Clinical Commissioning, Medicines Access & Assurance Pharmacist

Job overview

Come and join University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust as a Clinical Commissioning, Medicines Access and Assurance Pharmacist.

This vital role involves managing high-cost drugs, implementing NICE technology appraisals, and providing expert pharmaceutical advice to commissioners and clinical teams.

You will play a key part in horizon scanning for new medicines, managing their introduction across the LLR community, and overseeing the UHL homecare programme. This position requires strong leadership, analytical skills, and a commitment to optimising medicines use and ensuring patient access to appropriate treatments.

You will contribute to strategic planning, financial reporting, and the development of robust commissioning arrangements. Flexibility to work across multiple sites and participate in rotas, including evenings, weekends, and on-call, is required.

Main duties of the job

• Managing approval, use, and audit of high-cost drugs (excluded from tariff), ensuring NICE guideline implementation.
• Advising planners, commissioners, and UHL Clinical Management Groups on financial and implementation aspects of NICE Technology Appraisal Guidance.
• Liaising with NHSE Specialised Commissioning or LLR ICB for high-cost/specialist medicines during business planning and contracting.
• Interpreting and implementing NHSE/ICB policies for specialist High Cost Drugs, NICE Technology Appraisals, and FOC medicines schemes within UHL.
• Horizon scanning for new medicines, assessing LLR community impact, and managing their introduction, including integrating NICE Technology Appraisals into the Leicestershire Medicines Formulary.
• Contributing to medicines optimisation and safety oversight within UHL (e.g., guidelines, shortages).
• Developing systems for identifying/reviewing NICE Guidance and High Cost Therapies, evaluating financial impact, and preparing summaries for commissioners.
• Contributing to annual budget setting for high-cost drugs and monitoring UHL expenditure.
• Developing annual commissioning intentions with NHSE Midlands Regional Pharmacy Lead Specialist Commissioning and UHL Deputy/Associate Chief Pharmacist for drugs excluded from the national tariff.
• Implementing and developing processes for authorising use of high-cost/out-of-tariff medicines, implementing the Blueteq system, and auditing their use.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Strategy and Planning

• Lead on the development of effective systems for identifying and reviewing impending NICE Guidance and High Cost Therapies (NICE/HCTs) at UHL for their onward LLR commissioning services at UHL.
• Evaluate NICE/HCTs recommendations and to identify the financial impact of such recommendations with NHSE specialist commissioning services at UHL.
• Prepare summary documents of NICE/HCTs, to include provisional details where applicable, in respect of population sizes and costs per capita, for presentation to NHSE specialist commissioners.
• Contribute to the agreement and development of patient-specific selection criteria for use of all current and impending NICE and non-NICE tariff-excluded high-cost medicines.
• Implement and develop a process to identify and where appropriate authorise Trust use of high cost and out of tariff medicines, for individual patients meeting agreed criteria.
• Work with relevant clinicians to ensure that the Blueteq system for prior approval of drugs is implemented according to the timescales required by NHSE.
• Ensure that there are effective monitoring arrangements are in place for out of tariff and high cost medicines and that appropriate audits and data analysis of use against agreed criteria are undertaken. Provide professional expert advice to commissioners, finance and public health.
• To work with the NHSE Midlands Regional Pharmacy Lead Specialist Commissioning and the UHL Deputy/ Associate Chief Pharmacist, leading on the development of annual commissioning intentions for drugs excluded from the national tariff under PbR at UHL, ensuring that arrangements are explicit and evidence based, and that funding decisions are timely, consistent and in line with commissioning intent bids.
• To work with the NHSE Midlands Regional Pharmacy Lead Specialist Commissioning and LLR ICS leads in the development of QI/ Cost improvement projects and reporting of improvements and savings.
• Contribute to the implementation and support of NHSE CQUINs or medicines value schemes relating to High Cost Drugs.
• Contribute to the implementation of the ICB prescribing and medicines management strategy in relation to interface and pharmaceutical comissioning issues.
• Facilitate and contribute to annual budget setting process for high cost drugs, including organising NHSE or ICB Confirm and Challenge meetings for budget setting.
• Assist in monitoring the implementation and adherence of prescribing and medicines management recommendations in national guidelines and policies across the interface.  Provide expert advice when required.
• Support the development of robust contracting arrangements with secondary/tertiary care to promote rational, quality and cost effective prescribing.
• Manage the introduction of new drugs into the LLR Health Community
• Provide strategic level advice on drugs close to launch and national guidance with major financial implications to inform the annual budget setting round. Chair the LLR Horizon scanning group and adapt this information for LLR use.
• Develop a robust process and work / liaise with budget holders across all CMGs at UHL and with LLR Area Prescribing Committee to ensure funding is in place before introduction for both in tariff and excluded to tariff drugs.
• Provide strategic and governance oversight of the UHL homecare processes
• Contribute to implementation and maintenance of systems to ensure that medicines shortages are identified in a timely manner and mitigation plans are developed as needed.  Support ongoing oversight of shortages and liaise with CMG lead pharmacists to ensure mitigation plans are effective.

Performance, Risk Management, Audit, Education and Training

• To contribute to and support the clinical audit activity undertaken by UHL in compliance with NICE recommendations.
• To provide an annual report of work undertaken for presentation to UHL and the commissioners.

Leadership and Management

• To liaise with UHL to ensure that commissioning intentions are appropriately prioritised and incorporated into clinical programmes.
• Establish and maintain an effective working relationship with secondary care colleagues in order to influence their behaviour and assist in the delivery of the primary care prescribing and medicines management strategy.
• Provide line management for the UHL lead homecare pharmacist; direct the work of the High Cost Drugs lead pharmacy Technician and other staff working in the HCD field within UHL.
• Work with the Interface pharmacist and CMG lead pharmacists and others to ensure UHL and LLR guidelines are developed and updated in a timely manner

Specialist Clinical Responsibility

• To undertake horizon scanning for new medicines and highlight the implications for the acute Trust commissioning terms.
• To support acute Trust clinicians with applications to the appropriate Appeals Panel when funding decisions are disputed.
• Participate in and contribute to the ICB process for implementation of NICE guidance, ensuring the ICB commissioning intentions accurately reflect the requirements of NICE.
• To provide clinical pharmaceutical advice to prescribers, healthcare professionals and other staff in response to queries related to NICE and other high cost and tariff excluded drugs.
• To undertake monthly monitoring of UHL expenditure against plan with formal reporting back to NHSE of position against plan.
• To provide response to monthly queries from NHSE.
• To support acute Trust clinicians with NHSE Individual Funding Requests (IFRs

Financial Responsibility

• To liaise with UHL pharmacy and finance staff, carrying out regular reviews, to verify that monthly reporting of recharges is accurate and reflects approved uses for NHSE /ICS patients.
• To develop further the monthly financial reporting system for the NHSE
• To identify the financial impact of the above recommendations within both the acute Trust and the NHSE.
• To support UHL Clinical Management Groups in identification of annual cost pressure data related to high cost specialist medicines.
• To support UHL Clinical Management Groups in preparation of business cases to obtain funding for new high cost medicines and protocols.