Advanced Pharmacist for Mental Health

Job responsibilities

Clinical / Professional

To be responsible for and lead the provision of a high quality, specialised clinical pharmacy service to ensure the safe, clinically effective and cost-efficient use of drugs in mental health.

To be responsible for the delivery of the clinical pharmacy services to nominated areas, including attendance at consultant ward rounds, providing expert pharmaceutical advice and setting standards for junior pharmacists to emulate.

To be responsible for the provision of professional pharmaceutical advice to healthcare colleagues, patients, and carers as necessary.

To develop and monitor pharmacy initiatives such as medicines reconciliation on admission and provision of discharge summaries to GPs, which promote seamless transfer of patients from secondary care to primary care and vice versa.

To be responsible for the development of ward/unit based pharmaceutical care initiatives e.g. self-medication schemes, use of patients own drugs in hospital, one-stop dispensing, patient and carer counselling, discharge planning, assessing patient concordance and improved communication with primary care healthcare professionals within mental health.

To lead on and develop policy or service changes within Mental Health which improve ward or community services and be responsible for their implementation.

To promote and monitor compliance with the South and West Devon Joint Formulary and to assist in formulary applications and review for medicines to be used in Mental Health.

To be responsible for monitoring prescribing practice to promote cost-effective and economic use of resources and contribute to the establishment and implementation of prescribing guidelines within mental health.

To be lead on and be responsible for reporting and review of clinical and other pharmacy related audits within mental health.

To be responsible for the development of junior pharmacy staff within mental health including rotational pharmacists and trainee pharmacists

To provide evidence of Continuing Professional Development on an annual basis at appraisal, in accordance with guidance issued by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).

To cover for ward pharmacists as required, during periods of absence

Occasional dispensary cover including dispensing and checking of medication following local SOPs.

Analytical and Judgemental Skills

Have highly developed skiIls for analysing drug, patient intimation in mental health in order to provide advice on medicines, dosages, production issues/ in areas where information is lacking and medical or other opinion differs

Clinical screening of prescription charts and discharge prescriptions, to ensure prescriptions are safe and appropriate.

Responding to and recording medicines information requests from prescribers and other healthcare professionals relating to mental health and providing advice on medicines proactively. In many cases this is a complex task involving highly specialist up to date knowledge, effective search strategies, evaluation of the evidence base and formulation of an appropriate response.

To be responsible for the investigation and monitoring of medicines related incidents relating to mental health, recommending and implementing change as required to improve patient safety, collating these for discussion at pharmacy team meetings and at the Medicines Governance Group (MGG).

Clinical Governance

To be responsible for and lead on clinical governance and risk management through interventions which optimise the management of medicines in mental health, supporting best practice throughout all areas of responsibility

To participate in and lead multidisciplinary groups in the review and development of selected medicines related policies and procedures relating to mental health and present to the MGG.

To lead on the development and review of documents e.g. Patient Group Directions, Policies, Guidelines and Protocols relating to mental health and presenting reviewed documents to the MGG

To support professional leads in identifying and addressing evidence-based medicine practice consistent with the requirements of clinical governance and of national directives

To work with the Pharmacy Senior Management Team to lead on continuous quality improvement projects and audit within mental health

Managerial

To provide mentoring, training, supervision and line management of mental health substantive and rotational pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and other pharmacy staff and students as required, including appraisals and performance reviews.

To organise the trainee pharmacist timetable when they rotate through mental health

To act as Designated Supervisor to a Trainee Pharmacist annually as required.

To mentor/buddy other NMPs within Mental Health.

To Act as a Designated Prescribing Practitioner, Educational supervisor or Practice Supervisor as appropriate for members of the team undertaking their independent prescribing training.

Freedom to Act

Pharmacists are expected to work largely unsupervised and to act on their own professional judgement.

Clinical supervision from another health professional can be arranged and is to be encouraged.

Technical roles are defined by standard operating procedures which should always be followed.

Clinical roles are supported by policies and guidelines within which the pharmacist is allowed professional discretion / interpretation.

This role includes setting the parameters under which other pharmacy staff will operate.

