Job summary
This is a very exciting opportunity for an enthusiastic and experience pharmacist to undertake the Lead Elderly Care Pharmacist post at Wexham Park Hospital. At Wexham park hospital, the care of elderly care is taken seriously, with a range of wards and teams dedicated for the care of the elderly population. The post holder will work closely with colleagues in the frailty team in the hospital, as well as colleagues in the ICS and community.
The post holder will lead the delivery of clinical pharmacy services to the care of elderly wards, including review of guidelines and processes, training of junior pharmacists and other MDTs, and extensive review of patients medication to ensure medication optimisation is practised, and inappropriate polypharmacy is avoided.
The Trust has recently started using the new electronic patient record system EPIC, so the post holder will have the opportunity to review ways of working and work with the MDT team to improve processes and patients outcomes.
If you would like to have a chat over the phone and come to see the department, please contact Shelan Karim on shelan.karim@nhs.net.
Main duties of the job
- Work closely with the Elderly Care colleagues to improve the delivery of pharmaceutical care and the Medicine Optimisation agenda to the care of the elderly patients.
- Provide ward pharmacy services to the Elderly Care wards and support the post-take round.
- To undertake audit, service improvement projects and review clinical practices and guidelines to affect positive change in medicines management.
- Liaise closely with the Elderly Care pharmacist at sister hospital to share best practice.
About us
There's never been a more exciting time to build your career at Frimley Health, one of the country's largest and most respected trusts
Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust (FHFT) has an outstanding reputation and a proud record of achievement. We have an ongoing commitment to improving the health and care services for the 900,000 people we serve across Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey and south Buckinghamshire.
We continue to invest in our services and facilities, including a £10 million upgrade to the hospital maternity unit as well as £49m major new Emergency Assessment Centre on our Wexham Park site. The opening of a brand new £100m state of the art hospital which replaced the existing hospital facility at Heatherwood and are planning to invest further in diagnostics and inpatient capacity at Frimley Park.
We have also made significant investment in our quality improvement and digital programmes to support our vision and we will ensure that we achieve our aim of providing the highest quality healthcare to our patients. Our new EPR - Epic - went live in June and we are already beginning to reap the benefits of this ambitious investment.
Our threecore values, and the behaviours that support them, guide everything we do and set out what we expect of our staff in the way they treat patients, visitors, service users and each other.
If you have a passion for clinical excellence, patient care and your own career development, you'll feel at home at Frimley Health.
Job description
Job responsibilities
- To promote and ensure safe, clinically and cost effective drug prescribing and administration to medical wards at Frimley Health NHS Trust.
- To work within Elderly Care wards, with an emphasis on the Acute Care of the Elderly.
- To provide cover and support to the other Elderly Care and Admissions Pharmacists working within medical admissions, including ED and to ensure appropriate stock management and prescribing.
- To liaise between ED, AMU, Elderly Care and other wards, regarding patient care and other appropriate information.
- To supervise Medicines Management Technicians (MMTs), working collaboratively in the review of drug histories, patients own drugs and to advise on current therapy.
- To promote seamless pharmaceutical care on discharge and transfer to other wards within the Trust.
- To attend and pro-actively take part in ward rounds (e.g. post-take) and clinical meetings as appropriate.
- To maintain and develop formal links with medical consultants, plus the medical and nursing teams.
- To advise medical, nursing and other professional staff on appropriate drug use and selection in order to achieve cost effective prescribing, adherence to Trust formularies and the safe use of medicines.
- To be willing to act as an independent non-medical prescriber (NMP) within this specialist area as appropriate. To fulfil this role within the individuals area of competence, including medicines reconciliation on admission and prescribing of currently prescribed medicines on discharge. This will include prescribing for MCAs (Multi-compartment compliance aids) on FP10s for supply by Community Pharmacists.
- To be willing to undergo further training to deliver enhanced clinical services (e.g. assessment and diagnosis of minor ailments) if considered appropriate.
- To maintain a high profile on the wards and provide education and training to multi-disciplinary groups, including Trainee pharmacists and Clinical Diploma pharmacists.
- To monitor drug expenditure within the directorate, advising on the most cost effective treatment options, and through production of regular financial reports to the Principal Pharmacist for Acute Medicine, the Specialty Clinical Director and the Care Group Manager.
- To coordinate audits and projects with pharmacists working in care of elderly wards.
- To undertake project work, audit or service improvement work within medical wards, in association with the Clinical Audit department.
- To review and develop clinical drug and treatment guidelines, protocols and policies for use within Elderly Care.
- To actively restrict imprudent antimicrobial prescribing by terminating unnecessary durations, undertaking IV to PO switching or liaising with the prescriber(s) such that this is addressed.
- To record and analyse pharmacist interventions made on a regular basis.
- To provide relevant drug information as requested to medical, nursing and other healthcare professional staff in Elderly Care.
- To be an active member of clinical governance groups relevant to the post.
- To liaise closely with the Pharmacy Governance Manager to ensure that appropriate actions are taken to comply with NHS England Patient Safety alerts, National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) or successor organisations, and Care Quality Commission (CQC) assessments.
- To promote patient safety and in particular medication safety by actions and leadership and by encouraging error reporting via the Datix system thus facilitating medication error reduction processes.
