Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust

Specialist Clinical Pharmacist – Mental Health Services

The closing date is 26 May 2025

Job summary

Are you a skilled and experienced Pharmacist ready to take the next step in your career? Join our dynamic, innovative and person-centred team delivering outstanding clinical pharmacy services.

You will lead, develop and deliver mental health clinical pharmacy services. Working closely with multi-disciplinary teams, you'll provide safe, effective and person-centred care that makes a real difference.

Opportunities available across mental health inpatient, secure and learning disability services. You'll work in a supportive environment where your expertise is valued, and your ideas encouraged.

We're looking for proactive professionals with excellent leadership and communication skills, the ability to work autonomously while inspiring others, and a passion for mental health innovation.

At the heart of everything we do are our values (continuous improvement, accountability, respect, enthusiasm, support). If you share these and you're ready to make a genuine impact, we'd love to hear from you.

This clinically focussed role will include occasional dispensary cover and includes a requirement to support the out of hours medicines advisory service and weekend working (9.30am-1.30pm) to maintain a minimum 1 in12 rota.

We welcome applications from pharmacists with experience from any sector who have interest and empathy for mental health pharmacy.

Bank positions also available.

Main duties of the job

You will be a valued member of Medicines Management team and a core member of multi-disciplinary teams providing a clinical pharmacy service to our in-patient mental health services.

You will help to deliver and develop ward-based medicines management activities to promote the effective and efficient use of medicines, improving patient care and minimising waste. You will work as part of the Medicines Management team and be a core member of the inpatient multi-disciplinary team providing a clinical pharmacy service to in-patient areas.

About us

Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 1.4 million people across our region and are also commissioned for services that cover the North West, North Wales and the Midlands.

We offer specialist inpatient and community services that support physical and mental health and specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability, addiction and brain injury services. Mersey Care is one of only three trusts in the UK that offer high secure mental health facilities.

At the heart of all we do is our commitment to 'perfect care' - care that is safe, effective, positively experienced, timely, equitable and efficient. We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families, and carers to design and develop future services together. We're currently delivering a programme of organisational and service transformation to significantly improve the quality of the services we provide and safely reduce cost as we do so.

Flexible working requests will be considered for all roles.

Details

Date posted

09 May 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 7

Salary

£46,148 to £52,809 a year per annum

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

350-TWS7191399

Job locations

Liverpool / Knowsley / Maghull / Hollins Park

To be agreed - (floating post)

Liverpool

L31 1HW


Job description

Job responsibilities

1. To be responsible for implementing the Medicines Management strategy in the Trust.2. To deputise for a higher grade of pharmacist as required3. Participation in rota at specialist level which will include Medicines Information and providing professional and legal supervision to the dispensary services.4. To participate in the Trust-wide Out of Hours Medicines Advice Service and 7 day supply service.5. Completing with the support of technicians the process of medicines reconciliation following admission or transfer of service users within the trust. This involves collating information from patients and carers and liaising with professionals from other healthcare organisations to ascertain presenting complaint, past medical and medication history, working diagnosis and relevant biomedical and psychiatric testresults to ensure the safe and effective use of medicines.6. Ensuring that each medicine has an appropriate indication and each diagnosis has appropriate therapy.7. Ensuring that existing therapy is safe to take with, and has not contributed to, the presenting complaint.8. Ensuring that new treatments are compatible with the patients conditions.

Refer to the job description and person specification for full details.

Job description

Job responsibilities

1. To be responsible for implementing the Medicines Management strategy in the Trust.2. To deputise for a higher grade of pharmacist as required3. Participation in rota at specialist level which will include Medicines Information and providing professional and legal supervision to the dispensary services.4. To participate in the Trust-wide Out of Hours Medicines Advice Service and 7 day supply service.5. Completing with the support of technicians the process of medicines reconciliation following admission or transfer of service users within the trust. This involves collating information from patients and carers and liaising with professionals from other healthcare organisations to ascertain presenting complaint, past medical and medication history, working diagnosis and relevant biomedical and psychiatric testresults to ensure the safe and effective use of medicines.6. Ensuring that each medicine has an appropriate indication and each diagnosis has appropriate therapy.7. Ensuring that existing therapy is safe to take with, and has not contributed to, the presenting complaint.8. Ensuring that new treatments are compatible with the patients conditions.

