Medication Safety Specialist Pharmacist

King's College Hospital; Ilford; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading NHS hospital in England is seeking an experienced pharmacist to join the Medication Safety Team. The role involves leading medication safety initiatives, providing expertise in safe medication use, and delivering training to professionals across the Trust. The ideal candidate will have strong communication skills, a Master’s degree in Pharmacy, and a proven dedication to patient safety. This opportunity allows you to make a significant impact in improving medication practices in a dynamic healthcare environment.

Benefits

Opportunities for professional development

Collaborative work environment

Involvement in patient safety initiatives

Qualifications

• Registered Pharmacist with competency assessed and examined registration.
• Experience and/or willingness to develop skills in human factors ergonomics.
• Mandatory CPD to maintain fitness to practice.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop the Trust's Medication Safety agenda.
• Promote and facilitate safe medication use.
• Provide education and training to healthcare professionals.

Skills

Empathy

Communication skills

Collaboration skills

Digital literacy

Agility

Education

Masters degree in Pharmacy (MPharm)

Postgraduate Diploma in Pharmacy Practice

Job description

Many opportunities are available for personal and professional development as you will work with colleagues and patients across the Trust to develop and implement improvement initiatives and provide risk and safety expertise. There will also be opportunity to develop and implement Trust policies and guidelines, promote safe medicines use and practice and represent the Medication Safety and Pharmacy teams locally, regionally and nationally. Main duties of the job The post holder will work as part of the multidisciplinary Medication Safety Team to lead, provide and develop specialist Medication Safety services to the Trust.

Responsibilities

• To take a leadership role in developing, delivering and monitoring the Trust's Medication Safety agenda.
• To act as a specialist role‑model and provide expertise in Medication Safety across the Trust.
• To promote and facilitate safe medication use and practice.
• To develop, assess and monitor the implementation of local and national safety guidance.
• To implement change to reduce the risk of preventable harm caused by medications.
• To facilitate learning from patient safety insights including by coordinating and leading responses to safety events.
• To promote and drive a positive safety culture with regard to medicines use and practice.
• To provide education and training to healthcare professionals within and outside the Trust.
• To participate in practice and clinical research and audit.

To find out more about the key roles and responsibilities, specific skills and expertise required; please refer to the Job Description and Person Specification attachment under the supporting documents heading.

We are seeking a motivated and experienced pharmacist who is passionate about patient safety to join the King's Medication Safety Team. This is a fantastic opportunity to deliver local and national medication safety priorities across the organisation working in our team of pharmacist and nurse medication safety specialists. Our team is at the centre of the patient safety and digital medicines management work happening in the Trust right now.

Key Qualities Required

• Empathy and curiosity
• Great communication and collaboration skills
• Understanding the NHS Patient Safety Strategy and practical experience of the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework
• Experience and/or ready to further develop skills in human factors ergonomics, improvement and implementation sciences and project management
• Digital literacy and data management skills
• Ability to be agile to adapt to changing priorities, partnerships and demands, Masters degree in Pharmacy (MPharm)
• Registered Pharmacist (1 year competency assessed and examined professional registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council)
• Mandatory CPD to maintain fitness to practice.
• Postgraduate Diploma in Pharmacy Practice or equivalent qualification

Desirable

• Registered Independent Prescriber or willingness to complete
• Completed NHSE Patient Safety Syllabus Modules 3 and 4 or equivalent healthcare human factor ergonomics training
• Project management or quality improvement qualification, Specialist clinical knowledge and skills relevant to area of practice
• Experience of protocol / guideline development
• Demonstrates an advanced level of reasoning & judgment
• Demonstrates awareness of and commitment to the clinical governance agenda particularly as it relates to patient safety
• Substantial relevant post registration experience in acute NHS hospital pharmacy

Desirable

• Demonstration of advanced practice using evidence mapped to the RPS Core Advanced Practice Curriculum
• Experience of leading change in the NHS

Skills and Competencies Essential

• Specialist competencies in area relevant to practice
• Be able to provide highly complex information on patient safety, medicines use, clinical pharmacy and financial issues and impart knowledge to all levels of healthcare professionals (up to and including senior consultants, professor and executive director level)
• Be able to provide highly complex information on patient safety, medicines use and financial issues to multidisciplinary groups involving staff outside of Pharmacy (e.g. Medication safety committee, DTC, Non‑Medical Prescribing Group, Divisional Management Teams, Clinical Effectiveness)
• Be able to analyse highly complex information relating to patient safety and medication safety
• Be able to triangulate safety data and insights from multiple sources, determine local relevance or implications and to identify patterns, trends and themes

Desirable

• Able to participate in on‑call service and during times of recalls and safety event management

Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust’s strategy of Strong Roots, Global Reach is our Vision to be BOLD: Brilliant people, Outstanding care, Leaders in Research, Innovation and Education, Diversity, Equality and Inclusion at the heart of everything we do. By being person‑centred, digitally-enabled, and focused on sustainability, we aim to take Team King’s to another level.

We are at a pivotal point in our history and we require individuals who are ready to join a highly professional team and make a real, lasting difference to our patients and our people. King’s is committed to delivering Sustainable Healthcare for All via our Green Plan. In line with national Greener NHS ambitions, we have set net zero carbon targets of 2040 for our NHS Carbon Footprint and 2045 for our NHS Carbon Footprint Plus. Everyone’s contribution is required in order to meet the goals set out in our Green Plan and we encourage all staff to work responsibly, minimising their contributions to the Trust’s carbon emissions, waste and pollution wherever possible.