Lead Pharmacist

Job description

Job responsibilities

Lead the pharmacy service to patients and the multidisciplinary team within LivingCare group.

Supports the Organisations Prescribing Standards and challenges practice where prescribers have not adhered to the Medicines Code.

Demonstrate the ability to provide safe, clinically effective and cost-effective use of medicines in accordance with policies and standard operating procedures and medicine legislation. This will include individual prescription review to optimise therapy, advising on dosage and side effects and on safe administration of medicines. The post holder is expected to determine how the outcomes are best achieved in specific circumstances.

Pharmacists who are registered as prescribers will, with the agreement of the directors, prescribe within their level of competence, to support patient care.

Participate in multi-disciplinary team meetings.

Manage difficult and ambiguous problems, often when information is limited.

Undertake risk management, including investigating clinical incidents in the clinical area and ensuring compliance with medicine legislation.

The post holder will be expected to identify, where necessary, areas that require service changes and develop a strategy to carry out the change through consultation with senior colleagues within and outside the pharmacy.

Manage the introduction of new drugs, including unlicensed drugs, into the Organisation.

Develop and update policies for the safe, effective and economic use of medicines through discussion with medical and nursing staff.

Communication with Primary Care about medicines policies or guidelines specific for their area of practice.

Management

Monitor and interpret expenditure on medicines within LivingCare. Provide the Directorate with regular reports to assist in the management of the drug budget

Attend the management meetings to advise on medicine use and financial implications Horizon scan for new drugs and advise the clinical speciality meetings on the financial implications

Review prescribing data from out-patient clinics

Health and Safety/Risk Management

All staff are responsible for working with their colleagues to maintain and improve the quality of services provided to our patients and other service users. This always includes complying with the LivingCare Policies, including Health and Safety policies, by following agreed safe working procedures, and reporting incidents using the Incident Reporting system.

Infection Control

The jobholder must always comply with the Organisations Infection Control policies, in particular by practising Universal Infection Control Precautions. Hand hygiene must be performed before and after contact with patients and their environment.

Equality and Diversity

The jobholder must comply with all policies and procedures designed to ensure equality of employment and that services are delivered in ways that meet the individual needs of patients and their families. No person whether they are staff, patient or visitor should receive less favourable treatment because of their gender, ethnic origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion etc.

Patient and Public Involvement

The Organisation has a statutory duty to involve patients and public in evaluating and planning services. All staff have a responsibility to listen to the views of patients and to contribute to service improvements based on patient feedback.

Training and Personal Development Continuous Professional Development

The jobholder must take responsibility in agreement with his/her line manager for his/her own personal development by ensuring that

Continuous Professional Development remains a priority. The jobholder will undertake all mandatory training required for the role.

Respect for Patient Confidentiality

The jobholder should respect patient confidentiality at all times and not divulge patient information unless sanctioned by the requirements of the role.

COMMUNICATION & WORKING RELATIONSHIPS

Communicate highly complex information about medicine use to consultants, junior doctors, nursing staff, patients, other members of the multi-disciplinary team and managers within LivingCare.

All registered healthcare professionals must ensure adherence to professional codes of practice

SPECIAL WORKING CONDITIONS

i) PHYSICAL EFFORT:

The post requires a combination of sitting, standing, and walking with little requirement for physical effort, excepting an occasional need to move pharmacy boxes and fluids. These typically weigh approximately 10kg per box.

ii) MENTAL EFFORT:

Concentration required when checking and reviewing prescriptions and performing complicated calculations. Concentration required for periods of time when preparing financial reports, papers reviewing medicine use. Interruptions for urgent advice occur frequently via telephone or in person at any time, including during breaks.

iii) EMOTIONAL EFFORT:

Depending on the clinical specialty the post holder may be exposed to distressing or emotional circumstances due to their work with sick patients. They may occasionally be exposed to distressing or emotional circumstances when investigating drug misadventures and explaining to relatives the consequences of a medicine related incident.

iv) WORKING CONDITIONS:

The post holder may spend a significant part of their working day in clinical areas. This means they will regularly be in the vicinity of, but not having to deal with personally, body fluids, smells, foul linen etc. Exposure to unpleasant working conditions outside of a clinical area will be rare, exception for pharmacists who undertake work where they will occasionally experience noxious fumes and could be at increased risk of exposure to cytotoxic drugs.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Masters qualification in Pharmacy (4 years) or equivalent qualification plus one year pre-registration experience
• Registrant of the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC)
• Postgraduate diploma in Clinical Pharmacy or equivalent experience or
• qualification
• Non-medical prescriber status is preferred.
• Substantial post registration experience as a practising clinical pharmacist. Ability to demonstrate foundation level competencies in all 6 domains of the Advanced to Consultant Level Framework (ACLF)
• Experience of dealing with highly complex clinical issues which require the pharmacist to analyse information from a range of sources, which may not be in agreement, to formulate a response. In such situations, it may be necessary to find a novel solution to an unusual clinical situation. The pharmacist will have developed negotiating and persuasive skills with other clinical team members, patients and relatives
• Experience of dealing with a wide variety and grade of staff (including senior medical and managerial staff) on a regular and ongoing basis
• Advanced theoretical and practical knowledge in clinical pharmacy practice, preferably in the clinical field.
• Be professionally accountable for action and advice.

Desirable

• Leadership
• Interpretation of financial information
• Team player
• Enthusiastic
• Lateral thinker
• Excellent communication oral/written/listening
• Good problem solver
• Good time management skills
• Adaptable
• Able to use initiative
• Highly developed negotiation and influencing skills
• Meticulous attention to detail
• The individual will organise their own work and potentially that of others in the specialist service on an on-going basis e.g. training, audit, project work, attendance of meetings, own cover etc

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

LivingCare Group (Fountain Diagnostic)

Address

4600 Park Approach

Thorpe Park

Leeds

West Yorks

LS15 8GB

Employer's website

https://www.livingcare.co.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)