Senior Clinical Research Pharmacist

Overview This is an 18-month secondment/fixed term appointment for up to 0.4 WTE Senior Clinical Research Pharmacist.

Devon Partnership Trust in collaboration with The Mood Disorders Centre at University of Exeter has been selected to be one of centres of excellence around the country collaborating on the £42m government funded The NIHR Mental Health Translational Research - Mental Health Mission (MHTRD-MHM).

Mental Health Missions aim to increase the volume of mental health research being conducted in the UK. This will be done by providing systems to support industry-led and NHS-led research and investment. The MHM will also focus on the areas of mental illness support that currently have an unmet patient need or carry a high burden. This includes major depressive disorder, difficult to treat depression and bipolar disorder.

This post is to support the new RISE Mood Disorders Research Clinic, which is funded by the MHTRD-MHM, and will offer a consultant led assessment which is underpinned by engaging service users in research.

Main duties of the job This post is to lead in developing RISE Mood Disorders Research Clinics pharmacy needs, any SOPs and processes, advise clinical colleagues around medicines and lead a project to develop a clinical trial dispensing pharmacy here in DPT.

You will also be expected to support the daily running of the clinic, including supporting junior research staff, carrying out clinic assessments and giving pharmacy advice on referrals and assessments. You may also be asked to support the clinical trials pharmacy at the RDUH in dispensing research drugs for DPT trials.

You can get actively involved in commercial and non-commercial research trials and build your own research skills.

You will be allocated a line manager and will also be line managed in terms of professional and clinical supervision by a Senior Pharmacist.

About us We provide mental health, learning disability and neurodiversity services, as well as a range of specialist & secure services for the wider south west region & nationally. We are passionate about promoting good mental health & wellbeing. We strive to use the expertise & resources within our organisation, and through our partnerships, to deliver high quality services that are safe & focused on people's recovery.

We are committed to developing a culture of coproduction, involving patients, families & carers in everything we do.

Our values

We not only recruit based on qualifications & experience - we recruit individuals who possess & demonstrate the behaviours which underpin our Trusts core values. These include such attributes as showing a commitment to quality of care, improving lives of others, giving respect, dignity & compassion. We can bring those values to life in our everyday tasks by giving a smile; making time for people; challenging ourselves & others, & being open to new ideas.

We are committed to being an inclusive employer & applications are encouraged & welcomed from all sections of the community, regardless of any protected characteristics as governed by the Equality Act 2010. Part time & flexible working applications will be considered & supported, where possible. We particularly encourage applicants with lived experience of mental health conditions, neurodiversity or learning disabilities. We are a Disability Confident Leader.

Job responsibilities Key Working Relationships:

• Key working relationships will include:
• People who use our services, relatives and carers and their groups
• DPT MO team and medicines optimisation link practitioners
• DPT multi-disciplinary community teams (CMHT and Rehabilitation) including Consultant psychiatrists, other DPT medical and non-medical prescribers, nursing staff, occupational therapists, social workers and psychologists
• PCN GPs, pharmacy staff and other primary care staff
• Other specialist Mental Health and Learning Disability pharmacists through specialist interest groups/ clinical supervision network.

Responsibility for Patient/Client Care, Treatment and Therapy

• Provide a highly specialist, clinical pharmacy service to mental health and rehabilitation services to include community mental health/ learning disability and primary care by;
• Identifying and minimising risks associated with the use of medicines.
• Contributing to medication care plans and working as an integral member of the multi-professional team
• Reviewing medication charts and prescription records to ensure that each prescription is appropriate for that person, legal, legible, safe and effective.
• Identifying drug interactions and adverse effects and addressing issues as appropriate.
• Advising on the monitoring of medication regarding efficacy, safety and side effects and interpreting physical health monitoring and blood test results.
• Undertaking medication reviews and drug history reports as required
• Ensuring that all your interventions are documented in the electronic patient record and communicated according to Trust and/or PCN policy.
• Educating people who use our services and their carers about medication.
• Developing, implementing and supporting schemes which promote medicines adherence
• Promoting seamless care by liaising with GPs, nurses, other specialties and community pharmacists to ensure clear treatment plans, safe and effective prescribing, continued prescribing/ supply arrangements, support with medicines adherence and medicines reconciliation.
• Providing a medicines information service for community staff (CMHT and PCN)
• Supporting PCNs with safe practice (e.g. through SOPs) for managing mental health medicines (e.g. depots, clozapine)
• Once qualified, practice as an independent pharmacist prescriber to provide timely access to treatment in accordance with Trust non-medical prescribing policies

Responsibility for Policy and Service Development Implementation

• Recommends and contributes towards the development, implementation and review of medicines-related policies, clinical protocols, standard operating procedures, prescribing guidelines, practice standards and safety briefings.
• Ensure adherence to the standards of the Medicines Policy and other MO documentation and report any deviations to unit managers and Deputy Chief Pharmacists and report via the Trust Risk Management System where appropriate.
• Review all medicines incidents reported via the Trust Risk Management System for your locality each month and contribute to incident reviews and root cause analyses where necessary. Exercise vigilance in the timely identification of risks relating to any aspect of medicine usage.
• Attend governance meetings (locality meetings and the MOSG) to ensure that risk areas related to medicines are addressed and implement changes to practice where necessary

Responsibility for Finance, Equipment and Other Resources

• Responsible for ensuring medicines are stored and used in accordance with trust medicines policy.
• Assist the Medicines Optimisation Prescribing Analyst with the provision of timely and accessible prescribing reports detailing clinical and financial medicines information for clinicians and Trust managers.
• Advise on measures to improve cost effectiveness within your locality and contribute to Medicines Optimisation cost-improvement initiatives where relevant
• Provide support to Deputy Chief Pharmacists to present and interpret budgetary information to locality teams to ensure that significant trends and variances are highlighted together with proposals for remedial action
• Promote cost-effective prescribing at an individual level by pointing out cost implications of prescribing decisions at MDTs and ensuring that their own prescribing practice meets these same standards

Responsibility for Human Resources, e.g. Supervision, Training, HR Advice and Management

• They will be managed by the Deputy Chief Pharmacist Clinical Services, but will also report to the Deputy Chief Pharmacist Medicines Safety and Governance, the accountable officer for controlled drugs and the PCN lead for some of their wider team tasks
• They will deputise for the Deputy Chief Pharmacist where appropriate and attend locality meetings to ensure pharmaceutical issues are considered.
• They will provide line management for technicians (when delegated by Chief Pharmacy Technician) and pharmacists working within their workstream
• They will provide clinical supervision for technicians and pharmacists working within their workstream
• They will be expected to work autonomously with access to support when required.
• They will delegate tasks to pharmacists, MO technicians, link practitioners and ward staff as appropriate, providing assistance to the technicians where required.
• They will assist in the development, delivery and audit of medicines related education and training programmes for healthcare staff, including inductions for new staff
• They will help supervise technicians, pre-registration and diploma pharmacists from acute trust hospitals who come to DPT for experience of working in mental health.

Responsibility for Information Resources and Administrative Duties

• Contribute to the provision of a DPT central medicines helpline telephone service to supply public and staff with answers to their queries during working hours. The use of information, and documentation of queries, must comply with the department's medicines information procedures, ensuring that appropriate records are completed and maintained.
. click apply for full job details