Pharmacist - Rheumatology

East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust; Lancashire; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust is seeking an experienced pharmacist to lead and develop the rheumatology pharmacy service. The post focuses on delivering advanced pharmaceutical care, including independent prescribing and clinic development, across rheumatology and related domains.

You will work within a multidisciplinary team to optimise patient outcomes, monitor drug expenditure, support policy implementation, and mentor staff while maintaining high clinical standards.

Qualifications

• MPharm degree and GPhC registration
• Postgraduate clinical qualification/diploma
• Non-medical Prescriber on appointment
• Evidence of CPD
• Hospital pharmacy experience with rheumatology preferred

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop advanced specialist pharmaceutical care within rheumatology, ensuring safe, effective and cost-efficient medicine use.
• Provide specialist pharmaceutical advice and manage a defined patient caseload as an independent prescriber.
• Develop pharmacist-led rheumatology clinics and support transfer of care information and follow up.
• Monitor drug expenditure, including high-cost biologics and biosimilars, and contribute to policy development and quality improvement.

Job description

This position offers a wealth of unique clinical and professional development opportunities within the both the Rheumatology and Pharmacy Department. The successful candidate will play a pivotal role in delivering exceptional pharmaceutical care and services, working collaboratively within a multi-disciplinary team to support optimal patient outcomes. You will:

• Work as an integral member of the multi-disciplinary team to provide specialist clinical pharmacy support to the Rheumatology service.
• Be responsible for leading and developing the clinical pharmacy service to the Medicines and Emergency Care (MEC) Division in accordance with the objectives set by the Divisional Lead Pharmacist, with particular emphasis on the Rheumatology Directorate.
• Provide highly specialised advice in all pharmaceutical matters.
• Work as an independent prescriber managing a defined patient caseload within Rheumatology.
• Ensure that medicine use within the Rheumatology speciality is safe, effective and cost effective.
• Work with the homecare pharmacy team to ensure appropriate use of homecare medicine supply.
• Monitor and provide comment on drug expenditure as required e.g in relation to high cost (biologics and biosimilars) and the introduction of new therapeutic agents.

Main duties of the job Lead and deliver an advanced specialist pharmaceutical care service to patients within the rheumatology service, in accordance with the priorities set by the post-holder and the Clinical Lead Pharmacist, in order to ensure, safe, clinically effective and cost-efficient use of medicines and taking into account national and corporate priorities. Lead the development of the Rheumatology pharmacy service including; setting up and delivering pharmacist-led rheumatology clinics, providing patient education on systemic treatments for rheumatology and initiate appropriate medication and associated monitoring ensuring accurate transfer of care information and follow up. Maintain clinical competencies and support the Clinical Pharmacy team by working on in-patient wards or the dispensary.

In addition, you will be required to:

• Assist in the development of relevant policies, guidelines and pathways.
• Monitor compliance with NICE guidance and TAs, and other nationally and locally agreed guidelines, pathways and audits.
• Work with the homecare pharmacist to incorporate relevant treatments or undertake medicine switches.
• Proactively undertake quality improvement and/or research.

Qualifications

• MPharm Degree (4 years) or equivalent
• Member GPhC
• Postgraduate clinical diploma/qualification (or equivalent NHS hospital experience)
• Non-medical Prescriber (to be undertaken on appointment if not already a registered NMP)
• Evidence of CPD

Desirable criteria

• Postgraduate qualification in rheumatology
• Membership of the Royal College of Pharmacy (prev. Royal Pharmaceutical Society), Ability to provide a high level of pharmaceutical care within a specialism
• Ability to holistically and critically analyse prescriptions and treatment plans
• Advanced clinical assessment skills
• Ability to work on own initiative or as part of a multi-disciplinary team
• Ability to work under pressure
• Ability to supervise / mentor staff and support others
• Good time management, ability to prioritise and evaluate appropriately
• Computer skills
• Aware of limitations, Relevant post-registration hospital pharmacy experience
• Thorough knowledge of care boundary issues and medication commissioning
• Clinical experience in rheumatology and of delivering clinical pharmacy services
• Experience of initiating, leading and managing a range of projects
• Experience of budgetary management and financial control
• Experience of managing and motivating staff, appraising and giving feedback
• Experience of audit and quality improvement
• Ability to work in a busy environment with daily contact with patients

Desirable criteria

• Experience of teaching or tutoring
• Experience of research practice

JudgementEssential criteria

• Intuition - anticipate difficulties and take appropriate action
• Knows when to consult (own limitations)
• Reflects on own practice and learns from experience, Excellent oral communication skills
• Able to provide written information in a concise readable manner for patients and colleagues
• Formal presentation skillsExcellent report writing skills
• Facilitating and negotiating skills
• Able to build effective working relationships with a range of stakeholders, Self-motivated
• Articulate
• Willing to adapt to change and learn new systems
• Innovative
• Organised and methodical approach to work
• Have integrity in all aspects of work
• Committed to providing a high quality pharmacy service, Flexible and adaptive approach, You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

At East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust our vision is to be widely recognised for providing safe, personal and effective care. We currently provide high quality services and treat over 600,000 people across East Lancashire and the surrounding area. We employ over 9,500 staff, many of whom are internationally renowned and have won awards for their work., East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust aims to deliver the highest quality care to its patients. We employ dedicated staff, some of which have won awards for their work and are internationally renowned.

Whilst being spread across sites and having a large number of staff we are very welcoming to all and have many assistants, technicians and pharmacists who have worked and progressed with us for very many years. We have strong links with our local universities with three teacher practitioners who support junior pharmacists and provide teaching to medical and pharmacy undergraduates. We have highly specialist pharmacists working within other clinical areas e.g Homecare and Medicines Information and those who deliver clinics for Cardiology, Dermatology and Paediatrics. We are keen to support the professional development of our staff and look to the future of Consultant Pharmacist roles at the Trust. It is a challenging time for all in the NHS, but at East Lancashire Teaching Hospitals you be given support, mentorship, autonomy and the Pharmacy Management Team will work hard to ensure that you reach and maintain your potential whilst having a rewarding and fulfilled career.

The Trust is an equal opportunities employer, committed to improving the working lives of our staff and operates a 'Zero Tolerance' policy to aggression, violence, bullying and harassment. In addition, our aim is to help protect children and vulnerable adults by providing a first-class service to the recruitment of people into positions of trust. We aim to employ a workforce that reflects the diverse communities we serve. We welcome applications from everyone irrespective of ethnic origin, gender, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, marital status, disability or social background. We especially welcome applications from members of our black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities, as we have identified that ELHT has an under-representation of BAME employees. Appointments will be made on merit.