Specialist Pharmacist Medicines Information

Job description

Job responsibilities

a Medicines information

n Analyse and interpret highly complex information from a variety of sources to provide expert evaluated medicines information and advice in response to enquiries from pharmacy, medical and nursing staff, allied healthcare professionals and members of the public (via the medicines helpline).

Co-ordinate the planning and organisation of the day-to-day activity of the Medicines Information Service.

In conjunction with the Lead pharmacists, Medicines Information, promote, evaluate and further develop the medicines helpline for patients.

Manage and assist in the production of proactive medicines information.

Manage the information resources for NUH pharmacy staff and ensure that all resources are up to date.

In conjunction with the Lead pharmacists, Medicines Information, ensure that all standard operating procedures are in place and current and develop new procedures where appropriate.

Oversee the training and development of junior medicines information staff.

Line manage a member of medicines information staff as instructed by the Lead pharmacists, Medicines Information.

Lead on the internal peer review system and assist with the audit of enquiries.

Advise the lead pharmacists, Medicines Information on matters relating to Medicines Information for the improvement or development of the service.

Assist the Lead pharmacists, Medicines Information in undertaking risk assessments within medicines information.

As part of the Medicines Information team, ensure that medicines recalls and notifications received into the Trust are dealt with in a timely manner.

Collaborate with local and national specialists and groups to enable best practice to be identified and incorporated into NUH practice.

To support strategy development and review of planning processes in Medicines Information by keeping abreast of national developments and strategy documents and attending regional and national meetings as appropriate.

Lead in the provision and update of national monographs for the NHS Injectable Medicines guide and assist in the maintenance and update of any local monographs

Work closely and effectively with members of the Pharmacy Procurement team in solving problems relating to medication shortages and discontinuations.

Clinical Pharmacy

Ensure safe, rational and effective prescribing by undertaking medication reconciliation, assessing suitability of prescribed medication, enabling use of patients own medicines and patient self-administration, counselling (to optimise medicines use), and ensuring continuity of patient care into the community.

Providing medicines for individual patients during their stay in hospital, at discharge and also for out-patient visits.

Interpreting and requesting clinical tests to monitor and make recommendations to improve effectiveness of drug therapy.

Pro-actively liaising with other members of the multidisciplinary team (medical staff, nurses, microbiologists, physiotherapists, dieticians) in order to ensure safe use of medicines.

Making recommendations about medicines to improve patient outcomes, promote formulary adherence and align with national guidelines.

Providing advice and guidance in relation to unlicensed medicines use and clinical trial medicines under the direction of the senior pharmacist for clinical trials.

Person Specification

Training and qualifications

Essential

• B.Pharm / BSc (Pharmacy) or MPharm or equivalent GPhC registered. Diploma/MSc in clinical pharmacy or other appropriate post graduate qualification. Demonstrates continued professional development

Desirable

• Related post-graduate qualifications. Completed the National Medicines Information training course.

Experience

Essential

• Wide significant previous experience (post registration) in hospital pharmacy. Previous experience in Medicines Information including knowledge of Medicines Information resources and systems. Broad knowledge base of clinical areas in a hospital setting. Experience of day-to-day supervision and assistance in training of trainee pharmacists and/or technicians

Desirable

• Evidence of project work completed. Experience in undertaking, and reporting/presenting audit / research work at local (Trust) level Line management and/or team leadership experience. Experience in managing and supporting Medicines Information staff.

Communication and Relationship Skills

Essential

• Good interpersonal, negotiating and presentation skills, both written and verbal skills. Good communication skills with multidisciplinary team members and own profession. Able to defend opinions in a constructive manner when challenged. Demonstrated ability to empathise with patients, relatives and pharmacy customers.

Analytical and Judgement Skills

Essential

• Excellent literature searching skills and use of appropriate search strategies for medicines information enquiries. Able to interpret highly complex scientific and medical literature accurately and apply this appropriately to clinical scenarios to support drug therapy decisions. Highly developed critical appraisal, analytical and literature evaluation skills. Able to assess and minimise risk in medication process.

Planning and Organisation Skills

Essential

• Organised, able to prioritise own work and assist others to prioritise. Positive thinker, problem solver

Physical Skills

Essential

• Competent ICT skills, word processing, presentations, spreadsheets, databases, retrieval of information from internet

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

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).

Employer details

Employer name

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trusts

Address

Queen's Medical Centre campus, Nottingham University Hospitals

Derby Road

Nottingham

NG7 2UH

Employer's website

https://www.nuh.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)