Clinical Pharmacist Support · Reading, Berkshire
Clinical Pharmacist Support for GP Practices in Reading
Clinical capacity without competing for it in one of England’s tightest job markets. Practices along the Thames Valley recruit against London salaries a short train ride away. Commissioning the medicines work sidesteps that entirely: our clinical pharmacists deliver it remotely inside your own clinical system, with cover and governance held by us.
The service is available to every practice and PCN in Reading, delivered remotely by our UK team inside your own clinical system. Cover never depends on who can travel, so the work is picked up to the same standard every week. We hold no premises in the town.
Enquire now Call 0113 871 5065
The recruitment market, and the way round it
Reading’s practices are commissioned by NHS Thames Valley ICB, which covers Berkshire alongside Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire.
The local labour market is what makes this area distinctive for primary care. Practices here hire against a large commercial employment base on their doorstep and against London pay half an hour up the line, so a clinical vacancy can stay open a long time and cost a great deal to fill twice.
Buying the workstream removes that problem from the equation. There is no advert, no interview panel and no notice period, and when someone is on leave the schedule is unaffected because cover is ours to arrange. For a practice that has already run one unsuccessful recruitment round, that is usually the whole argument.
What you buy is a managed service: supervision, cover, indemnity and clinical governance are all held by us. That is the practical difference between this and recruiting for the work yourself, and it is why the workstream keeps running whoever is available in a given week.
What we take off your team
Each of these is a service in its own right. Take one, or take several together.
Structured medication reviews
Structured medication reviews delivered to an agreed weekly quota, with no vacancy to fill first.
Clinical medication reviewsRepeat prescribing
Repeat authorisation and acute request triage worked to your protocols every working day.
Repeat prescriptionsDischarge and clinical letters
Reconciliation of hospital and clinic changes for a population that moves in and out often.
Discharge reconciliationHigh risk drug monitoring
High risk drug recall and chasing carried through to completion, week after week.
High risk drug monitoringNot sure where to start? Tell us which workstream you would most like handed over and we will scope it with you, with no obligation.
Get a free scoping callHow Reading compares on long-term conditions
On several long-term conditions Reading records lower prevalence than the England average, hypertension among them. That does not mean less medicines work. It means the work is weighted towards volume and turnover rather than complex review.
Source: NHS Fingertips, National General Practice Profiles, QOF 2024/25. The comparison is the area median against England, and only statistically significant differences appear here. These are published figures about the area; they say nothing about who our clients are.
What the first three months usually look like
Indicative, and shaped by what you hand over. Nothing here needs a change to how your practice already works.
Weeks 1 to 2
Scope and protocols agreed. No advert, no interview panel and no notice period to wait out.
Weeks 3 to 6
Delivery starts to an agreed quota, normally weeks ahead of where a new hire would be.
Weeks 7 to 12
Reporting against that quota, with scope adjusted if you want to hand over more.
Excellent service from start to finish. Easy to reach, quick to reply, and they clearly know NHS workflows inside out. We couldn’t recommend the team more highly.
Frequently asked questions
Do you have pharmacists based in this area?
No, and we do not claim to. Our pharmacists work remotely from across the UK, inside your clinical system. Nothing about the service depends on anyone being nearby, which is exactly why cover stays consistent: it never turns on who can travel on a given day.
We have struggled to recruit a practice pharmacist. Is this the same thing?
It is a different arrangement. You buy an agreed workstream delivered to a schedule, not a person to manage, so there is no vacancy to fill and no gap when someone moves on.
What happens if the pharmacist doing our work leaves?
That is ours to solve, not yours. Continuity of the workstream is what we are contracted for, and cover sits with us.
Can a whole PCN commission this together?
Yes. Scoping at network level means shared protocols and audits that run once.
How much does it cost?
We quote after a short scoping conversation, based on the workstreams and the list behind them. It is worth setting that against your own recruitment costs, including the rounds that did not land.
See what a managed service could take off your Reading practice
Tell us which workstream you would like covered first. You will get a straight view of what we can take on and what it would involve, with no obligation attached.
Enquire now Call 0113 871 5065
