At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead clinical pharmacy services in crisis and liaison psychiatry, optimising patient care.
- Company: Join a dedicated mental health trust focused on improving lives.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, career progression, and professional development opportunities.
- Other info: Dynamic role with opportunities for training and leadership in a collaborative team.
- Why this job: Make a real difference in mental health while developing your skills in a supportive environment.
- Qualifications: Postgraduate clinical pharmacy diploma and experience in mental health required.
The predicted salary is between 57528 - 64750 £ per year.
The post holder will be an expert in psychiatric therapeutics and provide a specialist referral point for all health and social care professionals working within the crisis and liaison pathways. The successful candidate will have a strong clinical background, as well as a postgraduate clinical pharmacy diploma and ideally a non-medical prescribing qualification. Good knowledge of physical health conditions is essential in this role. They must be able to work and make decisions autonomously in an acute hospital environment and integrate with the acute trust pharmacy teams. They will be enthusiastic, innovative, flexible, proactive and have knowledge of how operations/pathways in this service support patient care.
This is an excellent opportunity for applicants to develop their engagement and networking skills, as well as hone their clinical pharmacy skills in a complex interface working environment. The post holder will train or practice as an Independent Prescriber, utilizing care and diagnostic skills to prescribe/deprescribe treatment for a caseload of patients.
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. Career pathways are available where you will be able to develop your skills and build on your experience.
Main duties of the job:
- Provide a single, accessible point of access to pharmacy for the Psychiatric Liaison and Home Treatment and Crisis Teams
- Advise on appropriate psychotropic drug choice and review
- Advise on rationalization and de-prescribing of medications where clinically appropriate as part of medicines optimization
- Provide governance on prescribing, monitoring and medicines management
- Improve working relationships and dialogue between mental health services and inpatient pharmacy teams
- Reduce preventable adverse drug reactions and patient safety incidents
- Improve patient flow, discharge and transfer processes using QI methodology
- Support crisis service delivery through involvement/engagement with Luton pharmacy satellite dispensary and service expansion
- Provide training and supervision to other pharmacy and non-pharmacy staff as directed by the role
- Reduce risk of iatrogenic harm to hospital inpatients and ensure safe prescribing of psychotropic medicines
- Improve the experience and outcomes for patients and carers
- Work towards health promotion and prevention and comprehensively assess and manage patients for risk factors and vulnerabilities
- Lead on Medicines Optimisation initiatives within the Crisis Pathway and liaison psychiatry services
- Provide a direct link between ELFT and Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS trust Pharmacy teams
- Provide Education and Training to MDT and pharmacy team members
- Draw on a diverse range of knowledge in their decision-making to determine evidence-based therapeutic interventions, which will include psychological therapies and prescribing medication where legally allowed and actively monitoring the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions
- Plan and manage complete episodes of care, working in partnership with others, delegating and referring as appropriate to optimize health outcomes and resource use, and provide direct support to staff, patients and clients
- Work in partnership with patients and carers promoting a recovery focused model of care
- Provide input into policy and procedures affecting the use of pharmaceuticals at both local and trust wide levels under the direction of the Lead Pharmacist
- Ensure Parity of Esteem between physical and mental health and promote this agenda amongst the wider MDT
- Promote the trust Medicines Safety Agenda in collaboration with the Lead Pharmacist and Trust Medicines Safety Officers
Person Specification Skills:
- 3+ years of experience in a hospital setting
- Substantial experience in a mental health setting
- Knowledge of the 10 year health plan for mental health in England and application of this into practice
- Independent prescriber
- Published reviews/editorials
- Effective problem identification and solving skills
- Ability to maintain quality standards of work, including when under pressure
- Supportive approach to change management
- Demonstrates leadership skills
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.
