Senior Pharmacist- Aseptic Services

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King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is one of the UK's largest and busiest teaching Trusts with a turnover of c£1.8 billion, 1.5 million patient contacts a year and more than 15,000 staff based across 5 main sites in South East London. The Trust provides a full range of local hospital services across its different sites, and specialist services from King's College Hospital (KCH) sites at Denmark Hill in Camberwell and at the Princess Royal University Hospital (PRUH) site in the London Borough of Bromley.

We encourage all our staff to have a healthy work/life balance. In doing so, you can apply for flexible working from the beginning of your employment. We offer a range of options which are designed to suit different circumstances and priorities in line with service requirements.

Job overview

The post holder will be part of a team of pharmacists responsible for the day-to-day preparation of chemotherapy, immunotherapy and clinical trials doses within the Aseptic Services department; as well as covering parenteral nutrition ward round services. The Aseptic Services Pharmacist will work alongside Senior and Specialist Aseptic Services Pharmacists, as well as Technicians in the pharmacy Section 10 production units at the Denmark Hill site. Here they will carry out the clinical validation of chemotherapy prescriptions, parenteral nutrition orders, worksheet checks, final check and release of manufactured products.

Late duties, weekend and bank holiday working (including 7-day service) will also apply to this role and the post holder will be added to a wider pharmacy rota to fulfil these commitments.

Main duties of the job

The post holder has essential operational responsibilities in ensuring the smooth running and delivery of the day to day production pharmacy service supporting, managing and developing specific aspects of the service in collaboration with the Specialist Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians in Aseptic Services. This includes the development, maintenance and provision of training programmes and resources for trainee pharmacists, preparing staff rotas for pharmacists, and organising technical workflow for chemotherapy, centralised intravenous additives and parenteral nutrition on a daily basis.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities
• To co-ordinate day to day preparation of chemotherapy and clinical trial patient doses.
• To provide a comprehensive Aseptic Service to the Trust, ensuring compliance with current directives, legislation, external audits, GMP, GCP and Health and Safety. This service includes the provision of chemotherapy, TPN, CIVAS, clinical trials and aseptically manufactured products.
• To liaise with the Senior Pharmacy Technicians to ensure the safe, efficient and timely delivery of aseptic products.
• To critically evaluate the aseptic quality systems with a view to ensuring that best practice is in operation within Aseptic Services.
• Issuing rotas to ensure the staff know their duties and setting up monthly feedback meetings for the pharmacists in Aseptic Services.
• To be responsible for the reviewing documentation within Aseptic Services ensuring compliance with current directives relating to good practice and Health and Safety.
• To be accountable for own professional actions, but to be guided by national protocols, KCH Formulary and other local policies and procedures in relation to the provision of a clinical service.
• To ensure services provided are in line with local and national policies, guidelines and frameworks.
• To support the implementation and audit of plans, guidelines, procedures, policies and service changes within the production units.
• To provide complex advice about medicines including dose modifications, mechanisms of action, calculations, dose benefit effects, choice of medicines, formulations, adverse effects, drug interactions, chemical compatibility and stability, pharmacokinetics, pharmacokinetics, etc. to doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals individually and in multidisciplinary groups.
• To work effectively as part of a team in a multi-disciplinary and pharmacy environment, and maintain rapport with medical and other colleagues.
• To supervise staff working in the pharmacy aseptic unit and deputise for the Specialist Pharmacists in their absence.
• To assist in the supervision of Trainee Pharmacists, Technicians and Student technicians and other junior pharmacy staff.
• To monitor the quality of the production pharmacy service and the performance of junior pharmacy staff.
• To undertake the dispensing, screening and checking of aseptically prepared clinical trials.
• To report errors internally and nationally to improve aseptic processes such as manufacturing.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Pharmacy degree - MPharm or equivalent
• Registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council as a Pharmacist

Desirable criteria

• Specialist post-graduate certificate in Clinical Pharmacy (PGDip)

Experience

Essential criteria

• Post registration experience relevant to hospital pharmacy with assessed competencies
• Knowledge of GCP, GMP, QA and regulations and legislation relevant to aseptic services

Desirable criteria

• Post-registration experience in Aseptic Services, including day to day management and supervision

Knowledge

Essential criteria

• Be able to interpret prescription charts and patient information
• Be familiar with handling cytotoxic drugs following approved procedures
• Be able to provide highly complex information on medicines use, clinical pharmacy and financial issues to multidisciplinary groups including senior consultants and managers

IMPORTANT

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