Principal Pharmacist – AMH Community Mental Health Teams

Job responsibilities

To ensure the provision of clinical pharmacy services and to identify, develop and implement practice research, audit and other projects, to ensure that the departmental cost improvement and quality targets are met.

Deliver, manage and develop the provision of the clinical pharmacy service to AMH CMHT; thus facilitating the provision of a high quality and cost-effective pharmaceutical care service to patients and other service users.

To provide pharmaceutical input at multidisciplinary team reviews, take drug histories and devise patient-specific pharmaceutical care plans where necessary.

To participate in the development and implementation of new ways of working and extended roles (e.g. ACP and NMP) for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. This may involve acting as a Designated Prescribing Practitioner (DPP) for pharmacists.

To participate as a mentor and assessor for the pharmacy staff undertaking the clinical diploma or equivalent postgraduate training programme. This will involve regular accompanied visits and in completing assessments of the students progress.

To act as a line manager for band 8A lead pharmacists for Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP) and LMHT; as well as a small number of pharmacists and or pharmacy technicians working in AMH CMHTs.

To participate in and develop a programme of training for healthcare professionals - including medical staff (including students) on pharmaceutical matters.

To provide training sessions for service users and carers on medication.

To provide specialist medicines information and advice to all healthcare staff, and service users and carers including primary care colleagues via the Pharmacy Advisory Line on a rota basis

To provide appropriate pharmacy input to the second opinion service under the terms of Section 58 of the Mental Health Act Regulations controlling consent to treatment.

Establish and develop strong and effective links with all staff within the Trust, in order to maintain and develop the contribution of pharmacy to cost-effective, safe and efficient prescribing and utilisation of medicines.

To contribute to initiatives, including the development of treatment and drug usage guidelines that will provide positive clinical and financial outcomes.

Ensure that agreed local and national guidelines, policies and protocols are affected at ward and clinic level via the clinical pharmacy team.

Liaise with individual consultants regarding drug-prescribing issues within their specialty to ensure maximum benefit in the treatment of patients, in-line with local and national guidelines.

Develop close working relationships with the medical and nursing staff in order to ensure that pharmacists are integral members of the clinical team.

Within care units, actively promote and implement relevant decisions of Trust and Care Group Medicines Optimisation Groups. Prepare submissions for the Trust and Care Group Medicines Optimisation Groups when required.

To provide professional support to the dispensary on a rota basis, including validation of new prescriptions, checking of dispensing operations performed by pharmacy staff and undertaking occasional dispensing tasks as necessary.

To have complete professional responsibility for safety and efficacy of all medicines a patient is taking whenever a patients prescription chart is reviewed in a team or in the dispensary, using relevant information to hand.

The post holder is responsible for recording any clinical information generated as a result of their clinical activities, e.g. writing in patients notes, annotating prescription charts and written information for medical staff and the data entry of medicines information questions and answers on the pharmacy database.

To prioritise workload and meet deadlines, particularly when under pressure.

The post holder must ensure that pharmaceutical work conforms to legal and professional requirements, procedures, clinical guidelines, any standard operating procedures and recognised good practice.

To undertake all scheduled mandatory training (including information governance) required for the role.

To keep professionally up-to-date at all times, and to be actively aware of national, local and Trust-wide issues so as to ensure safe and effective delivery of services, and to meet the General Pharmaceutical Council standards for continuing professional development so as to maintain professional registration.

To ensure that personal pharmacy practice is in line with Code of Ethics of the General Pharmaceutical Council.

Achieve team objectives, and personal objectives agreed during the PAD (Performance Appraisal and Development) with Line Manager.

Act as a role model for all pharmacy staff practicing within the Trust, to ensure that all staff aspire to provide a consistent and high-quality standard of service. This will also contribute to the development of a departmental culture that is in line with the values and organisational culture of the organisation.

Effectively supervise and direct the work of appropriate staff where necessary, in order to ensure that work is accurate, appropriate and timely.

When necessary, effectively deputise for the Head of Pharmacy, Mental Health Services Care Group, on appropriate multidisciplinary committees, working groups, and in general operational issues, in order to ensure consistency in pharmacy input at an appropriate level.

To participate in late duty, weekend and Bank Holiday working in accordance with departmental rotas, in order to fulfill contractual obligations, and to support the on-call pharmacy service in order to maintain the departmental commitment to a 24-hour service.

To accept any other responsibilities and undertake any other duties, as may be reasonably requested by the Chief Pharmacist, in order to fulfill the needs of the service.

In conjunction with the Heads of Pharmacy, contribute to the development, maintenance and monitoring of a high quality, cost effective clinical pharmacy service to the Trust, and contribute to the development of the local pharmacy and medicines optimisation strategy.

To act as a Trust representative for the Nottinghamshire Area Prescribing Committee.

Qualifications

Essential

• oMSc in Pharmacy
• oMember of the General Pharmaceutical Council
• oPostgraduate Diploma in Pharmacy Practice
• oIndependent Prescriber Qualification

Desirable

• oCurrent membership of Royal Pharmaceutical Society
• oCurrent membership of College of Mental Health Pharmacy
• oEvidence of Leadership Development
• oAchieved, or working towards, Advanced Pharmacist Credentialling with RPS or CMHP

Experience

Essential

• oExperience gained through vocational practice
• oExperience of working with CMHTs
• oExperience of working as a pharmacist prescriber, ideally in a CMHT setting
• oExperience of working as a line manager

Desirable

• oExperience of working at the interface of primary and secondary care
• oExperience of working as part of an RMOC, APC, DTC or similar

Knowledge

Essential

• oClinical Pharmacy knowledge associated with a Pharmacy degree course and vocational experience
• oAwareness of NHS changes and understanding of pharmacy issues within the NHS
• oAwareness of CMHT transformation and the likely impacts

Desirable

• oRisk assessment
• oPersonal Safety e.g. lone working procedures

Values and Behaviours

Essential

• All colleagues are expected to demonstrate that they act in line with Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust Values: Trust Honesty Respect Compassion Teamwork
• All colleagues are expected to demonstrate an understanding of and commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and how it applies to their role. The Trust's expectations are highlighted within our EDI Policy, and associated EDI and Human Rights legislation

Skills

Essential

• oOrganisational / time management skills
• oExcellent communication skills
• oNegotiation and influencing skills
• oAbility work as a team player
• oCreative and innovative thinker
• oAdaptable and flexible
• oWork well under pressure and prioritise effectively
• oSelf-motivated and conscientious
• oIT literate

Contractual

Essential

• oFlexibility in working hours
• oFlexibility to work / cover at other sites to support the demands of the service - reasonable adjustments will be made for disabled individuals in line with the Equality Act 2010
• oAble to work extended hours, if necessary
• oAble to work weekends and On-Call (Trust-Wide)

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).