Advanced Specialist Pharmacist for Mental Health in Plymouth

The Advanced Clinical Pharmacist Mental Health is a senior and highly influential role at the heart of Livewell Southwest's mental health services, offering the opportunity to shape and lead specialist clinical pharmacy practice across the organisation and wider system. As a recognised expert in mental health pharmacy, the post holder will lead the delivery of a high quality, patient centred clinical pharmacy service across inpatient wards, units, and community pathways. Working closely with multidisciplinary teams and system partners, they will ensure medicines optimisation is safe, evidence based, and responsive to the complex needs of people using mental health services. The role combines strategic leadership with advanced clinical practice, providing professional leadership to the Mental Health Pharmacy Team, setting standards of best practice, and supporting the development of pharmacists and other healthcare professionals. The post holder will contribute to service transformation, clinical audit, quality improvement, and research, helping to shape the future of mental health pharmacy within Livewell Southwest.

This is an exciting opportunity for a passionate and forward thinking pharmacist to influence care at scale and progress their advanced clinical and leadership career. This role may not be eligible for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker route. Please note that we may close the job advertisement earlier than the specified deadline.

Main duties of the job

• You will provide senior clinical pharmacy leadership across a range of inpatient and community mental health services, delivering and coordinating specialist medicines optimisation services for acute adult and older adult mental health wards, rehabilitation wards, the dementia unit, the Young Peoples Inpatient Unit, and community teams including the Home Treatment Team and Specialist Outreach Recovery Team.
• You will be responsible for ensuring the safe, effective, and evidence based use of medicines, including oversight of medicines related governance, risk management, and compliance with national and local standards.
• The post holder will provide advanced clinical advice on complex mental health pharmacotherapy, contributing to multidisciplinary and service level decision making that impacts patient care.
• The role includes a significant professional leadership and service development remit, providing leadership and support to the Mental Health Pharmacy Team, setting standards for clinical practice, and contributing to workforce development.
• The post holder will also support other healthcare professionals, including Non Medical Prescribers, through education, clinical supervision, and medicines optimisation initiatives.
• You will contribute to the strategic development of mental health pharmacy services, leading on clinical audit, quality improvement, and service evaluation, and supporting research and innovation activities.
• Staff are expected to work across a 7 day service.

About us

Livewell Southwest is an independent, award‑winning social enterprise delivering integrated health and social care services across Plymouth, South Hams, and West Devon, with specialist services in parts of Devon and Cornwall. Our teams work in community hospitals, GP practices, sports centres, and health hubs. As an organisation with a strong social conscience we are guided by our values, kindness, respect, inclusivity, ambition, responsibility, and collaboration. We focus on transforming services to ensure sustainability, while empowering staff and those we serve. We involve the people we care for, along with their families and carers, in shaping the care they receive, striving to deliver the right care at the right time and place. Centering our work on individual needs helps people lead healthy, independent lives. We prioritise employees' development, offering protected CPD time, training pathways, leadership programmes, and funding for qualifications like the Care Certificate and Nurse Training Scholarships. Our induction and preceptorship programmes ensure a smooth transition into our organisation. Livewell Southwest values diversity and encourages applications from all sections of the community, including those with armed forces experience, lived experience of mental health, neuro‑diverse conditions and learning disabilities. If you need assistance or reasonable adjustments during the application process, contact the Recruiting Manager listed in the job advert.

Job responsibilities

• To be responsible for and lead the provision of a high quality, specialised clinical pharmacy service to ensure the safe, clinically effective and cost‑efficient use of drugs in mental health.
• To be responsible for the delivery of the clinical pharmacy services to nominated areas, including attendance at consultant ward rounds, providing expert pharmaceutical advice and setting standards for junior pharmacists to emulate.
• To be responsible for the provision of professional pharmaceutical advice to healthcare colleagues, patients, and carers as necessary.
• To develop and monitor pharmacy initiatives such as medicines reconciliation on admission and provision of discharge summaries to GP's, which promote seamless transfer of patients from secondary care to primary care and vice versa.
• To be responsible for the development of ward/unit based pharmaceutical care initiatives e.g. self‑medication schemes, use of patients own drugs in hospital, one‑stop dispensing, patient and carer counselling, discharge planning, assessing patient concordance and improved communication with primary care healthcare professionals within mental health.
• To lead on and develop policy or service changes within Mental Health which improve ward or community services and be responsible for their implementation.
• To promote and monitor compliance with the South and West Devon Joint Formulary and to assist in formulary applications and review for medicines to be used in Mental Health.
• To be responsible for monitoring prescribing practice to promote cost‑effective and economic use of resources and contribute to the establishment and implementation of prescribing guidelines within mental health.
• To be lead on and be responsible for reporting and review of clinical and other pharmacy related audits within mental health.
• To be responsible for the development of junior pharmacist staff within mental health including rotational pharmacists and trainee pharmacists.
• To provide evidence of Continuing Professional Development on an annual basis at appraisal, in accordance with guidance issued by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).
• To cover for other pharmacists as required, during periods of absence.
• Occasional dispensary cover including dispensing and checking of medication following local SOPs.

Analytical and Judgemental Skills

• Have highly developed skills for analysing drug, patient information in mental health in order to provide advice on medicines, dosages, production issues/ in areas where information is lacking and medical or other opinion differs.
• Clinical screening of prescription charts and discharge prescriptions, to ensure prescriptions are safe and appropriate.
• Responding to and recording medicines information requests from prescribers and other healthcare professionals relating to mental health and providing advice on medicines proactively.
• To be responsible for the investigation and monitoring of medicines related incidents relating to mental health, recommending and implementing changes as required to improve patient safety, collating these for discussion at pharmacy team meetings and at the Medicines Governance Group (MGG).

