Specialist Pharmacist - Children's Services

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Respond to medicines information enquiries, providing specialist pharmacy advice to services within the portfolio, supporting safe and effective and evidence-based use of medicines. community and clinic settings, including hospice and respite services.

Advise on safe and appropriate prescribing, transcribing, handling, storage, administration and supply of medicines, including injectable medicines.

Support medicines optimisation at interfaces of care, including discharge, respite admissions and shared care arrangements with primary and secondary care.

Promote a culture of patient-centred care.

Ensure the effective and appropriate supply of medicines relevant to the speciality, including supporting advising on alternative treatments when choices are unavailable or unsuitable and the safe introduction of these.

Contribute to actively identifying, developing and implementing innovations and service improvements in order to optimise the quality of patient care and the effective use of medicines, and work with the Pharmacy Team, other corporate colleagues, and medical and nursing staff to support programmes of work identified by the Trust.

If you have a non-medical prescribing qualification, you may be expected to practice as a prescriber as part of this role, within scope of practice and as agreed.

Communicate accurate and precise complex and specialist pharmaceutical information, recommendations and advice effectively using written and/or verbal methods as appropriate.

Act as first point of contact for to staff of all disciplines within portfolio services.

Support the development of patient-specific written information, such as Patient Information Leaflets, covering relevant topics.

Support the provision of written and verbal information to patients and carers/relatives appropriate to the situation and patient understanding, to enable them to make informed decisions about their treatment and to encourage them to actively participate in the decision-making process.

Be an active member of the Trust’s Pharmacy Team, contributing to the debates and providing constructive feedback and challenge where appropriate.

Contribute to supervision and development of junior pharmacy staff, trainees and students as required.

Participate in the development and delivery of education and training to multidisciplinary colleagues across Children’s Services on medicines-related topics.

Contribute to the development, review and implementation of specialty-related medicines management policies, PGDs, Standard Operating Procedures and clinical guidelines in line with best practice and current medicines legislation.

Contribute to identifying, developing and implementing the Trust’s medicines management audit protocols and the annual audit plan. 

Undertake audit and service evaluation to ensure safe and effective medicines use, producing reports and supporting implementation of actions.

Participate in clinical and safeguarding audits and supervision as required.

Provide patients and their families/carers with information on standards they should expect from the team.

Support the quality and cost effectiveness of anti-infective prescribing in line with the Trust’s antimicrobial strategy.

Demonstrate awareness of, and commitment to, the Trust’s Clinical Governance Agenda and contribute to this by promoting medicines optimisation in relevant areas of practice.

Contribute to the monitoring, reporting and investigation of medicine-related incidents, including Serious Incidents, adverse drug reactions, and complaints, and participate in root cause analysis when appropriate.

Contribute to risk identification and management to promote safe practice in the storage, prescribing, transcribing, supply, administration and disposal of medicines.

Undertake mandatory training and any other training relevant to the role as required by East of England Community Health and Care NHS Trust.

Adhere to the Trust risk assessment and risk management processes.

Be competent in the management of under 18-year-olds and vulnerable adults working within Fraser Guidelines and mental capacity assessments and liaising with the multi-disciplinary team and CCS and local safeguarding teams/services as appropriate.

Contribute to the oversight and monitoring of drug expenditure within the portfolio and identify strategies to reduce waste, tackle inappropriate prescribing and improve cost-effective use of medicines.

Advise on appropriate use of prescribing resources and initiatives to increase cost effectiveness of their use by encouraging adherence to formulary, use of generic medicines and implementation of national guidance.

Contribute to the financial delivery and sustainability of the service objectives.