Refer to the job description and person specification for full details.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • Master of Pharmacy degree, or equivalent qualification
  • Postgraduate qualification in Clinical Pharmacy, willingness to work towards or equivalent experience
  • Registration with General Pharmaceutical Council

Desirable

  • Membership of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS)

Knowledge/Experience

Essential

  • Demonstrable evidence of commitment to self development and CPD
  • Experience of undertaking audit within pharmaceutical services
  • Understanding of how medicines optimisation contributes to high quality patient care
  • Understanding and positive regard for the needs and rights of people with mental health problems or learning disabilities, and their carers
  • Experience of multidisciplinary team working

Desirable

  • Experience of working in a hospital pharmacy
  • Experience of providing supervision
  • Experience of providing education regarding medicines
  • Experience of working in providing a pharmacy service within a mental health or learning disabilities setting
  • Experience of working within an NHS organisation
  • Experience of provision of Medicines Information services
  • Knowledge of the evidence base relating to the prescribing of psychotropic medicines
  • Knowledge of recent initiatives within pharmacy
  • Experience of line management of staff

Values

Essential

  • Continuous Improvement
  • Accountability
  • Respectfulness
  • Enthusiasm
  • Support
  • High professional standards
  • Responsive to service users
  • Engaging leadership style
  • Strong customer service belief
  • Transparency and honesty
  • Discreet
  • Change oriented

Skills

Essential

  • Excellent organisational skills
  • Good IT skills
  • Excellent communication skills: - written - verbal - listening
  • Excellent interpersonal skills
  • Good time management
  • Decision making skills
  • Ability to travel between different sites
  • Ability to work as a team player and to work independently
  • Ability to work flexibly
  • Pro-active and displays initiative
  • Ability to adapt to changing environments, needs and demands
  • Report writing skills
  • Professional manner

Desirable

  • Critical appraisal skills
Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • Master of Pharmacy degree, or equivalent qualification
  • Postgraduate qualification in Clinical Pharmacy, willingness to work towards or equivalent experience
  • Registration with General Pharmaceutical Council

Desirable

  • Membership of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS)

Knowledge/Experience

Essential

  • Demonstrable evidence of commitment to self development and CPD
  • Experience of undertaking audit within pharmaceutical services
  • Understanding of how medicines optimisation contributes to high quality patient care
  • Understanding and positive regard for the needs and rights of people with mental health problems or learning disabilities, and their carers
  • Experience of multidisciplinary team working

Desirable

  • Experience of working in a hospital pharmacy
  • Experience of providing supervision
  • Experience of providing education regarding medicines
  • Experience of working in providing a pharmacy service within a mental health or learning disabilities setting
  • Experience of working within an NHS organisation
  • Experience of provision of Medicines Information services
  • Knowledge of the evidence base relating to the prescribing of psychotropic medicines
  • Knowledge of recent initiatives within pharmacy
  • Experience of line management of staff

Values

Essential

  • Continuous Improvement
  • Accountability
  • Respectfulness
  • Enthusiasm
  • Support
  • High professional standards
  • Responsive to service users
  • Engaging leadership style
  • Strong customer service belief
  • Transparency and honesty
  • Discreet
  • Change oriented

Skills

Essential

  • Excellent organisational skills
  • Good IT skills
  • Excellent communication skills: - written - verbal - listening
  • Excellent interpersonal skills
  • Good time management
  • Decision making skills
  • Ability to travel between different sites
  • Ability to work as a team player and to work independently
  • Ability to work flexibly
  • Pro-active and displays initiative
  • Ability to adapt to changing environments, needs and demands
  • Report writing skills
  • Professional manner

Desirable

  • Critical appraisal skills

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.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Additional information

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.

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

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Liverpool / Knowsley / Maghull / Hollins Park

To be agreed - (floating post)

Liverpool

L31 1HW


Employer's website

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


Employer details

Employer name

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Liverpool / Knowsley / Maghull / Hollins Park

To be agreed - (floating post)

Liverpool

L31 1HW


Employer's website

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


Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Clinical Services Lead Pharmacist

Laura Thompson

Laura.Thompson2@merseycare.nhs.uk

07825431772

Details

Date posted

09 May 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 7

Salary

£46,148 to £52,809 a year per annum

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

350-TWS7191399

Job locations

Liverpool / Knowsley / Maghull / Hollins Park

To be agreed - (floating post)

Liverpool

L31 1HW


Supporting documents

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