Medicines Optimisation Pharmacist

Job responsibilities

To provide and receive complex or sensitive information to patients/carers, GP practice staff, other members of the Medicines Optimisation Team and wider ICB and ICS.

To communicate results of audits and other prescribing related work to ICS partner staff or concisely, presenting information in a suitable format (e.g. written and/or verbal) and style for the target audience.

To attend and contribute to partner provider meetings and other prescribing meetings, on issues relevant to prescribing and medicines optimisation.

To assist with the monitoring and analysis of complex prescribing data and offer support to partners who are outlying on key prescribing indicators.

To undertake audits of SY ICS partners to assess prescribing against local and national guidelines and provide an interpretation of the outputs to colleagues.

To interpret and make judgements using clinical and non-clinical data, which may be incomplete from patients notes and other sources, alongside organisational and national guidance to facilitate patient care and specific issues, ICB priority areas and local /national guidelines. To consider a range of potential options and be confident in deploying one of those options.

To plan and organise of multiple tasks, activities, or programmes some of which more be complex and concurrent to be delivered to ICS partners or colleagues e.g.: training on a particular medicines topic, medicine changes. Planning own work to meet assigned targets, some of which may be ongoing work. Co-ordinate with pharmacy technicians and project/ program leads, as well as the service requirement of the ICS partner receiving support.

To provide, if deemed necessary by the ICB, direct patient care and consultation related to health initiatives.

To provide specialist clinical advice to practitioners and patients based on interpretation of medical data to improve the care of an individual, or groups of patients/clients in the care settings supported by the ICB.

To work with ICS partners towards the delivery of the medicines optimisation Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention (QIPP agenda) and ICS IPMO agendas, implement and support local formularies, and other prescribing objectives and strategies as determined by the strategic team. Feedback to line managers and colleagues where improvements could be made across the spectrum of work encountered.

Postholder should observe their personal duty of care in relation to IT equipment providers and ensure protection of data held in line with the information sharing protocols.

To support with the training and induction of new and existing staff members.

To deliver agreed core training to provider colleague staff members, and ICB staff on specialist areas of involvement.

To commit to continual professional development as per GPhC requirements and maintain a personal portfolio.

To accurately make agreed changes to patients medicines and update patients records with details of the changes made and to update records in a timely manner at the time the change is made.

To work with members of the team to develop and implement data collection systems that will provide accurate and timely data.

To develop and maintain databases required by job.

To maintain administrative and information resources

To advise and demonstrate own activities to other colleagues.

To participate in research to ensure pharmacy services, medicines optimisation and clinical research involving medicines are provided, developed, and undertaken in accordance with relevant governing frameworks and ethical and quality standards.

To evaluate and present the results of the reviews and audits conducted in providerpartners, both individually and collectively, in conjunction with other members of the Medicines Optimisation Team working in the practice.

To work on own initiative and unsupervised to design and manage workload to meet set objectives, guided by ICB and NHS processes, peers, and experience.

To deliver against agreed objectives, achieving quality outcomes assigned by line managers.

To organise meetings or events in connection with portfolio of work.

Light physical effort required, carrying of laptops, projectors, and light event equipment.

There is a daily requirement for working at a workstation for much of the day.

Frequent requirements for prolonged concentration for much of the working day, i.e., checking documents, analysing statistics, and conflicting priorities. Elements of the work will be unpredictable with need to switch task without warning to support a situation of event e.g.: stock shortage, procurement of service, staff cover of a different area of work within Medicines Optimisation.

Expose to accounts involving patient that may cause distress, occasional encounters with patients or practitioners that involve the imparting of difficult or unwelcome information.

The role will be a hybrid working environment, between home and base location utilising IT on daily basis for most of the time, but also travelling to other Acute Trusts / place localities across the South Yorkshire locality. Remote working is often part of a hybrid approach. Postholder must be able to independently travel around the locality.

Qualifications

Essential

• Masters degree in pharmacy (or equivalent)
• Member of General Pharmaceutical Council
• Evidence of continued professional development
• Postgraduate pharmacy qualification
• Participant in DBS update service (or willing to register for update service)

Desirable

• Development and implementation of healthcare policies

Attributes

Essential

• An ability to demonstrate how individual skills and abilities will actively contribute to the work of the ICB
• An understanding and awareness of the current issues faced by providers and of what is important to them
• Demonstrable ability to exercise sound judgement
• Ability to work effectively as part of a team and on own initiative
• An awareness of equality and diversity issues in South Yorkshire

Experience

Essential

• 1 year post qualifying experience
• Experience of delivering improvements / change
• Experience of engaging with patients and public to learn and improve experience

Desirable

• Experience of primary care, working directly with GPs and or community pharmacy
• Experience of secondary care pharmacy work
• Patient consultation and history taking experience

Knowledge and Understanding

Essential

• Excellent knowledge of therapeutics
• The ability to understand and analyse complex issues, including technical data, and use it to make decisions ensuring that such data is used ethically to balance competing priorities
• Ability to take an objective view, seeing issues from all perspectives and especially external and user perspectives

Desirable

• Knowledge and understanding of NHS policy context
• Vaccination training

Skills and Competencies

Essential

• Strong interpersonal and relationship building skills whilst having the ability to positively challenge
• Influencing and negotiation skills
• Create and maintain positive relationships with stakeholders
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, and experience in engaging health and care professionals

Desirable

• Strong skills in recognising key influencers and the capability to engage them effectively in the ICB business

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).