Medicines Advice Pharmacist

Job description

Job responsibilities

Duties and Responsibilities

Clinical Enquiry Answering and Resource Development

Providing clinical medicines advice to a range of healthcare professionals. This involves:

• Receiving and recording complex questions frequently related to patient care, clarifying the clinical problem to be addressed.
• Defining a search strategy in order to inform the response and researching the answer. This may sometimes involve the use of the individual MA pharmacists professional knowledge and expertise.
• Evaluating the information retrieved and making a judgement, often where there is conflicting advice.
• Delivering the answer in an accurate, timely and helpful manner. This may be either directly to the enquirer tailored to the individual healthcare professionals needs and route of communication, or as written information published on the SPS website for use by other health care professionals.

Pharmacy Services

• Provide a clinical ward pharmacy service to promote safe, clinically effective and cost-efficient use of medicines to patients.
• Dispense medicine at ward level when appropriate or assist in the dispensary as requested by line manager.
• Establish good working relationships at ward level and pro-actively contribute to activities that will help improve the patient experience.

Service improvement and management responsibilities

Across England the NHS SPS MA Service is provided through a workforce located across different geographical sites which are designated to host the NHS SPS. The post-holder will work collaboratively with other MA Pharmacists to achieve the objectives of the MA service.

The post-holder will support in delivering any changes to service delivery necessary across England in order to meet the ongoing objectives of the SPS MA national service.

Finance responsibilities

The post-holder will not have budgetary responsibility but will be expected to help ensure that the budgetary sum is managed appropriately in-year by supporting efficiencies wherever possible.

Research and innovation

The post-holder will be expected to undertake research & development, where such activities support the broader strategic objectives of the SPS MA. They will also be expected to support the development and delivery of innovative approaches to the delivery of the SPS MA Service. This will include the following:

• Support transformation of the NHS SPS MA Service such that it is provided consistently and equitably across England and is aligned to NHSEI commissioning expectations.
• Support achieving economies of scale, reduced duplication, and increased ability to meet commissioner and user needs as part of the national NHS SPS specification.
• Support implementing qualitative and quantitative measures to determine performance against the organisational strategy.

Management responsibilities

The post-holder will be expected to:

• Participate in, and take responsibility for, regular training of medicines advice colleagues as appropriate.
• Directly supervise the work of colleagues, where appropriate
• Deputise for the Highly Specialist Pharmacist (Medicines Information) in their absence

Information Management skills

The post holder will be expected to have a minimum of a basic level of proficiency in Microsoft Office software packages. They will also be expected to have or gain a minimum of basic level proficiency using other software packages that support efficient, national team operations (e.g., MS Teams, MS OneDrive, MS SharePoint, NHS Futures).

The postholder will be expected to accurately document enquiries onto the bespoke software package, MiDatabank.

The post-holder will be expected to gain proficiency in use of the digital solution to support operational management of the NHS SPS MA Clinical Enquiry service. They will also be expected to gain familiarity with the operational aspects of developing content for the SPS website

Key working relationships and accountability

The post-holder will:

• Be accountable for their own actions.
• Manage their own work under the direction of the SPS MA Senior Pharmacist, SPS MA Advance Pharmacist, or SPS MA Associate Hub Leads.
• Support the transformation of the NHS SPS MA Service.
• Behave and act in a manner consistent with the values of the NHS SPS.
• Where appropriate and necessary, the post-holder will be expected to participate in providing medicine advice relating to a specialist area.
• Maintain concentration for prolonged periods of time, while writing, checking or evaluating information.

Person Specification

Qualifications and registration

Essential

• Pharmacist (Registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council)
• Post-graduate diploma in clinical pharmacy (or in progress), or equivalent clinical experience

Experience

Essential

• Knowledge of Medicines Optimisation as it pertains to both primary and secondary
• A range of experience across different fields within a sector of pharmacy service delivery or across sectors.

Desirable

• Existing knowledge of the Specialist Pharmacy Service and its development and role in delivery of Medicines Optimisation

Skills

Essential

• Ability to critically appraise and analyse complex information in relation to medicines and to interpret and present coherently to healthcare professionals
• Ability to manage own time and workload with good organisational skills
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills in written and verbal format

Desirable

• Ability to motivate and influence the work of others

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).

Employer details

Employer name

Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Guy's Hospital

Great Maze Pond

London

SE1 9RT

Employer's website

https://www.guysandstthomas.nhs.uk/careers/careers.aspx (Opens in a new tab)