Principal Pharmacist

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust; Lewisham; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading NHS mental health service provider in Lewisham is seeking an experienced mental health pharmacist for a fixed term maternity cover. The role requires strong leadership in managing pharmacy services, ensuring optimal medication usage, and collaborating with clinical teams. Candidates should possess relevant qualifications and experience in mental health services to enhance patient care and support their treatment pathways. This role offers excellent opportunities for professional development within a supportive environment.

Benefits

Professional development opportunities

Strong support for career progression

Experience in a leading research environment

Qualifications

• Relevant experience in providing clinical mental health services in an NHS hospital pharmacy.
• Demonstrable experience of clinical supervision.
• Experience managing staff or team.

Responsibilities

• Lead and evaluate clinical pharmacy services in Lewisham.
• Manage pharmacists in inpatient services.
• Provide expert advice on pharmaceutical matters.

Skills

Clinical reasoning

Communication skills

Leadership qualities

Data analysis

Team collaboration

Education

B. Pharm / M. Pharm / BSc (Pharmacy) or equivalent

Registration with General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC)

Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Pharmacy

Job description

Job overview

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 Lewisham pharmacist team across both inpatient and community services.

This position is a fixed term maternity cover for up to 12 months.

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 for Lewisham and site lead for the Ladywell inpatient unit, 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 borough.

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.

Working for our organisation

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.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• To lead, develop and evaluate clinical pharmacy services provided by South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLAM) in the London Borough of Lewisham
• To professionally manage pharmacists in the inpatient services at Ladywell and the community mental health teams in Lewisham
• To provide expert level advice on pharmaceutical matters to SLAM, Kings Health Partners and local ICBs.
• To represent pharmacy at the SLAM Lewisham directorate meetings.
• To provide an analysis of medicines spend for Lewisham services
• To be a role model in pharmacy mental health services.
• To deputise for the Director of Pharmacy.
• To be willing to participate in weekend, Bank Holiday and on call rotas if required.

Person specification

Qualifications

Eligibility

• 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 qualifications

• 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