Medicines Safety Officer and Learning Disability Pharmacist

Job overview

We are seeking an inspiring and dynamic pharmacist to join our  pharmacy team for a fixed term of 1 year with a split position as the Medicines Safety Officer and the lead pharmacist for the learning disability services. The role will deputise for the Pharmacist Team Manager for Education, Training and Governance. This post would suit an experienced pharmacist with uncompromising standards who will strive to make a deep footprint on quality of care we provide to our patients. The post is based in Chelmsford but will support staff and services across the Trust.

They will be highly visible actively modelling best practice to and coaching our pharmacy teams to ensure that our patients consistently receive the best pharmaceutical care. Working with our senior departmental team of specialists and within the wider Trust, you will set the professional standard and develop our pharmacy team members to achieve their best, and make the transition to the next level of their careers. The role is full time (37.5 hours per week), including participation in on-call, weekend, early, late and Bank Holiday rotas, as necessary.

Main duties of the job

The successful candidate will exemplify EPUT values of we care, we learn and we empower, and demonstrate the ability to create a high-performing team from the outset. You might not be conventional in your approach, but kindness and empathetic leadership are a must, as is the ability to see the bigger picture and help take our team in this direction. This is an ideal opportunity for someone who is committed to driving improvements, and whose passion for patient care is infectious. You should have a Master’s Degree in Pharmacy or equivalent, be registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council and be able to demonstrate evidence of postgraduate training and continuing professional development in clinical pharmacy practice. Whilst ideally this would be in mental health, this post is first and foremost about operational delivery of Great Care – your transferrable skills means you will have what it takes to do what it takes. Experience in mentoring and line managing teams with energy and enthusiasm are vital ingredients, and anyone with a track record of similar in a non-specialist trust is encouraged to apply.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• The role requires a competent professional with the clinical and leadership skills needed to manage the pharmacy services for learning disability and medicines safety
• The post-holder will provide professional leadership for a specific aspect of pharmacy services and work collaboratively, as part of the Trust’s pharmacy senior management team, to ensure that service needs are met across all geographic and functional areas of mental health services. They will work with clinical and operational leaders outside the department in their specific area of clinical and/or operational practice.
• The post-holder will support the Chief Pharmacist and Deputy Chief Pharmacist in the delivery of the vision and priorities for the pharmacy department and work alongside colleagues to ensure patient centred services are provided by a competent and flexible pharmacy workforce. They will promote the safe use of medicines across the Trust.
• To actively contribute to, and participate in, the provision and development of pharmaceutical services within the Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, as part of the Trust’s pharmacy and medicines management team.
• To promote the safe use of medicines across the Trust, be the named designated Medication Safety Officer on behalf of the Chief Pharmacist, and be an active member of the local and national Medication Safety Networks.
• To organise and manage the activities of pharmacy staff providing services to learning disability services and act as the first point of contact with operational management for these services.
• To provide support to the Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust Business Unit in relation to learning disability services on medicines optimisation issues.
• To take responsibility for reviewing all medication incidents to ensure data quality for local and national learning.
• Investigate medication incidents, and improve the reporting and learning from these incidents.
• Use incident reports, clinical audits and other local intelligence to identify trends and themes in the medication incidents that occur in the organisation.
• To deputise for the Deputy Chief Pharmacist as required.
• To lead the development and delivery of trust-wide initiatives and projects relating to medicines management as requested by the Deputy Chief Pharmacist or Chief Pharmacist.
• To work collaboratively with pharmacy colleagues to ensure that the needs of the organisation can be met, including participating in patient-facing clinical pharmacy services, in response to service demand.
• To support and participate in clinical audit, in particularly those related to medicines safety.