Senior Clinical Pharmacist Cancer Services

Job responsibilities

Clinical Governance:

To be responsible for the provision and development of clinical pharmacy services to adults and paediatric Oncology/Haematology in-patients, day cases and out patients in line with local and national cancer standards.

To have overall responsibility for cytotoxic chemotherapy.

Investigate chemotherapy related medicine incidents and ensure processes are in place to develop learning from these incidents.

To ensure that Oncology/Haematology prescribing follows network guidelines and to record and report prescription of exceptional regimens as required.

To be responsible for the production, implementation and updating of protocols, guidelines, policies, specific individualised chemotherapy regimens and information for Cancer patients and carers in line with the best clinical practice, network and national guidance.

To co-ordinate with the HSC research team in the setting up and running of any clinical trials involving cytotoxic drugs.

Act as an Authorised Pharmacist within Pharmacy aseptic services, working with the Head Technician and Lead Technician for Aseptic Services and Radiopharmacy in all audit activities.

Reviews results of external audit related to patient care and develop action plan as necessary.

To be a member of and contribute to Oncology Governance Meetings

Aid in the provision of evaluated drug expenditure data

To facilitate the undertaking and contribute to multi-disciplinary audit.

To contribute, monitor and act on departmental and HSC Key Performance Indicators and Benchmarking

Facilitating the quality assurance of products and notifying the Lead Technician, Radiopharmacy and Technical Service of incidents and procedural deficiencies.

Management:

To monitor chemotherapy workload and, in discussion with the Head Technical chemotherapy service and the lead chemotherapy nurse to limit the number of chemotherapy patients being treated when the workload is judged to have reached unsafe levels.

To participate in meetings and working groups for chemotherapy, cancer, oncology and haematology both locally and for the wider cancer clinical network relating to the development and maintenance of clinical services or policies as determined by changing need or local national directives.

To attend and advise HSC Oncology/Haematology Chemotherapy committees, internal and external audits as required providing advice to medical staff on medicines usage and expenditure.

Leadership:

To act as the Pharmacy Lead for Chemocare or other prescribing programmes appropriate to chemotherapy prescribing including training of medical, nursing and administration staff.

In conjunction with the Oncology Governance Team, acting as the HSC lead for chemotherapy electronic prescribing.

Service Development:

Develop and act as an advanced orals clinic practitioner for oncology and haematology, to plan the care and identify areas of concern related to medicine use in this specialty. Assist in clinical decision making.

To be responsible for the development of a strategic plan for Oncology/Haematology Pharmacy Services, developing the clinical service for the needs of Cancer Services and palliative care patients including duties on wards, in out-patient clinics and in the pharmacy aseptic unit.

Develop and monitor services to support improved information provision to patients, carers and staff.

Initiate, plan, develop and implement clinical guidelines related to medicines to a specialty or HSC.

Education and Development:

Plan and deliver training to pharmacy and other clinical staff on issues related toChemotherapy and related subjects. Supervising students on wards as appropriate.

Knowledge and clear understanding of Good Distribution Practice (EU GDP 2013/C 343/01), and Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP, as per The Orange Guide), and other relevant regulations, guidance and quality standards

The post holder will be committed to the concepts of continuing professional development and lifelong learning personally and for staff.

Contributing to the induction and competency based training of oncology pharmacy, medical and nursing staff.

Liaising with pharmaceutical company representatives and disseminating knowledge of developments to other staff

Clinical / Technical:

To Participate in clinician ward rounds and multidisciplinary team meetings

The post-holder with provide professional supervision and in-process checking of the dispensing of cytotoxic drugs for both malignant and non-malignant indications.

Clinically checking all prescriptions before dispensing and referring to the prescriber any unusual doses, potential drug interactions or incompatibilities for confirmation or revision before authorising dispensing.

Working as part of a technician-led team ensuring the provision of a responsive, high quality, safe and effective service assisting in the day-to-day management of staff and workload.

Provide information and advice on the safe, effective and economical use of drugs to health professionals and patients. Visiting allocated wards on a daily basis, prioritising activity as appropriate.

Discussing with patients any issues about their medication, and liaising with other health care professional in Primary and Secondary Care as appropriate.

Assessing the appropriateness and safety of prescriptions in terms of dosing, biochemistry, disease management and allergy and recommending changes to treatment where appropriate.

To be / to become a Pharmacist Independent Prescriber (IP) to further improve medicines management at clinic or ward level.

