Lead Pharmacist - Medicines Information, Commissioning and Formulary

Job responsibilities

Medicines Information

To be accountable for the delivery of a high quality, efficient, specialist medicines information service to the Trust, interface, primary care healthcare professionals and members of the public, according to their needs and ensuring compliance with medicines legislation, professional standards and risk minimisation strategies.

To manage the Medicines Information service including maintenance and up-dating of in-house files and enquiry databases, selection and ordering of appropriate journals and reference sources (paper and electronic) according to guidelines from the UKMi.

To assist in the ongoing development of the Medicines Information service in the Trust, by proposing and implementing policy and service developments.

To support the Pharmacy clinical teams with fulfilling medicines management responsibilities by provision of specialist pharmaceutical input to, and active or involvement in, the development and implementation of:

o medication protocols and policies

o shared care guidelines

o formulary reviews and evaluations

o patient group directions, ensuring compliance with legislation

o multidisciplinary team working

To disseminate information about new drugs, licence changes, ADRs, and other medicines information as appropriate to the rest of the pharmacy department and to contribute to the shortages management programme (support with memo production, enquiries and dissemination of information) in conjunction with the clinical and operations team.

To produce and present policies at meetings and Trust committees for ratification as appropriate.

To answer MI queries from health professionals and patients across Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, supporting other staff to answer their own simple MI queries by in-house training.

To support maintenance and development of the in-house MI database for the efficient storage and retrieval of past enquiries and the production of workload reports.

To be responsible for audit within the Medicines Information Service and include findings in reports to the Department Senior Leadership Meetings. Performance of the service should be monitored against UKMi standards and user satisfaction, using feedback questionnaires and peer review.

To maintain up-to-date procedures and guidelines for staff working in Medicines Information.

To train pharmacy staff (including Rotational Pharmacists, Pre-registration Pharmacists, Pre-registration Pharmacy Technicians and any new Pharmacists or Technicians) in the provision of Medicines Information services according to UKMi standards including the use of computer databases.

Commissioning

Support the principal pharmacist, medicines information, commissioning and formulary, in providing leadership and professional guidance to the department and clinical service lines related to NHSE and ICB commissioned high cost medicines (excluded from the National Tariff Payment System; NTPS). This includes implementation of NICE TA, CDF and other commissioned medicines, horizon scanning, and budget planning.

Support the principal pharmacist, medicines information, commissioning and formulary, with clinical management / advice to staff regarding IVIg requests, high cost drugs, homecare, individual funding requests and biosimilar/ generic switching.

Support the Head of Medicines Governance, Safety & Quality in the creating, implementation and monitoring of the medicines cost improvement plan.

To work closely with key stakeholders within the Trust and externally (commissioners) to support the delivery of cost-effective medicines management

Support with the development of appropriate clinical pathways, shared care protocols / fact sheets within the Trust and across the interface

Formulary

Develop and ensure support to the formulary processes for the introduction of new medicines into the Trust through: critical appraisal of clinical evidence, economic evaluation, risk assessment, robust prioritisation, recommended placement in treatment, audit of the processes.

To assist in providing drug reviews, pathway development and medical information support to the Drugs and Therapeutics Committee.

To maintain and review the net formulary entries following output from the Drugs and Therapeutics Committee and ICS formulary committees in conjunction with the ICB.

To assist with the monitoring and management of one off and/or non-formulary requests, including onward reporting to the Drugs and Therapeutics Committee and associated actions.

To represent the Medicines Use Team at Formulary related committees (internal and external).

To support procurement teams with formulary medicines reconciliation as a result of system mergers and alignment.

To support the procurement team with assessing implications of contract changes and help deal with supply issues and product discontinuations.

To support the CSL pharmacy teams with monitoring adherence to formulary, assessing non formulary medicine use, supporting with formulary applications on behalf of the drugs and Therapeutics committee and reviewing current formulary medicines use.

Review the status and cost effectiveness of medicines already on the formulary.

To work with the principal pharmacist, commissioning , formulary and medicines information to support with formulary aspects associated with implementation of new medicines, NICE Technology Appraisals, medication switches (biosimilars, generics).

Qualifications

Essential

• Pharmacy degree (Masters level)
• Registration as a pharmacist with the GPhC
• Post graduate Diploma in Clinical Pharmacy or equivalent

Desirable

• Accredited Diploma Tutor
• Post graduate Masters in Pharmacy
• Member of the RPS
• Stage 1 Faculty Member (MIFRPS)

Experience and Knowledge

Essential

• Validated expertise in hospital pharmacy
• Experience of supervising and training staff
• Demonstration of up to date clinical awareness in specialist area
• Knowledge and awareness of medicines information and formulary service developments
• Knowledge and understanding of medicines legislation
• Understanding the need of confidentiality awareness at all times
• Audit/Research/Project experience
• Policy and service development
• Evidence of relevant continued professional development
• Awareness of current developments in Pharmacy practice

Desirable

• Experience of process redesign / continuous improvement work
• Validated project management experience
• Experience of coaching staff
• Knowledge of improvement methodology tools and techniques
• Knowledge of Clinical Governance
• Computer literacy
• Knowledge and awareness of implications of current developments in pharmacy practice
• Experience with running a medicines prescribing and/or governance committee
• Line manager experience

Skills

Essential

• Organised and able to devise, plan and manage work programmes
• Critical review/analysis and interpretation of clinical literature and medicines legislation
• Well developed written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to influence other professionals
• Negotiation skills
• Presentation skills
• Supervisory skills
• Report writing
• Training and mentoring skills

Desirable

• Ability to formulate, lead and implement service improvements
• Conflict resolution

Other

Essential

• Enthusiastic and passionate about area of expertise
• Open to and able to thrive on development/change
• Flexible and proactive
• Good interpersonal skills
• Self motivated

Desirable

• Confidence to communicate with colleagues at consultant/ senior manager level and ability to competently manage contentious issues

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).