Medacy – Creating Capacity: Filling the Clinician Gap.
So, we all now know that the miracle tree that grows GPs is a fantasy! What a surprise!! Where are the promised 5000 GPs? So how are we going to manage ever increasing Clinical workloads without the promised harvest of new GPs? Medacy think we have the answer
I have to say, I am really impressed by how some practices are embracing the opportunities that are available to you. And as a pharmacist, of course I am pleased to see so much work is being tackled by competent, enthusiastic Clinical Pharmacists
So what are Medacy doing?
Medacy now have pharmacists working in practices, in PCNs, in extended hours clinics and increasingly on a remote basis. We even have pharmacists entering into projects supporting Integrated care partnerships, gluing together secondary and primary care work and more importantly improving patient access and safety.
What are the Medacy Pharmacists doing? Well you name it and we probably have a pharmacist doing it!! From the basic tasks such as Med Reviews, Prescription processing, audit, document processing and acute queries to speciality services . These speciality services include AF management and anticoagulation, diabetes care, respiratory management, minor ailments and Management of High risk and speciality drugs. Our Pharmacists are tackling it all.
So how can your practice make the most of this new opportunity?
Well – firstly, be open to change! I just listened to an article on the radio with all the panellists (who, I believe, all were GPs! Sorry GPs!!) moaning about lack of GPs. Not one mentioned Clinical Pharmacists as a potential solution!!
There are plenty of Pharmacist Led initiatives around. So maybe it’s time to consider if you could make your practices life a little easier by opening your doors and minds to alternative clinicians.
Let’s explore how you could make it work for you? Well you could start by considering your workload and how you might prioritise that work. What is causing the biggest headache? Where are things falling behind? Where is the biggest risk to your patients? What is the root cause of your customer complaints or errors in practice? What are the elements of your work that if you are honest, could be done better by other clinicians?
The answers to these questions should help you understand where the services of a pharmacist can support your practice. Now all it takes is a practice decision to make the investment in a Clinical Pharmacist service and you are 90% there – you can leave the rest to us!
Medacy’s Mantra
Medacy’s mantra is that we believe after initial diagnosis and prescribing then any medication related task in a GP Practice should be handed over to a competent Clinical Pharmacist. We also believe that GPs should be doing the work only they can do, as should all Clinicians – we should all be working at the top of our abilities as they say.
Primary Care Network Pharmacists (PCN Pharmacists)
Not surprisingly, one of the most common enquiries Medacy are receiving currently, is with regards to PCN pharmacists. We are being approached both as a recruitment agency for support in recruiting pharmacists suitable to be employed by the PCN but also by PCNs whom have made the decision not to employ but instead to access Pharmacist support through the Medacy Clinical Pharmacist Service.
The resource of a PCN pharmacist is not to be sniffed at and if you plan well as a PCN team, you could get some quality work done for you by that extra pair of hands.
What can PCN pharmacists do?
PCN pharmacists can assist with care home management or amber drug monitoring. They can contribute to carrying out quality medication reviews and careful administration of Hospital discharges. Focussing on patient safety and quality of medication related tasks will really make a difference to both patients and practice staff.
It’s so important that this first tranche of pharmacists sets firm foundations for the ones to follow. As it stands, funding will be released each year for the next five years to increase the clinical pharmacist resource for each PCN but if pharmacist No 1 doesn’t make a good impression and deliver real improvements for patients and clinicians, future PCN pharmacists will struggle.
Remote Pharmacist Support from Medacy
What is a real shame, is that when a practice has made the decision to recruit a pharmacist and they place an advert and then …… nothing! No applicants, no way forward. Well I’m sorry to say that, in some circumstances, it is just as hard to find an experienced Clinical Pharmacist with General Practice knowledge as it is to find one of those elusive GPs. Yes, there is a shortage of Pharmacists in certain areas of the country too. I guess you know where you are already.
The answer? Remote working of course! If you think about it, a large proportion of the type of tasks that you will want your pharmacist to tackle would be done from the confines of a consulting room, office or anywhere that there is a computer terminal in fact.
Why remote?
So why can’t the pharmacist work from a laptop in their own office at home? No reason at all and we already have lots of them doing just that. Pharmacists in the north of England are supporting practices as far away as Kent and the Welsh coast. And doing a great job too. We are clocking 200 plus tasks in a 6 hour session – that’s a lot of work being taken off the shoulders of the GPs by any-ones measure. We are really excited about the support we can provide to practices via out Medacy Remote Service
Let’s be honest, if you are working on SystmOne, EMIS or Vision a task is going to appear in the inbox at the same time whether it’s sent from 200 miles away or 2 doors down the corridor!
Could this be an answer for your practice? well you won’t know if you don’t ask the question, so be bold and explore the possibilities.
Medacy Support
Medacy are happy to have a conversation about our services with absolutely no obligation. The service we design is bespoke to each practice and is a clinical service. not a supply of staff. Medacy take responsibility for the service we provide and will direct and control them accordingly
To find out more please call 01677 252205 or visit our website www.medacy.co.uk