Policy

To contribute to the updating of the local Chemotherapy Guidelines and Neutropenic Sepsis Guidelines

To be responsible for and maintain production, implementation and updating of protocols specific to individualised chemotherapy regimens and ensure that these are up to date on Chemocare (or other electronic Prescribing systems pertaining to Chemotherapy).

To ensure that information for Cancer patients and carers and all policies and Guidelines relating to Chemotherapy are in line with the best clinical practice, network and national guidance.

To develop any new policies and Guidelines as required or recommended by network or national guidance.

The post holder will practice in accordance with the Code of Ethics of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

Financial Responsibilities:

Promoting high-quality, cost-effective prescribing

Assist with horizon scanning and assessment of cost implications of changes to the use of medicines in clinical oncology.

Provides information to Cancer Services and finance in relation to Chemotherapy drug spend including identifying causes and potential impact of over-spend.

All staff will support their managers to make efficient and effective use of resources. All staff are responsible for identifying any actual or potential deviation from budgets and are to work with the budget holder or manager to find effective ways of handling it

All staff must ensure they use resources in a manner consistent with organisational objectives and policies, ensuring that resources are realistic, justified and of clear benefit to the organisation.

Administrative:

To ensure that all outpatient prescriptions for oral cancer drugs are submitted to the prescription pricing office in a timely manner.

To ensure that all requirements for monitoring of Patient Access Schemes is carried out.

To ensure that all monitoring and audit data for high risk drugs such as Thalidomide is carried out and submitted in a timely manner.

To ensure that an audit trail of protocol modifications is adhered to.

General Duties:

The provision of a high quality service, delivered in professional and courteous manner is

a requirement of all staff employed by the Pharmaceutical Service.

Promoting positive and effective communication within the Pharmacy Department.

To act as the Responsible Pharmacist in accordance with General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC), legislation and departmental SOP’s

Establish links with other pharmacists in order to share / learn from examples of best practice

To adhere to and ensure that all staff follow HSC and departmental Health and Safety, COSHH guidelines and departmental procedures

Undertake any other training and duties as required by the Head Pharmacist

To participate in the Saturday, pharmacy bank holiday, flexible working weekend and evening Rota’s, as required to meet the needs of the service

Receive, store and supply Controlled Drugs in accordance with the Misuse of Drugs Act

Contribute to the effectiveness of the pharmaceutical service by putting forward suggestions for innovation and development in professional, technical and managerial aspects of the work.

To participate and contribute to Patient Safety Meetings and where appropriate attend Clinical Risk Meetings

To practice at all times in accordance with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) code of ethics

To undertake any other duties of a similar nature when requested to by the Pharmacy Manager or their deputy.

To comply with the principles contained in the Data Protection Law 2001, concerning improper disclosure, misuse or breach of confidentiality in respect of information held on computer systems or otherwise.

Qualifications

Essential

• Pharmacy Degree
• Registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council
• Postgraduate diploma in clinical pharmacy / clinical oncology or equivalent experience
• Evidence of CPD

Desirable

• Independent Prescriber
• Management Qualification
• Evidence of training experience or qualification

Experience

Essential

• Hospital Clinical (preferably in the area of Oncology) or Technical Services experience
• Evidence of Multidisciplinary Team working
• Knowledge of Chemocare or other electronic Chemotherapy Prescribing System
• Change Management
• Managerial Skills:
• Team Leadership Experience
• Skills/Abilities/Knowledge:
• Good communication, verbal and written
• Good cancer clinical knowledge and ward based experience
• Ability to priortorise workload, delegate appropriately and manage time effectively
• Good IT skills - (Power point, Outlook, Word, Excel) and pharmacy computer systems such as JAC and Chemocare
• Good presentation and report writing skills
• Evidence of Strategic planning activity
• Deal calmly and appropriately with emotional situations relating to complaints and incidents
• Knowledge of GMP and GDP and current standards in the provision of Oncology and
• Aseptic Services
• Aptitudes:
• Acts on own initiative with the appropriate level of supervision
• Able to work under pressure and with variable demands whilst maintaining attention to detail and accuracy
• Able to motivate and lead a team
• Ability to foster good working relationships with service users
• Adaptable to change and ability to manage complex change issues
• Diplomatic
• Friendly

Desirable

• Oncology or Technical Services Experience greater than one year
• Experience in using Chemocare
• Managerial Skills:
• Experience in GMP audit process
• Knowledge of financial systems
• Skills/Abilities/Knowledge:
• Experience at writing Business Cases

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).