Principal Pharmacist, Integrating Pharmacy & Medicines Optimisation

Job responsibilities

For the full Person Specification and more information regarding the main responsibilities of this role, please refer to the attached Job Description.

North Central London Medicines Optimisation Network:

The NCL Medicines Optimisation Network (MON) supports the ICS in the safe, effective and economical use of medicines. The Joint Formulary Committee (JFC) is a principal committee within the network, which fulfils the Area Prescribing Committee function and cross-sector clinical governance for medicines. The JFC includes multidisciplinary healthcare professional representation from primary care, provider Trusts (secondary care, tertiary care and mental health) and commissioning organisations. JFC focuses on promoting evidence-based medicine and providing the right care, at the right time and in the right place, specifically related to medicines, to help ensure best outcomes and use of resources in NCL. JFC is responsible for establishing whether new medicines, and new indications for existing medicines, represent a safe, equitable, evidence-based and cost-effective use of medicines. It also coordinates or facilitates the development of medicine pathways, guidelines and position statements to support medicines optimisation and reduce unwarranted variation.

The NCL JFC member organisations include:

University College London Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Royal Free London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust

Whittington Health NHS Trust

Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust

Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust

Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health Trust

Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust

North Central London Integrated Care Board

Residents of North Central London

The NCL Shared Care Group (a sub-group of JFC) coordinates the development of shared care guidelines and transfer of prescribing documents to support the seamless transition of medicines at the interface. It is also responsible for maintaining the NCL red list (list of hospital only medicines).

The NCL Medicines Optimisation Board (MOB) is a senior pharmacists committee responsible for leading improvements in medicines efficiency and pharmacy transformation. Following publication of the NHS Long Term Plan, MOB established an Integrated Pharmacy & Medicines Optimisation (IPMO) programme to transform the pharmacy workforce, medicines safety and medicines value.

Further information can be found via the NCL ICS Medicines Optimisation website: https://nclhealthandcare.org.uk/our-working-areas/medicines-optimisation/

Knowledge & Qualifications

Essential

• Registration as a pharmacist with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC)
• Master's Degree in Pharmacy or equivalent
• Diploma in Clinical Pharmacy or General Pharmacy Practice or equivalent experience
• Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) membership
• Expert critical appraisal training and expertise
• National policy and commissioning awareness

Desirable

• Higher degree (PhD or research MSc)
• Advanced practitioner as defined by the Advanced and Consultant Level Framework (ACLF)
• RPS Faculty Membership
• Statistics, health economics or public health post-graduate qualification

Experience

Essential

• Broad clinical pharmacy expertise and experience as a hospital pharmacy practitioner
• Experience of working as a senior formulary, medicines information, or medicines management pharmacist
• Demonstrable and successful service leadership experience in hospital pharmacy, working at a senior level and as part of a senior multidisciplinary team
• Direct experience in facilitating the business of multidisciplinary committees, including influencing key decision makers from all sectors
• Demonstrable experience of working relationships across sectors of the Pharmacy service
• Experience of working to unpredictable work patterns and prolonged periods of concentration
• Experience in provision of urgent requests for medicines related advice
• Experience of budget management and detailed knowledge of NHS medicines funding and reimbursement models.
• Experience in creating policies for application in both general and specialist practice

Desirable

• Specialist clinical pharmacy expertise and experience
• Experience of working in all relevant sectors of pharmacy; including provider Trust, primary care environment (PCN/Practice pharmacist) and a commissioning sector.
• Formal management/leadership qualification (or equivalent experience)
• Member of regional or national medicines management committee

Management & leadership skills

Essential

• Experience in development and implementation of strategies aimed at meeting Trust / ICS priorities
• Demonstrable evidence of evaluation of service provision and track record of actively improving services
• Successful experience of team development, leading and management of others (including assessing and appraising staff), providing supervision and training as required
• Project management skills
• Ability to identify and prioritise the delivery of pharmacy services and identifies novel ways of working to enhance services.
• Ability to analyse and critically appraise clinical and operational data
• Ability to utilise email, word processing, presentation and spreadsheet software packages in order to enhance work efficiency and to generate solutions to complex problems
• Confidence to confirm and challenge information and explanations supplied by others, who may be experts in their field
• Demonstrates innovation
• Delegates authority appropriately
• Demonstrate evidence of medication risk management and application of risk reduction strategies and ability to develop and implement risk management procedures.

Desirable

• Ability to reconcile national priorities with local realities
• Develop and implement change management strategies
• Identifies a vision for the delivery of service and ability to prioritise future developments to meet service needs
• Ability to utilise database and other software packages in order to enhance work efficiency and to generate solutions to complex problems
• Ability to develop and implement risk management procedures at a divisional or Trust wide level

Clinical & interpersonal skills

Essential

• Experience in making judgements involving highly complex information which requires analysis, interpretation and options appraisal
• Ability to analyse, interpret and communicate specialist information relating to medicines, treatments, and supply/production issues in situations where information is lacking and medical or other opinion differs
• Demonstrates advanced level of clinical reasoning and judgement in pharmacy practice
• Ability to manage difficult and ambiguous problems where little information is available
• Demonstrate an intuitive grasp of situations based on deep tacit understanding
• Ability to negotiate and influence senior pharmacy, nursing, medical, and other multidisciplinary staff
• Enhances the quality of patient care and demonstrates a whole-system patient-focussed approach
• Demonstrates awareness of and commitment to the principles of clinical governance
• Demonstrates ability to achieve desired outcomes and co-ordinate services in the face of diverse unavoidable pressures
• Ability to guide and support multidisciplinary groups in the approval of individual and / or cohort applications to account for medicines legislation and safe governance
• Demonstrates ability to implement policy and service developments in a responsible, safe and effective manner
• Demonstrates ability to work as part of a multi-disciplinary team
• Displays honesty and integrity, is aware of ethical dilemmas relating to practice, and respects confidentiality

Desirable

• Recognised as a national and/or international expert practitioner
• Ability to influence at a Divisional or Trust and ICS level

Education & training skills

Essential

• Previous experience in delivering education and training at a postgraduate level
• Ensures own training needs, and those of others are identified & met

Desirable

• Previous experience in co-ordinating education and training programmes at a post graduate level
• Actively seeks novel opportunities to meet training needs, and evaluates the training provided

Research & development skills

Essential

• Participation in multidisciplinary health services research
• Integrates research evidence into practice
• Leads clinical audit and demonstrable evidence of use of clinical audit to improve practice

Desirable

• Planning and co-ordination of multi-disciplinary health care research
• Undertakes own research Research publications

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).