Principal Pharmacist for Neurosciences & Musculoskeletal - Band 8B

Hours: Part time - 22.5 hours per week (You will be required to work late shifts, weekends and some bank holidays are required)

Our Principal Pharmacist for the clinical division of Neurosciences and Musculoskeletal (NMSK) is moving to part-time hours. We have an exciting opportunity for an experience pharmacist to come and work at NBT, to fill the other half of the role. This is not a formal job share and will require the post holder to work 22.5hours a week to include a Thursday and Friday with any remaining hours being worked on any of the remaining 3 days. The post holder will need to have strong leadership and managerial skills as well as the enthusiasm, vision and associated service development and negotiation skills to lead and develop the team which includes established, experienced pharmacists and rotational band 6 and band 7 pharmacists. North Bristol NHS Trust has 4 clinical divisions, each with a Principal Pharmacist lead. You will be working closely with the other Principal pharmacists to deliver and develop the clinical pharmacy strategy. Experience in one or more of the specialties is desirable but not essential. This is an excellent opportunity to develop leadership and managerial skills.

Main duties of the job

• To lead and manage a team of band 8a and band 7 specialist pharmacists and band 7 and band 6 rotational pharmacists.
• The division includes tertiary neurology and neurosurgery services, specialist acute stroke, orthopaedics - elective and trauma and rheumatology.
• Ensure clinical pharmacy continues to develop as a high-quality service, including patient safety, governance, and patient flow, in line with our ICS and hospital medicine optimisation plans.
• Work closely with pharmacy colleagues and the specialties on strategic plans.
• Identify savings for the specialties and work with them to ensure that the plans are realised.
• Ensure and encourage staff development.

Working for our organisation

The Brunel Building, Southmead Hospital, is a new state-of-the-art facility which has 806 acute beds of which 75% are single rooms. We are a large teaching hospital with a major trauma centre and specialties in neurosciences, orthopaedics, renal medicine and transplantation, infectious diseases/HIV, burns and plastics plus general medicine and surgery.

We are a large pharmacy department with 90 pharmacists including many Specialist posts. The clinical ward pharmacy service is well established and provided by pharmacist and medicine management technicians. As part of the new hospital, we have a very modern pharmacy department including the largest dispensing robot in Europe.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Leadership

• Responsible for leading the delivery, management, and development of the Clinical Pharmacy Service to high standards of efficiency and effectiveness for the specialities.
• Regularly review Clinical Pharmacy roles in line with skill mix and ensure that staff allocation reflects best practice.
• Maintain workload and performance records and identify and manage significant variances using key performance indicators (KPIs). Use this information to help further develop the service.
• Monitor activity, plan and co-ordinate changes necessary for the further development of Clinical Pharmacy services. Identify and negotiate for the resources needed to effect the change.
• Lead on allocated pharmacy work streams to support Trust and ICS medicine optimisation plans.
• Acts as a role model for less experienced pharmacists and promote best practice.
• Identify, develop, and take opportunities to further improve the service through established and innovative practices.

Pharmacy service management

• Manage the Pharmacy out off hours service to the trust.
• Work closely with the other Principal pharmacists to ensure a consistent pan-trust clinical service.
• Maintain a good working relationship with other section heads and line managers and equivalent throughout the Trust to contribute to the business planning cycle.
• Deputise for the Associate Director of Pharmacy Clinical Services on specific issues and general matters which arise during the Associate Director’s absence, in conjunction with the other 8B Senior clinical pharmacists.
• Work with the other Senior Clinical Pharmacists and managers to deliver the North Bristol NHS Trust Hospital Pharmacy Transformation Plan.
• Work with the other Senior Clinical Pharmacists and managers to further develop and deliver a 7-day pharmacy clinical service.
• Prepare and review a continuity plan for Clinical Pharmacy Services.
• Advise on matters relating to Clinical Pharmacy to ensure safe and effective practices are developed and adhered to.
• Lead on the recording, reporting, and monitoring of Clinical Pharmacy interventions for the specialities.
• Responsible for Clinical Governance and incident monitoring, using Datix, within Clinical Pharmacy Services for your specialities and take action to minimise risks.
• Ensure that the relevant division receives regular reports on finance and governance relating to medicines for the specialities you are responsible for.
• In conjunction with the Principal Pharmacist Pharmacoeconomics monitor medicines usage and expenditure against BNSSG Formulary and commissioning guidance to provide recommendations to contain costs.
• Work closely with the other Principal pharmacists to ensure a consistent pan-trust clinical service.
• Maintain a good working relationship with other section heads and line managers and equivalent throughout the Trust to contribute to the business planning cycle.
• Work collaboratively with other regional Clinical Pharmacy Managers and external pharmacy service leads.

HR

• Responsible for managing annual leave allocation and resource levels for the Clinical Pharmacy service in your specialities.
• Responsible for the appraisal of accountable staff and plan training to ensure staff development.
• Responsible for the recruitment, induction, and ongoing management of accountable staff according to NBT Personnel Policies and Procedures.

Clinical

• Provide a high-level Clinical Pharmacy service to the wards and clinical areas promoting safe, rational, and cost-effective use of medicines in line with Trust policies. Record all major interventions made.
• Clinically screen prescriptions to ensure the safe, efficient, evidence-based, and rational use of medicines in line with the Trust Formulary and departmental policies so that risks to patients are minimised.
• Attendance and provision of pharmaceutical expertise to multidisciplinary Trust or interface working groups considering protocols, policies and guidelines including drugs and therapeutics committee (DTC) and the medicines governance group (MGG).
• Actively involved in ward and departmental duties to ensure that effective commitment to these duties is maintained.
• Act as an independent prescriber (desirable).
• Responsible for ensuring that clinal pharmacy procedures and guidelines, relating to your areas, are written, reviewed, and updated.
• Undertake CPD to maintain a high level of professional knowledge and competence.

Audit

• Monitor performance and undertake audits against local and national standards to ensure that service quality is constantly reviewed, and actions taken to achieve improvements.

Education and training

• Responsible for the training, mentoring and assessment of Pharmacists and Clinical Technicians to ensure they reach the required standards of practice in Clinical pharmacy in conjunction with the Training and Education Pharmacist.
• Undertake lecturing/tutorials for other healthcare professionals as appropriate.

Other duties

• Deputise for Associate Director of Pharmacy for Clinical Services on specific issues and general matters which arise during their absence, in conjunction with the other Principal pharmacists.
• Provide professional supervision to Patients Services on a sessional basis and be the responsible pharmacist when needed.
• To ensure safe and appropriate storage of medicinal products in pharmacy and clinical areas.
• To participate in the weekend, bank holiday and late duty service.
• To undertake such duties as may be required by the Director of Pharmacy in the interest of the service, appropriate for grade and agreed with the post holder.
• Act as designated signatory in accordance with Trust Standing Financial Instructions.