewsto support patientsto take their medications to get the bestfrom them, reduce waste and promote self-care.

Contribute pharmaceuticaladvice for the development and implementation of new services that have medicinal components (e.g. advice on treatment pathwaysand patient information leaflets).

Work with general practiceteams to ensure that practices are compliant with CQC standardswhere medicines are involved.

Develop relationships and work closely with other pharmacyprofessionals across PrimaryCare Networks and the wider health and social care system.

Take a central role in the clinical aspectsof shared care protocols, liaison with specialist pharmacists,liaison with community pharmacists and anticoagulation services.

Provide clinical support for Pharmacy Technicianswithin the PCN Pharmacy Hub and the Enhanced Health in Care Home team.

Assistwith care home medication requests, medication advice, covert administrationadvice from the Enhanced Health in Care Home Team.

The above list of dutiesis not exhaustive and may be subjectto change as deemed necessary

Aims/Goals of post

Reduced GP workload

Reduced medication costs byformulary prescribing cost-effective alternatives

Improved medication outcomesfor patients

Improved patient safety andmedication optimisation

Improved efficiency of medicationchanges

Effective management of sharedcare drugs

Person Specification

Experience

• please see person spec attached

Qualifications

• - Degree in Pharmacy
• - Registration with General Pharmaceutical Council
• - Completed CPPE pathway or other primary care training pathway
• Independent prescribing

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.

£45,000 to £52,000 a yearDependent on experience

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time,Part-time,Home or remote working