- To fulfil the role and duties of the Responsible Pharmacist when required, and complete appropriate records as required by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).
- To participate in late clinic, bank holiday and weekend dispensary rotas as appropriate for the staff group.
- To participate in any other duties as required by the Chief Pharmacist or his/her deputies.
Job description
Job responsibilities
- To promote and ensure safe, clinically and cost effective drug prescribing and administration to medical wards at Frimley Health NHS Trust.
- To work within Elderly Care wards, with an emphasis on the Acute Care of the Elderly.
- To provide cover and support to the other Elderly Care and Admissions Pharmacists working within medical admissions, including ED and to ensure appropriate stock management and prescribing.
- To liaise between ED, AMU, Elderly Care and other wards, regarding patient care and other appropriate information.
- To supervise Medicines Management Technicians (MMTs), working collaboratively in the review of drug histories, patients own drugs and to advise on current therapy.
- To promote seamless pharmaceutical care on discharge and transfer to other wards within the Trust.
- To attend and pro-actively take part in ward rounds (e.g. post-take) and clinical meetings as appropriate.
- To maintain and develop formal links with medical consultants, plus the medical and nursing teams.
- To advise medical, nursing and other professional staff on appropriate drug use and selection in order to achieve cost effective prescribing, adherence to Trust formularies and the safe use of medicines.
- To be willing to act as an independent non-medical prescriber (NMP) within this specialist area as appropriate. To fulfil this role within the individuals area of competence, including medicines reconciliation on admission and prescribing of currently prescribed medicines on discharge. This will include prescribing for MCAs (Multi-compartment compliance aids) on FP10s for supply by Community Pharmacists.
- To be willing to undergo further training to deliver enhanced clinical services (e.g. assessment and diagnosis of minor ailments) if considered appropriate.
- To maintain a high profile on the wards and provide education and training to multi-disciplinary groups, including Trainee pharmacists and Clinical Diploma pharmacists.
- To monitor drug expenditure within the directorate, advising on the most cost effective treatment options, and through production of regular financial reports to the Principal Pharmacist for Acute Medicine, the Specialty Clinical Director and the Care Group Manager.
- To coordinate audits and projects with pharmacists working in care of elderly wards.
- To undertake project work, audit or service improvement work within medical wards, in association with the Clinical Audit department.
- To review and develop clinical drug and treatment guidelines, protocols and policies for use within Elderly Care.
- To actively restrict imprudent antimicrobial prescribing by terminating unnecessary durations, undertaking IV to PO switching or liaising with the prescriber(s) such that this is addressed.
- To record and analyse pharmacist interventions made on a regular basis.
- To provide relevant drug information as requested to medical, nursing and other healthcare professional staff in Elderly Care.
- To be an active member of clinical governance groups relevant to the post.
- To liaise closely with the Pharmacy Governance Manager to ensure that appropriate actions are taken to comply with NHS England Patient Safety alerts, National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) or successor organisations, and Care Quality Commission (CQC) assessments.
- To promote patient safety and in particular medication safety by actions and leadership and by encouraging error reporting via the Datix system thus facilitating medication error reduction processes.
- To fulfil the role and duties of the Responsible Pharmacist when required, and complete appropriate records as required by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).
- To participate in late clinic, bank holiday and weekend dispensary rotas as appropriate for the staff group.
- To participate in any other duties as required by the Chief Pharmacist or his/her deputies.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Pharmacy degree (Masters level 4 years)
- Registered with GPhC
- Postgraduate clinical diploma or equivalent
- Independent Prescriber (or intention to become one)
- Evidence of Continuous Professional Development (CPD)
Desirable
- MSc or higher degree
- Formal management qualification
- UKCPA membership
Specialist Experience
Essential
- Experience of producing guidelines
- Experience of producing drug appraisals
- Significant post-qualification experience working as a pharmacist in a clinical environment
- Willingness to train as an enhanced practitioner (if required)
Desirable
- Regular experience of providing clinical pharmacy support
- Member of national interest group
- Clinical audit experience
- Teaching/tutoring experience
Specific competencies for role
Essential
- Excellent written and verbal communication
- Good interpersonal, influencing and negotiating skills
- Excellent organisational skills
Desirable
- Excellent IT Skills
- Evidence of interest in research
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Pharmacy degree (Masters level 4 years)
- Registered with GPhC
- Postgraduate clinical diploma or equivalent
- Independent Prescriber (or intention to become one)
- Evidence of Continuous Professional Development (CPD)
Desirable
- MSc or higher degree
- Formal management qualification
- UKCPA membership
Specialist Experience
Essential
- Experience of producing guidelines
- Experience of producing drug appraisals
- Significant post-qualification experience working as a pharmacist in a clinical environment
- Willingness to train as an enhanced practitioner (if required)
Desirable
- Regular experience of providing clinical pharmacy support
- Member of national interest group
- Clinical audit experience
- Teaching/tutoring experience
Specific competencies for role
Essential
- Excellent written and verbal communication
- Good interpersonal, influencing and negotiating skills
- Excellent organisational skills
Desirable
- Excellent IT Skills
- Evidence of interest in research
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.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Additional information
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
