Community Frailty Virtual Ward- Band 8a Pharmacist

Community Frailty Virtual Ward - Band 8a Pharmacist

There are 3 WTE positions (37.5 hours per week) available. Applications for full and part-time working will be considered. Hybrid working available for this role. No weekend hours or on-call.

Are you passionate about making a difference in the lives of people with frailty in our communities across Plymouth, the South Hams, and West Devon? Do you thrive in a dynamic and innovative healthcare environment? We have exciting opportunities to join our Community Frailty Virtual Ward project (CFVW), which aims to improve urgent and emergency healthcare delivery.

The Role

As an Advanced Clinical Pharmacist, you will play a critical role in our multidisciplinary team, covering two of the six new frailty virtual wards planned for our locality. You will work closely with consultants, advanced clinical practitioners, dietitians, and other healthcare professionals to ensure seamless, integrated care on the virtual ward by providing specialist medicine assessments and interventions for those admitted to the CFVW.

Main Duties of the Job

Key Responsibilities

1. Leadership within the Frailty Virtual Ward regarding medicines and medicines governance
2. Medicine reconciliation
3. Structured medication reviews including complex polypharmacy and deprescribing
4. Prescribing and accurate record-keeping regarding medications
5. Answering medication queries raised by the multidisciplinary team
6. Discharge facilitation

Job Responsibilities

The Advanced Clinical Pharmacist for Virtual Ward is a new role within Livewell SW and the Pharmacy Team. The post holder, with the support of the Lead Pharmacist for Virtual Wards, will lead and deliver a high-quality clinical pharmacy service to Virtual Ward areas, working in partnership with our System partners to maximize seamless transfers of care and achieve the best outcomes for patients. The post holder will coordinate clinical pharmacy services to the Virtual Wards, utilizing a holistic approach to support medicines optimization in various settings. They will lead and develop clinical audits and quality improvement within Virtual Wards and have the opportunity to be involved in research and further develop their career.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• 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 pharmacy
• Evidence of Continuing Professional Development and revalidation

Desirable

• Postgraduate qualification in clinical pharmacy
• Member of specialist interest groups
• Working towards membership of the RPS Faculty
• Independent prescriber or willingness to work towards

Knowledge

Essential

• Excellent knowledge of clinical pharmacy as it relates to frailty and general medicine
• 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 their implications for implementation in primary and secondary care

Desirable

• Highly specialised knowledge of drug use in frailty or general medicine
• Broad knowledge of the structure, organization, and priorities of the NHS and other healthcare services at a national and local level

Experience

Essential

• Experience as a practising pharmacist, including experience of working as a member of a Multidisciplinary Team
• Experience of networking with other healthcare professionals across the full range of disciplines at all levels
• Experience in the review and development of medication-related policies, procedures, and PGDs
• Experience in audit work
• Experience in delivering education to healthcare staff and patients or carers via workshops, informal discussions, or formal lectures

Desirable

• Experience of working in different sectors of Pharmacy across the system
• 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

Specific Skills

Essential

• 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/negotiating skills
• Ability to 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 prioritize own work and that of others with good organizational and time-management skills
• Able to work under pressure and to tight deadlines
• Ability to travel across the LSW area

Desirable

• 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
• Access to own transport

Employer Details

Employer Name

Livewell Southwest

Address

200 Mount Gould Road

Mount Gould

Plymouth

Devon

PL4 7PY

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