Specialist Medicines Information Pharmacist

Job overview

Are you an experienced mental health pharmacist looking to broaden your expertise & influence patient care at a strategic level?

We are seeking a motivated and clinically skilled pharmacist to join our Medicines Information team. This is an excellent opportunity to use your mental health pharmacy experience to support complex clinical decision-making across the Trust.

Working alongside the Lead Medicines Information Pharmacist, you will provide high-quality, evidence-based advice on medicines-related enquiries, supporting psychiatrists & multidisciplinary teams in making informed treatment decisions. Previous Medicines Information experience is desirable but not essential.

You will also contribute to clinical pharmacy services, formulary management, medicines optimisation & service development projects, with opportunities to broaden your skills through rotational work where available.

The role requires a strong foundation in hospital pharmacy practice, excellent clinical reasoning, problem-solving ability & effective written and verbal communication. Accurate documentation is essential, as responses will support future practice & less experienced colleagues.

This fixed-term post is ideal for a pharmacist with mental health experience who is keen to develop specialist Medicines Information expertise & make a wider impact on patient care and medicines governance. There is potential for the role to become permanent after 12 months.

Main duties of the job

• The role involves taking in enquiries, ensuring all relevant information has been gathered to answer the question(s) posed, then adding them onto our database to ensure good governance.
• Initial induction & training will be provided & supervised by the Lead MI Pharmacist with completion of logs to demonstrate competency & sign off before working independently.
• You'll support the development & update work of our Trust Formulary to ensure the rational use of medicines & protect against excessive expenditure on drugs
• Other Medicines Information duties including unlicensed medicine risk assessments preparation of informative Bulletins (including guidelines &medicines shortages memos) & attending meetings if needed to deputise for the Lead MI Pharmacist.
• Medicines information & wider work will involve use of specialist computer systems, including MiData bank, ePMA, RiO, Datix & ePACT analysis.
• You will support trainees & qualified pharmacy staff with their training needs & rotations through MI.
• You will report adverse drug reactions through Yellow Card Scheme.
• You will support the Lead MI Pharmacist in collating MI key performance indicators.
• You will ensure MI resources are maintained & up to date in line with UKMI recommendations.
• You will be required to cover inpatient wards by contributing to providing pharmacy support & participating in pharmacy departmental Emergency Duty Commitment and Late Duty rota.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The “must haves” for this role:

• Registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council as a Pharmacist
• Postgraduate clinical qualification and hospital experience to be considered for band 7
• Have a flexible approach to work in order to meet the developing needs of the pharmacy service

For further information about the role, please see attached job description and person specification. Your application is your opportunity to demonstrate to us how you meet the requirements of the role. We recognise that AI tools can support accessibility, equity and confidence for applicants. However, it’s important that examples and responses given in your supporting statement genuinely reflect your own experience and abilities, as these will be explored further during the selection process. AI must not be used to provide misleading or false information during any stage of the application journey.

In addition to explaining how you meet the person specification, you must complete your employment history for at least the last five years. Any experience, skills or responsibilities referenced in your supporting statement should be evidenced within your employment history. Applications that do not include sufficient employment history to support the experience claimed may not be shortlisted.

We’re committed to equal opportunities and welcome applications from all sections of the community. Our commitment to inclusion is reflected in our accreditations: Stonewall Proud Employer, Race Equality Matters Silver Trailblazer, Neurodiversity in Business Corporate Member, Disability Confident Leader, Carer Confident Level 2, and the Armed Forces Covenant Gold Award. Reasonable adjustments will be provided to candidates as needed.

We welcome a conversation about flexibility and any other questions you may have. Please don’t hesitate to contact Ozma Tahir, Deputy Chief Pharmacist, on ozma.tahir@berkshire.nhs.uk or on 07580737965 who’ll be delighted to help.

Please note, if we receive a high number of applications, we may close this role earlier than the advertised closing date, so please submit your application as soon as possible.

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.