About this role
Job summary
An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced mental health pharmacist to join our dynamic, innovative team who are dedicated to improving our services across the Trust, by leading the Bethlem Royal Hospital (BRH) pharmacist team across both inpatient and community services.
We are looking for someone with experience and with natural leadership qualities. Your role will involve delivering best outcomes for patients with a focus on preventing hospital admissions both for mental and physical ill health, improved medicines management and communication, particularly during transfer of care and high quality, evidence-based medicines use.
You must have excellent communication skills and be able to influence prescribing and medicines practice at a high level. You must be able to collect, analyse and report on data in a meaningful way to gain co-operation from stakeholders and present your work at Trust meetings in a confident, friendly and enthusiastic manner.
Main duties of the job
As the principal pharmacist and site lead for BRH you will be working closely with experienced and novice clinicians to ensure safe, effective and cost-effective use of medicines. You will be providing line-management and supervision to a team of pharmacists across the boroughs.
You will make recommendations for initiating, changing and stopping medications, including where appropriate, that clozapine and antipsychotic long-acting injections are offered early in the treatment journey. You will consult with patients and their carers to ensure they receive expert advice on their medicines and are supported to manage their medicines.
You will work closely with teams, managers, and service directors to implement sustainable processes to ensure positive outcomes for patients and their carers.
We expect you to have a good knowledge of psychotropic medications and the ability to independently make appropriate decisions about treatment options. You should be able to communicate clinical information effectively and be able to influence prescribing practices in your boroughs. We expect that you would manage your own time and work schedule effectively.
About us
South London and the Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust provides the widest range of NHS mental health services in the UK. We are a world leading Trust in research, working closely with the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King's College London. We are also part of King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre.
We are a large pharmacy department providing mental health pharmacy services to the Maudsley, Lambeth, Lewisham, and Bethlem Royal Hospitals and to psychiatric liaison, Home Treatment and community teams in the areas we serve in South London. We are the national medicines information centre for psychotropic medicines and have an established clinical trials unit. We provide training for undergraduate, pre-registration and post graduate pharmacists.
Career Progression pathways and development opportunities:
We are committed to get the very best out of our staff and support staff in their career aspirations. We have career pathways available, where you will be able to develop your skills and build on your experience to progress into other roles across different specialties. This role will help you in your development towards advanced clinical practice and consultant pharmacist potential. There are opportunities to become involved in research and quality improvement.
Job description Job responsibilities
1. To lead, develop and evaluate clinical pharmacy services provided by South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLAM) in the London Borough of Croydon.
2. To professionally manage pharmacists in the inpatient services at BRH and the community mental health teams in Croydon.
3. To provide expert level advice on pharmaceutical matters to SLAM, Kings Health Partners and local ICBs.
4. To represent pharmacy at the SLAM Croydon directorate meetings.
5. To provide an analysis of medicines spend for Croydon services.
6. To be a role model in pharmacy mental health services.
7. To deputise for the Director of Pharmacy.
8. To be willing to participate in weekend, Bank Holiday and on call rotas if required.
Person Specification
Qualifications Essential
B. Pharm / M. Pharm / BSc (Pharmacy) or equivalent Professional registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) with mandatory CPD to maintain fitness to practice Postgraduate Diploma in either Clinical Pharmacy or General Pharmacy Practice (or equivalent)
Desirable
Independent Prescriber qualification Member of the College of Mental Health Pharmacist Member of RPS faculty Other post graduate qualifications. Relevant to Pharmacy (e.g.) Management or E & T
Experience Essential
Relevant experience in providing clinical mental health services in an NHS hospital pharmacy Demonstrable experience of clinical supervision Demonstrable experience of managing staff or team Demonstrable experience of co-ordinating and leading on clinical audit
Desirable
Experience in delivering formal education and training Evidence of research and publication
Knowledge and skills Essential
Ability to work on own initiative and effectively as part of a team both within pharmacy and a multidisciplinary environment. Ability to contribute to the planning of service developments within a department Demonstrate ability to communicate complex information effectively using clear written and spoken English and overcome barriers to understanding Self-motivation and the ability to motivate others Clinical reasoning and judgement and ability to influence junior medical staff
Personal Qualities Essential
Committed to own continuing professional development and maintaining a CPD portfolio Demonstrable willingness to learn and develop new skills Ability to cope with challenges and change
Disclosure and Barring Service Check This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Certificate of Sponsorship Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Employer details Employer name South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
Address Bethlem Royal Hospital
Monks Orchard Road
Beckenham
BR3 3BX
Employer's website https://www.slam.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)