Specialist Clinical Pharmacist (XR07) in Leeds

An opportunity has arisen for a dedicated and motivated pharmacist to join the Cancer Services Pharmacy Team at Leeds Teaching Hospitals as a Specialist Clinical Pharmacist in cancer services - oncology. As a tertiary specialist centre, we support the care of patients with a wide variety of oncological malignancies in both Leeds and the wider Yorkshire area. We are a vital part of the multi-disciplinary team looking after specialist groups of patients at all stages of their treatment. We are looking for someone who can manage a dynamic and changing workload to develop and manage cancer service core duties as well as learning and supporting disease specific tumour sites; to ensure a safe, efficient, effective and positive service for our oncology patients. Full training would be provided to the new post holder as well as support to attain a competency in the validation of oncology related systemic anti-cancer therapy (SACT) utilising our comprehensive and structured SACT training programme.

Main duties of the job:

• Provide a specialist clinical pharmacy service to our oncology inpatient wards.
• Develop the knowledge and skill set for validation and supply of Systemic Anti Cancer Therapy (SACT) for patients attending the Leeds Cancer Centre.
• Work closely with band 8a disease group specific pharmacist colleagues to develop clinical oncology knowledge and the skills to learn how to review prospective clinical trials for suitability prior to implementation in the oncology trial portfolio.
• Undertake patient counselling for oncology patients to ensure maximum benefit from medicines supplied.
• Liaise with drug & therapeutics, medicines safety, informatics and procurement teams to facilitate the implementation of new products to the oncology portfolio (including free of charge/compassionate use schemes).
• Develop the skillset to utilise the ChemoCare prescribing system to create templates and protocols for new drugs in oncology.
• Undertake required audits and reviews to ensure the clinical pharmacy service is operating within the required specification and adhering to national standards.
• Provide training/supervision/line management to other colleagues in the cancer team.

About us:

The oncology pharmacy team work together on a daily basis to ensure that some of our most complex and challenging treatments within Leeds Teaching Hospitals are delivered safely, efficiently and in a patient centred manner. Our team is made up of some highly experienced pharmacists who have strong working relationships with the wider multi-disciplinary team. Any new starter to the team receives a thorough induction drawing on the years of experience possessed by our pharmacists and technicians within various specialist fields. We have a strong ethos of workforce development. We strive to ensure that all members of the team are able to access development opportunities not solely limited to clinical work as well as the facilitation of regular team based clinical education sessions. Huddles ensure that all team members are supported and workloads are appropriately managed whilst giving the opportunity to share best practice.

Job responsibilities:

• Provide specialist clinical pharmacy service to patients and the multidisciplinary team within cancer services, as part of a team of pharmacists being professionally accountable for their actions; within a given clinical speciality.
• Demonstrate the ability to provide safe, clinically effective and cost-effective use of medicines in accordance with Trust policy, standard operating procedures and medicine legislation. This will include individual prescription review to optimise therapy, advising on dosage and side effects and on safe administration of medicines.
• Provide drug-related advice and information to patients, consultants and other health-care professionals within the cancer service team.
• Support the Trust's Prescribing Standards and challenge practice where prescribers have not adhered to the Medicines Code.
• Plan, manage, monitor and review individual patient care plans.
• Manage difficult and ambiguous problems, often when information is limited.
• Reporting prescribing and administration near misses, and risk management issues.
• Pharmacists who are registered as prescribers will, with the agreement of the clinical director of the speciality, prescribe within their level of competence, to support patient care.
• Alongside the specialist band 8a in the given disease group, the post holder will be expected to develop to manage the introduction of new drugs, including unlicensed drugs, into the clinical speciality with input to Drug and Therapeutics committee.
• Manage the clinical pharmacist disease group portfolio input into clinical trials.
• Support the Lead Pharmacist for the area with the production and implementation of drug related policies and procedures, with the production of financial reports and with horizon scanning activities.
• Develop and update policies for the safe, effective and economic use of medicines through discussion with medical and nursing staff.

Research and Education:

• Occasionally participate in research and development within clinical speciality.
• Undertake own research/audit within clinical speciality.
• Supervise, teach, and assess junior pharmacy staff completing training modules within the clinical area.
• The post holder is also expected to participate in the training of other clinical professionals within their specialist area as requested.

Other:

• Provide a service commitment, typically a four hour session to a specific area within the pharmacy department e.g. dispensary, aseptics.
• Perform other duties as directed by manager.
• Participate in the weekend service and where contracted, the emergency duty service.

Person Specification:

Skills & behaviours:

• Team player.
• Ability to work alone and under pressure.
• Motivated.
• Lateral thinker.
• Excellent communication oral/written/listening.
• Good problem solver and time management skills.
• Computer literate (e.g. word processing, PowerPoint and Excel).

Experience:

• Substantial post registration experience as a practising clinical pharmacist.
• Broad clinical pharmacy knowledge which requires the pharmacist to analyse information from a range of sources.
• Knowledge & experience of clinical area/department which demonstrates ability to manage a caseload.
• Understanding and appreciation of local and national pharmaceutical and clinical strategies.
• Be professionally accountable for action and advice.
• Aseptic services.
• Experience of dealing with a wide variety and grade of hospital staff (including senior medical and managerial staff) on a regular and ongoing basis.

Qualifications:

• Pharmacist Registrant of GPhC.
• MPharm or equivalent.
• Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Pharmacy (or equivalent).
• Member of a relevant Professional Development Body e.g. RPSGB, BOPA.
• Non-medical prescriber status.

Additional Requirements:

• Able to fulfil Occupational Health requirements for the post (with reasonable adjustments if necessary).
• 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.