Band 8A Senior Pharmacist - Acute Medicines (6-9 month contract)

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

For full job description please refer to the attachment enclosed

 1.    CLINICAL RESPONSIBILITIES

• To provide a high-quality clinical pharmacy service as part of the multidisciplinary team to medical patients, to ensure maximum efficacy, safety and economic drug use and to demonstrate professional accountability to enhance patient care.  The responsibilities will include:
• Regular attendance of consultant ward rounds and multidisciplinary team meetings.
• Demonstration of expert clinical knowledge
• Delivery of a high quality, specialist ward-based pharmacy service. This involves ensuring medicines reconciliation is conducted within the NICE recommended timelines, effective transfer of information across different care settings, and overseeing cost effective utilisation of medicines.
• To make clinical decisions where limited/conflicting information is available.
• Promotion of high quality and cost-effective prescribing.
• Making evidence-based decisions, in partnership with patients and other professionals within the specialist area.
• Liaising with other ward pharmacists to ensure continuity of medicines management, and to implement systems for the effective transfer of medicines between wards.
• Development and review of Patient Group Directions
• Development and review of Shared Care guidelines
• Implementation of relevant local and national guidelines within the specialist area
• Assist in the implementation and evaluation of Drug Usage Reviews and clinical audits and implement changes in prescribing practice accordingly.
• To liaise and work with other specialist pharmacists to share the best practice, to strengthen patient focused pharmaceutical care
• To ensure compliance with local policies including medicines policy, formulary and microbiology guidelines.  To challenge prescribing practices where necessary

2.    RESPONSIBILITY FOR PATIENTS

·        To assist in the planning and organising of a clinical pharmacy service to medical patients in both the inpatient and outpatient settings.

·        To qualify and practice as a supplementary/independent prescriber within a defined scope of practice within the specialist area to enhance patient care

·        To provide clinical screening and dispensing support to the Medicine pharmacy team and medical satellite to ensure the accurate and timely dispensing of prescriptions

·        To deal effectively with situations where medication errors have occurred, including liaising directly with patients and staff concerned.

·        Assist in responding to complaints from patients and the public in relation to medicines management issues as required.

·        To deliver a high quality and comprehensive medicines counselling service to patients and/or their relatives on all aspects of their pharmaceutical care including specialist and unlicensed drugs.  To overcome communication barriers using interpreters or other forms of communication.

3.    RESPONSIBILITY FOR POLICY AND SERVICE DEVELOPMENT

·        To assist in the production and implementation of business plans for the development of the pharmacy service provided to medicine

·        To assist in the formulation, prioritisation and implementation of long-term strategic plans for clinical pharmacy services in line with local, network and national objectives.

• Contribute to the development of and ensuring adherence to evidence based prescribing guidelines.
• Ensuring compliance with CQC medicine related outcomes, NICE appraisals and other government related initiatives
• To provide the Principal Pharmacist with details of output, performance and activity data for medicine
• To ensure that all pharmacy activities, procedures and documentation within the speciality are carried out in accordance with standard operating procedures and relevant medicines legislation
• To assist in the implementation of the Trust’s Clinical Governance agenda within Medicine
• To identify the risks of medicines used in the directorate and implement strategies to minimise them, working closely with the specialities’ Clinical Risk Management Committees.  Assist in the implementation of government led strategies to improve medication safety.

•     To assist in the management of changes in order to maximise patient care and to consider and act upon the implications of the change to other areas/personnel.

• To identify aspects of the service which would benefit from change, and apply QI methodology where appropriate in order to implement change

4.    RESPONSIBILITY FOR FINANCIAL AND PHYSICAL RESOURCES

To contribute to the management of the drug budget within the Medicine.  The responsibilities will include:

• Provision of detailed evaluated reports on drug expenditure to the Divisional Finance Manager, General Manager, and Clinical Head of Service
• Identify options for reducing drug expenditure in line with savings programmes
• Forecasting new drug developments and identify changes in prescribing practice that may impact on the speciality drugs budget.
• To ensure accurate input of data on PhRED of all patients receiving high-cost drugs to monitor usage and ensure funding is in place to reduce financial risk
• Interpreting published data on new drugs for use within medicine / medical specialities and to prepare evaluations and present applications to the Drug and Therapeutics Committee.  To communicate relevant decisions back to the specialty care group.
• To provide advice on high-cost drugs to facilitate the seamless transition of patient care between primary and secondary sectors, by liaising with consultants, Service Performance and Primary Healthcare Professionals.
• To act as key liaison for homecare medicines within the specialist area

5.    RESPONSIBILITY FOR LEADING AND MANAGING

·        To assist with the day-to-day management of the pharmacy service provided to the medical wards including allocation of workload, dealing with sickness, prioritising discharges

·        To share expertise with healthcare professionals on a nationwide level through professional conferences, forum and bodies.

·        To manage and support the development of Band 7 Senior Pharmacists, band 6 rotational pharmacists and pre-registration pharmacists rotating through medicine.

·        To support and facilitate the development of junior pharmacists and pharmacy technicians

·        To deputise for the Principal Pharmacist – Medicine in his/her absence.

·        To assist in the management of changes in order to maximise patient care and to consider and act upon the implications of the change to other areas/personnel. 

·        To manage difficult and ambiguous situations and be aware of ethical dilemmas that may present in patient care and provide support and guidance to colleagues in any decision-making process.

·        To participate in recruitment and selection

·        To contribute to the implementation of the risk management and Trust Clinical Governance agenda within the directorate.

·        To identify the risks of medicines, use in the directorate and implement strategies to minimise them, working closely with the specialities clinical risk management committee.

·        To attend and be active participant in relevant clinical and managerial groups divisionally, corporately and externally, in order to ensure the delivery of best care to patients. This may include presenting data / guidelines that may be controversial / likely to be challenged

·        To represent pharmacy and act as link person at relevant meetings and conferences and disseminate knowledge of developments to other staff.

·        To share expertise with healthcare professionals on a nationwide level through professional conferences, forum and bodies.

6.    EDUCATIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

• To act as a resource for Medicine issues across the trust and community where appropriate.
• To provide clinical supervision and support junior members of the pharmacy team
• To participate in the development of clinical based pharmacy training programmes
• To contribute to the departmental appraisal and development programme for junior pharmacists and technicians.  This includes:
  • Provision and evaluation of the induction and competency-based training of junior pharmacy staff and pharmacy technicians
  • Participating in the departmental teaching commitments
  • Acting as a tutor for diploma students
  • Acting as a tutor for pre-registration trainee pharmacists
  • To facilitate pre-registration trainee pharmacist projects
• To contribute to the education and training of pharmacy, medical, nursing staff and other healthcare workers.