Clinical Pharmacist in Maidstone

We are the Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust. We offer a range of ongoing benefits to our valued workforce, including an active health and wellbeing programme and regular recognition events that enhance your work-life balance.

As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to ensure that you can work in a way that is best for us, for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement.

Please note, at this stage, the role is open only to internal staff (including NHSP and Agency staff currently on placement within our organisation) and staff substantively employed within Kent and Medway NHS Trusts and the Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board (ICB). Any individual who is at risk of redundancy will be given priority, provided they meet the essential criteria.

Are you a qualified Clinical Pharmacist with an interest in working in Mental Health Services? Due to the progression of a current team member, we now have an exciting opportunity for a Clinical Pharmacist to join our established, friendly, and respected Pharmacy team, based at Priority Hospital in Maidstone. This role would suit pharmacists with previous mental health and hospital experience who are looking to consolidate their skills, as well as those considering a move into mental health pharmacy from another sector. You will have the opportunity to work both in inpatient and community settings.

As a Clinical Pharmacist for the Trust, you will be provided with opportunities for personal growth and development, including support for post-graduate qualifications in mental health pharmacy. Some of our pharmacists are qualified as independent prescribers, and the opportunities to qualify and practice as prescribers will grow as our team does.

Annual leave allowance starting at 27 days per year (when working full time) + Bank Holidays. Access to the fantastic NHS pension scheme. Eligibility for the Blue Light Card (discount service for the NHS, providing members with thousands of amazing discounts online and on the high street).

Main duties of the job include:

• Providing a comprehensive clinical pharmacy service for patients receiving medium secure care at the Trevor Gibbens Unit in Maidstone.
• Developing close working relationships with other members of the multi-disciplinary team and contributing to clinical care plans.
• Responding to medication-related queries, providing advice on prescribing and promoting evidence-based practice.
• Discussing medication with patients and carers and developing a variety of approaches to support informed care.
• Working closely and liaising with other pharmacy colleagues in the other localities and within the community mental health teams to ensure a high-quality medicines management and optimisation service is maintained across the Trust.
• Educating colleagues (including doctors and nurses) about medicines management and medicines optimisation.

If this sounds like the opportunity you have been waiting for, come and join our diverse and compassionate team committed to delivering excellent care and support for service users and their loved ones.

We are Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust, providing mental health, learning disability and specialist services, serving 1.8 million people across the county. The Trust is rated Good overall by the CQC and has 3,283 staff working in 66 buildings across 33 locations, covering an area of 1,450 square miles.

You will be joining friendly, passionate colleagues, rich in their diversity, who are committed to providing excellent care to our service users and their loved ones. We also offer ongoing professional development to help you adapt and progress your career, including bespoke training and a comprehensive induction program.

In this Trust, we are serious about diversity and inclusion, and we are working hard to build this into our DNA. We warmly welcome applications for any of our roles from people from diverse backgrounds, and we are proactively encouraging applications from under-represented communities for our more senior roles.

Qualifications required include:

• Masters degree in pharmacy plus 1 year pre-registration training.
• Registered with GPhC, with at least 3 years’ experience.
• Post-graduate qualification in Clinical Pharmacy or equivalent specialist knowledge, acquired through a broad spectrum of clinical pharmacy training and experience.
• Member of the college of mental health pharmacy.

Knowledge and skills required include:

• Good level of relevant clinical knowledge.
• Good written and verbal communication skills.
• Good level of interpersonal skills to effectively exchange complex and sensitive information.
• Good level of analytical skills.
• Up to date knowledge of prescribing issues in mental health.
• Relevant knowledge of pharmaceutical standards of practice.

To deliver an effective service, it is essential in some of our roles that you are able to travel between work bases in a timely manner. Production of false or forged documents/qualifications in order to obtain employment is a criminal offence and will be reported to the Police.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check: Certain roles are subject to criminal record checks called Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks. Therefore, you will be required to submit a completed Disclosure form to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust are signed up to NHS England's Sexual Safety in Health Care Organisational Charter. The trust takes a systematic zero-tolerance approach to tackle any unwanted, inappropriate and/or harmful sexual behaviours within the workplace and in our care provision. We are committed to sexual safety which encompasses prevention, support and decisive action against perpetrators.

Use of AI when writing job applications: While AI tools can be helpful in generating ideas and drafting initial versions, they should never be the sole source for writing your job application. AI cannot truly understand the specific job you're applying for or what makes you a good fit. Therefore, it's crucial to personalise any AI-generated content to accurately reflect your skills, experiences, and aspirations.