Specialist Perinatal Pharmacist

Job Overview

An opportunity has arisen for a highly motivated pharmacist with good leadership skills to join the clinical mental health pharmacy team in Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster.

The role will require you to have knowledge with mental health medicines and provide support and supervision to Junior mental health pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to deliver a safe, effective and efficient service.

The CNWL pharmacy department has made significant developments including the implementation of an EPMA system and innovative clinical roles to improve medicines optimization across the Trust.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will have a leading role in delivering and supporting the provision of clinical pharmacy services to the transformed community mental health services.

• This will involve working with the multidisciplinary teams within the community services to provide high quality, professional and specialist input into the delivery of clinical pharmacy services.
• To liaise directly with GPs on specific prescribing/de-prescribing as appropriate.
• To work closely with relevant other community mental health teams and inpatient specialist clinical pharmacists to ensure that seamless pharmaceutical care is provided throughout each patient’s journey through the various Trust services.

Working for our organisation

The team consists of a Lead pharmacist, advanced specialist pharmacist for bedded services, specialist pharmacists and medicines optimisation pharmacy technicians

This post offers an excellent opportunity for a candidate with a keen interest in mental health to work in a highly skilled team that is well integrated with local health and social care services. You would provide input into policy and procedures affecting the use of pharmaceuticals at both local and Trust wide levels as well as be responsible for communicating and interpreting relevant CNWL Trust policies on medicines to directorate and local care quality group meetings.

You will be encouraged and supported in developing your skills to support the development of specialist pharmacists through supervision of their practice and have the opportunity to deputise for the lead pharmacist in her absence.

Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities

Main Responsibilities

Clinical Practice and Operational

• Ensure safe and appropriate use of medicines in order to maximise benefit and minimise risk to patients. This includes regular review of prescriptions, identification of significant drug interactions, advice for clinical monitoring, compliance with legal aspects (Medicines Act, Mental Health Act) of medicine supply and compliance with the Trust formulary.
• Be responsible for providing clinical pharmacy input to the community mental health teams, and to the multidisciplinary team caring for outpatients across the community and primary care setting interface.
• In conjunction with the Associate Chief Pharmacist and Lead Pharmacist, develops and implements a strategy to ensure best practice and cost-effective use of medicines, keeping it up to date as best practice changes.
• To ensure managed pharmacy staff members providing a service to CNWL have adequate competencies to deliver such service.
• Be responsible for providing a clinical pharmacy service to groups of patients with mental illness in the community and primary care setting:
  • Review prescriptions for accuracy and legality and identify actual or potential problems.
  • Ensure the effective supply of medicines is supplied by the inpatient bedded services, appropriately labelled for discharge and communicated to the community mental health teams and primary care practices.
  • Review medicines and provide medicines optimisation and rationalisation to reduce risks, promote safe prescribing.
  • Promote parity of esteem by undertaking clinical medication reviews for patients with complex issues, comorbidities, polypharmacy and ensure appropriate monitoring or tests are requested.
  • Ensure effective outcomes of treatment with medicines.
  • Monitor patients for potential and actual adverse effects of their medicines.
  • Take steps to ensure patients understand the purpose of their medicines and deal with any practical issues that may prevent the optimal use of their medicines.
  • Support the planning of patient discharge with respect to medication, transfer of stable patients to primary care, support recovery model of care and continuity.
  • Demonstrate professional accountability to patients.
• Work across traditional boundaries as part of a fully integrated multidisciplinary team in the community mental health and primary care settings.
• Manage and make appropriate referrals to other members of the multidisciplinary team and within the pharmacy department.
• Work with the Lead Pharmacist and service leads to review patient safety incidents relating to medicines and put systems in place to reduce the likelihood of recurrence.
• Works with the Lead Pharmacist on the implementation of national standards.
• To work closely with the KCW advanced specialist pharmacist for bedded services and provide support and cover during sickness/absence.
• Provide advice to clinicians on unlicensed medicines use and areas of practice where the evidence base is lacking and medical opinion may differ.
• Reduce risk associated with medicines use by contributing to the safe medication practice agenda. This will include identification and reporting of medicines related incidents, advising healthcare and associated staff on any unsafe practice. Support identification and reporting of medicines related incidents through CNWL or borough/PCN/ICB. To be involved in sharing and learning from medication safety incidents.
• Be able to critically appraise the literature and give accurate interpretation in order to improve use of medicines.
• To demonstrate expert clinical knowledge in the speciality of mental health pharmacy and to motivate and inspire others.
• Act as a clinical role model and demonstrate the ability to provide safe, clinically effective and cost-efficient use of medicines for junior pharmacists.
• Demonstrate innovation and extend the boundaries of the profession.
• The post holder will continually update their skills and knowledge as part of continuing professional development.
• Be familiar with the use of breakaway techniques.
• To ensure that the Clinical Services Lead and Chief Pharmacists are made aware of circumstances that may mitigate against safe standards of practice in the use of medication and advice on remedial action.
• To provide medicines information directly to clinical staff, both in response to specific information requests and through contributions to regular information bulletins.
• To lead on the provision of medicines information to ensure that patients are always fully updated with regard to the use of medication in the community.
• To set up medicines clinics for service users with complex issues, or have queries and concerns about their medicines, improve service users and carers satisfaction with the information they receive about the medicines.
• To work closely with relevant other community mental health teams and inpatient specialist clinical pharmacists to ensure that seamless pharmaceutical care is provided throughout each patient’s journey through the various Trust services.
• To liaise with community pharmacists and GP practices to ensure CNWL Trust patients receive the most appropriate supplies of medication, and where appropriate, facilitates further patient monitoring by the community pharmacist.
• To liaise directly with GPs on specific prescribing/de-prescribing as appropriate.
• To ensure that clinical activities are of the high standard expected of a specialist psychiatric pharmacist, in accordance with departmental and national standards.