A new name is starting to appear on GP clinical system shortlists. Medicus is a cloud-based clinical system for NHS general practice, marketed as the first new GP system in 25 years and already in daily use across what its makers call the Live Estate. For practices that have run on EMIS Web or SystmOne for years, a genuinely new option changes the picture, and some practices and Primary Care Networks are already weighing up a move.

Whatever system a practice runs, the medicines workload does not pause. Structured medication reviews, high-risk drug monitoring, prescribing queries and the daily flow of medicines admin all carry on through a system change. Virtual Pharmacist delivers a fully managed remote clinical pharmacy service that works inside your practice’s own clinical system, and that includes Medicus. This article explains what Medicus is, how remote clinical pharmacist support works inside it, and why a managed service is a steady way to keep medicines work moving whether you stay on EMIS or SystmOne or adopt Medicus.

What Medicus is, and why it matters for medicines work

Medicus is a fully integrated clinical system built specifically for NHS general practice. It brings the tools a practice uses through the day into one platform: prescribing, referrals, document management, patient communications, online consultations, check-in screens, call-in boards, patient recall and built-in reporting and search. It is built on cloud-first architecture, ships feature updates every week, and its makers state it meets or exceeds the major NHS standards, including ISO 27001, Cyber Essentials Plus, GDPR and the NHS Data Security and Protection Toolkit. Medicus is registered as a Class 1 Digital Medical Device and aims to be the most interoperable electronic patient record in the NHS.

For clinical pharmacy, the important point is simple. Clinical pharmacist support is record-based work. A medication review reads the same problem list, the same test results and the same prescribing history no matter which system holds the record. Because Medicus keeps prescribing, recall and search in one place, the everyday clinical pharmacy tasks a practice needs have a natural home in it. A clinical pharmacist working in Medicus can find the patients who need a review, carry out the work and record it in the same system the GP sees.

How remote clinical pharmacist support works inside Medicus

The model is the same one Virtual Pharmacist already runs across EMIS and SystmOne. Experienced, GPhC-registered pharmacists and pharmacy technicians log in to your clinical system with appropriate access and work on your real patient records. With Medicus being cloud-based, secure access for an approved clinician is straightforward to arrange, and the pharmacist works directly in the live record.

Cohort identification, which is the starting point for most planned medicines work, uses the system’s own search and reporting. Medicus has built-in search and reporting, so a pharmacist can surface the patients on high-risk medicines, those overdue a review, or those affected by a drug safety alert, then work through them in a structured way. Anything that needs a GP decision is passed back through the practice’s normal tasking. The remote clinical pharmacist service looks the same to a practice on Medicus as it does to a practice on EMIS or SystmOne: the work happens in your records, in real time, and you see it as it is done.

The clinical pharmacy work that transfers to Medicus

Most clinical pharmacy work in general practice is record-based, so it carries over to Medicus cleanly. A managed remote service can take on the bulk of a practice’s medicines workload, including:

• Structured and clinical medication reviews. Reviewing patients on multiple medicines, deprescribing where appropriate and documenting the outcome in the record. See clinical medication reviews.
• High-risk drug monitoring. Keeping patients on medicines such as methotrexate, lithium, amiodarone and anticoagulants safely monitored, chasing overdue bloods and acting on results. See high-risk drug monitoring.
• Medicines optimisation and prescribing support. Reviewing repeat prescribing, switching to clinically preferred and cost-effective options, and bringing prescribing into line with local formularies. See medicines optimisation.
• Clearing prescription queries. Working through the daily flow of medication queries that would otherwise land on a GP’s desk.
• Audits and QOF support. Running medicines-related audits and supporting the QOF indicators that depend on accurate, up-to-date medicines data.

Because this work is delivered inside your clinical system, it sits within your existing medicines workflow. On Medicus, that means the review, the monitoring entry and the prescribing change are recorded in the same platform your GPs and practice team already work in.

A managed service keeps medicines work steady through a system change

Changing clinical system is a demanding project for any practice. Staff learn new screens, workflows are rebuilt and the team’s attention is understandably on getting the migration right. Medicines work is exactly the kind of steady, recurring activity that can slip during a period like that, and the patients on high-risk medicines still need monitoring the week you go live.

A managed service holds that work steady. Virtual Pharmacist takes responsibility for the clinical pharmacy work, the quality of it and keeping it running, so a system change does not mean a gap in medication reviews or monitoring. The service is delivered by a national team working across EMIS, SystmOne and Medicus, so if your practice moves from one system to another, the medicines work continues on the new system without you having to recruit, retrain or manage anyone. Virtual Pharmacist delivers this as a managed clinical service and stays accountable for the work, so the practice is not taking on staff to manage. That accountability is what keeps the medicines work running through a change.

