Our pharmacy team is made up of a combination of Clinical Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians. We also have some pharmacists who are ‘Independent Prescribers’, and they are trained in assessing, diagnosing and treating certain medical conditions independently, and they are able to issue prescriptions for medications that fall within their area of training and expertise.
The benefits of an appointment with our pharmacy team:
- Typically patients will be able to access appointments more quickly than a GP appointment
- Longer/in-depth appointments to review your medication regime, particularly following a change, addition or removal of medication
Our service aims to improve your access to the Right Care, at the Right Time, from the Right Clinician.
Clinical Pharmacists
Appointments with our Clinical Pharmacists are often offered as an alternative to seeing your GP for medication or annual reviews. They also support patients with managing some chronic long-term diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure and mental health conditions.
Our pharmacists undertake ‘Structured Medication Reviews’ in care homes, as part of the national ‘Enhanced Health in Care Homes’ project.
They also undertake a lot of the tasks that the Pharmacy Technicians do below.
Pharmacy Technicians
Our Pharmacy Technicians complete ‘medicines reconciliation’ tasks (checking for any changes made to your medication regime during a stay in hospital or if you have seen a specialist in clinic) and update your GP medicine prescription record.
As part of this, they will investigate any medication-related queries with hospital departments and community pharmacies.
They also carry out clinical audits and manage high risk drug monitoring, requesting bloods and reviewing medication as a result of this.
They support the practices with working towards the Quality and Outcomes Framework.
They have consultations with patients regarding any confusion or concerns about their medication (e.g. side effects), and respond to general queries regarding supply issues (e.g. if an alternative medication needed), brand requests, aligning repeat medication supplies, and supporting patients that may need help to improve how they take their medicines (e.g. forgetting to take medications, swallowing difficulties.)
How do I book in?
Generally patients will be invited for review, either by the practice or the pharmacy team themselves. This may be due to an upcoming review date, or if any blood test monitoring is required.
Any incoming medication queries from patients that are triaged as appropriate for the pharmacy team to handle (freeing up GP time), will be added to the pharmacy team’s appointment list.
Any other general tasks that the pharmacy team completes on a day-to-day basis, e.g. medicines reconciliation, will also be added to the pharmacy team’s appointment list. They may call you if they need to speak with you about any medication changes, however, this isn’t always necessary if there are no discrepancies or queries.
If you would specifically like to request an appointment with one of the pharmacy team, please contact your GP practice to request one. Our clinics are spread across all 3 practices and patients will have access to all days and times available. At present, our pharmacy service runs Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays). Initially, appointments will be by telephone, however, if the clinician feels a face-to-face appointment is required, they will discuss this with you and book you in.
If you have any concerns over new or worsening symptoms, please contact your GP practice or 111 out of hours
Skills and experience
All of our pharmacy team hold the required professional qualifications, and are registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council. They also hold, or will be working towards, additional qualifications, including the ‘Primary Care Pharmacy Education Pathway’ which equips our team with additional skills and experience relating to working in GP surgeries with patients who suffer from many long-term health conditions.