Clinical Governance

• To be responsible for and lead on clinical governance and risk management through interventions which optimise the management of medicines in mental health, supporting best practice throughout all areas of responsibility.
• To participate in and lead multidisciplinary groups in the review and development of selected medicines related policies and procedures relating to mental health and present to the MGG.
• To lead on the development and review of documents e.g. Patient Group Directions, Policies, Guidelines and Protocols relating to mental health and presenting reviewed documents to the MGG.
• To support professional leads in identifying and addressing evidence‑based medicine practice consistent with the requirements of clinical governance and of national directives.
• To work with the Pharmacy Senior Leadership Team to lead on continuous quality improvement projects and audit within mental health.

Managerial

• To provide mentoring, training, supervision and line management of mental health substantive and rotational pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and other pharmacy staff as required, including appraisals and performance reviews.
• To organise the trainee pharmacist timetable when they rotate through mental health.
• To act as Designated Supervisor to a Trainee Pharmacist annually as required.
• To mentor / buddy other NMPs within Mental Health.
• To act as a Designated Prescribing Practitioner, Educational supervisor or Practice Supervisor as appropriate for members of the team undertaking their independent prescribing training.

Freedom to Act

Pharmacists are expected to work largely unsupervised and to act on their own professional judgement. Clinical supervision from another health professional can be arranged and is to be encouraged. Technical roles are defined by standard operating procedures which should always be followed. Clinical roles are supported by policies and guidelines within which the pharmacist is allowed professional discretion / interpretation. This role includes setting the parameters under which other pharmacy staff will operate.

Training and Education

• To lead on the training and development of pharmacy staff within Mental Health and support training of other staff members within the team as appropriate.
• To plan, develop and deliver appropriate training and education to healthcare colleagues, carer groups and outside agencies to promote the safe use and clinical application of medicines within mental health.
• To be responsible for and lead on the induction of new pharmacy staff with mental health.
• To assist and lead, where appropriate, on the training provided to pharmacy students, trainee pharmacists and other pharmacy staff.

Health, Safety and Security

• To work safely in the dispensary, ward and office environments ensuring any risks identified to health and safety are managed or escalated to line manager.
• To ensure safety and security of medicines, prescription stationery and patient identifiable documents according to locally agreed standard operating procedures.
• To inform line manager of any breaches of safety or security or if agreed procedures are thought to be inadequate to manage the risk.

COMMUNICATIONS AND RELATIONSHIPS

The ability to communicate highly complex drug or medicine related information to prescribers, clinicians, patients, relatives within the mental health service. Well‑developed verbal and written communications skills (including telephone and email) are essential to the role. To liaise with all levels of healthcare staff and professionals working in the multidisciplinary team within mental health. The ability to challenge and accept professional challenge from other health care professionals. To liaise with patients and carers, the acute hospitals, doctors, GPs, community nurses and community pharmacists to ensure appropriate supply of medicines. To communicate pharmacy / medication issues clearly and concisely at team meetings and governance groups e.g. MGG. To work virtually through use of technology where required.

Person Specification

• Masters Degree (or equivalent) in Pharmacy
• Registered Practising Member of the General Pharmaceutical Council
• Specialist knowledge acquired by postgraduate diploma or equivalent evidence of specialist knowledge, competence and achievements in practice in mental health
• Evidence of Continuing Professional Development and revalidation
• Postgraduate qualification in psychiatric pharmacy
• Member of specialist interest groups
• Working towards membership of the RPS Faculty or towards being a credentialed member of the College of Mental Health Pharmacy
• Independent prescriber or willingness to work towards

Knowledge

• Excellent knowledge of clinical pharmacy as it relates to mental health and substance misuse
• Knowledge and understanding of antimicrobial stewardship
• Understanding of non‑medical prescribing, patient group directions and other alternatives to medical prescribing
• Aware of current healthcare targets, NICE guidance and other national directives and the implications for implementation in primary and secondary care
• Highly specialised knowledge of drug use within mental health
• Broad knowledge of the structure, organisation and priorities of the NHS and other healthcare services at a national and local level

Experience

• Experience as a practising pharmacist, including experience of working in mental health and as a member of a Multidisciplinary Team
• Experience of networking with other healthcare professionals across the full range of disciplines at all levels
• Experience of review and development of pharmacy / medication related policies, procedures and PGDs
• Experience of audit work
• Experience of delivering education to healthcare staff and patients / carers via workshops, informal discussion or formal lectures
• Experience of preparing documents for clinical governance groups and presenting these to a committee
• Experience of leading on audit and producing reports
• Experience of mentoring, supervision and line management
• Experience of influencing, negotiating and implementing change in practice
• Experience of working in a hospital environment

Skills

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills including verbal, written and formal presentation skills for a wide variety of audiences
• Computer literate including Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Email and Internet
• Excellent critical appraisal and analytical skills, with a sound understanding of evidence based medicine
• Good listening skills & excellent networking and negotiating skills
• Can work with and influence managers, nursing and medical staff
• Leadership and team working skills
• Ability to act as an excellent role model and mentor
• Self‑motivated and able to motivate others with enthusiasm
• Able to reflect on and appraise own performance and that of others
• Ability to plan and prioritise own work and that of others with good organisational and time‑management skills
• Able to work under pressure and to tight deadlines
• Ability to frequently travel independently and in a timely manner between Livewell Southwest sites and community locations including areas not served by public transport.
• Ability to influence and negotiate with a range of stakeholders to implement change in practice
• Able to resolve conflict and disagreement
• Ability to manage 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.