What a move to Medicus means for your medicines workload

When a practice migrates to a new clinical system, the medicines data moves with it. Repeat templates, high-risk drug registers, recall schedules and prescribing records all need to land correctly on the new system and behave as expected once the practice is live. In the weeks around a go-live, it is easy for a monitoring recall to be missed or a repeat template to need checking, precisely when the practice team has the least spare time.

This is where a clinical pharmacy service earns its place during a migration to Medicus. Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians can work through the high-risk drug cohorts on the new system, confirm that monitoring is scheduled and up to date, and keep medication reviews moving while the practice settles in. The medicines work stays with a provider that already knows how to run it, and does not become another task for an already stretched team. The practice gets the reassurance that patients on medicines such as anticoagulants, DMARDs and lithium are still being monitored on schedule, whichever week the system change lands.

Governance and data security on a cloud-native system

Clinical pharmacy work is subject to the same standards wherever it is delivered. Pharmacists are regulated by the General Pharmaceutical Council, and the clinical work sits within the practice’s own CQC registration and clinical governance arrangements. On top of that, a serious provider brings its own information governance. Virtual Pharmacist’s clinical governance and data security arrangements include NHS Data Security and Protection Toolkit compliance, Cyber Essentials, HSCN connectivity, ICO registration and data sharing agreements with each practice before any work begins.

Medicus has its own certifications, including ISO 27001, Cyber Essentials Plus, DSPT alignment and Class 1 Digital Medical Device status, with a clinical risk management system compliant with DCB 0129. For a practice, that means the clinical system and the clinical pharmacy provider both work to recognised NHS information governance standards, and the data sharing agreement sets out exactly how an external clinician accesses the record. Working in a cloud-native system does not change the governance a practice should expect; it is documented, access is controlled, and the arrangements are in place before the first review is done.

Getting ahead: clinical pharmacy support for Medicus practices and PCNs

Because Medicus is new, the practices adopting it now are among the first to do so, and support that understands the system is worth lining up early. A single practice can hand over the bulk of its medicines workload and get it done to a consistent standard from the day it goes live on Medicus, without advertising for or managing a pharmacist. A Primary Care Network moving practices onto Medicus can give every member practice the same clinical pharmacy support at once, which also helps make sense of ARRS support where recruiting and holding roles locally has been difficult.

Virtual Pharmacist works across the established GP clinical systems and is ready to support practices on Medicus as adoption grows. Whether your practice stays on EMIS or SystmOne, is planning a move, or is already live on Medicus, the medicines work gets done in your system, to the same standard, month after month.

Frequently asked questions

Can a clinical pharmacist work inside Medicus?

Yes. Clinical pharmacy work is record-based, so a pharmacist with appropriate secure access works directly in the Medicus record, reads the same information a GP sees and records the work in the same system. Virtual Pharmacist delivers this the same way it does on EMIS and SystmOne, with the work done in your live records.

Do we need to be on Medicus already to use your service?

No. Virtual Pharmacist works across EMIS, SystmOne and Medicus. If your practice is staying on its current system, planning a move to Medicus, or already live on it, the managed remote clinical pharmacy service works within whichever system you use.

Is remote clinical pharmacy work on Medicus safe and properly governed?

Yes. Pharmacists are regulated by the GPhC wherever they work, and the clinical work sits within your practice’s own CQC registration and clinical governance. Virtual Pharmacist also holds its own information governance, including NHS DSPT compliance, Cyber Essentials, HSCN and data sharing agreements, and Medicus itself meets recognised NHS security standards such as ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials Plus.

What clinical pharmacy work can you deliver in Medicus?

The full range of record-based work: structured and clinical medication reviews, high-risk drug monitoring, medicines optimisation and prescribing support, clearing prescription queries, and medicines-related audits and QOF support. Medicus keeps prescribing, recall and search in one platform, so this work is recorded where your team already works.

Does this suit a single practice as well as a PCN adopting Medicus?

Both. A single practice can access experienced clinical pharmacy support from the day it goes live on Medicus without recruiting or managing anyone, and a PCN moving practices onto Medicus can give every member practice consistent support at the same time.

If your practice or PCN uses Medicus, or is planning a move to it, a managed remote clinical pharmacy service is a reliable way to keep the medicines work done to a consistent standard. Contact Virtual Pharmacist to talk through what your practice needs and how the service works within Medicus.