Training and Education

To lead on the training and development of pharmacy staff within Mental Health and support training of other staff members within the team as appropriate

To plan, develop and deliver appropriate training and education to healthcare colleagues, carer groups and outside agencies to promote the safe use and clinical application of medicines within mental health

To be responsible for and lead on the induction of new pharmacy staff with mental health

To assist and lead, where appropriate, on the training provided to pharmacy students, trainee pharmacists and other pharmacy staff

Health, Safety and Security

To work safely in the dispensary, ward and office environments ensuring any risks identified to health and safety are managed or escalated to line manager

To ensure safety and security of medicines, prescription stationery and patient identifiable documents according to locally agreed standard operating procedures.

To inform line manager of any breaches of safety or security or if agreed procedures are thought to be inadequate to manage the risk.

COMMUNICATIONS AND RELATIONSHIPS

The ability to communicate highly complex drug or medicine related information to prescribers, clinicians, patients, relatives within the mental health service.

Well-developed verbal and written communications skills (including telephone and email) are essential to the role.

To liaise with all levels of healthcare staff and professionals working in the multidisciplinary team within mental health.

The ability to challenge and accept professional challenge from other health care professionals

To liaise with patients and carers, the acute hospitals, doctors, GPs, community nurses and community pharmacists to ensure appropriate supply of medicines.

To communicate pharmacy / medication issues clearly and concisely at team meetings and governance groups e.g.MGG.

To work virtually through use of technology where required.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS OF THE JOB

There is a need to travel between units in a timely fashion, therefore ability to drive and to use own car is an advantage.

Good keyboard / computer skills are essential.

Limited manual handling of static loads.

Experience

Essential

• Experience as a practising pharmacist, including experience of working in mental health and as a member of a Multidisciplinary Team
• Experience of networking with other healthcare professionals across the full range of disciplines at all levels
• Experience of review and development of pharmacy / medication related policies, procedures and PGDs
• Experience of audit work
• Experience of delivering education to healthcare staff and patients / carers via workshops, informal discussion or formal lectures

Desirable

• Experience of preparing documents for clinical governance groups and presenting these to a committee
• Experience of leading on audit and producing reports
• Experience of mentoring, supervision and line management
• Experience of influencing, negotiating and implementing change in practice

Qualifications

Essential

• Masters Degree (or equivalent) in Pharmacy
• Registered Practising Member of the General Pharmaceutical Council
• Specialist knowledge acquired by postgraduate diploma or equivalent evidence of specialist knowledge, competence and achievements in practice in mental health
• Evidence of Continuing Professional Development and revalidation

Desirable

• Postgraduate qualification in psychiatric pharmacy
• Member of specialist interest groups
• Working towards membership of the RPS Faculty or towards being a credentialed member of the College of Mental Health Pharmacy
• Independent prescriber or willingness to work towards

Skills

Essential

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills including verbal, written and formal presentation skills for a wide variety of audiences
• Computer literate including Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Email and Internet
• Excellent critical appraisal and analytical skills, with a sound understanding of evidence based medicine
• Good listening skills & excellent networking / negotiating skills
• Can work with and influence managers, nursing and medical staff
• Leadership and team working skills
• Ability to act as an excellent role model or mentor
• Self-motivated and able to motivate others with enthusiasm
• Able to reflect on and appraise own performance and that of others
• Ability to plan and prioritise own work and that of others with good organisational and time- management skills
• Able to work under pressure and to tight deadlines
• Ability to travel across the LSW area

Desirable

• Ability to influence and negotiate with a range of stakeholders to implement change in practice
• Able to resolve conflict and disagreement
• Ability to manage change
• Access to own transport

Knowledge

Essential

• Excellent knowledge of clinical pharmacy as it relates to mental health and substance misuse
• Knowledge and understanding of antimicrobial stewardship
• Understanding of non-medical prescribing, patient group directions and other alternatives to medical prescribing
• Aware of current healthcare targets, NICE guidance and other national directives and the implications for implementation in primary and secondary care

Desirable

• Highly specialised knowledge of drug use within mental health and substance misuse
• Broad knowledge of the structure, organisation and priorities of the NHS and other healthcare services at a national and local level

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).