Specialist Pharmacist Clinical and Medicines GovernanceNHS

Job summary

The post holder will work as part of a dedicated pharmacy team to lead, provide and develop specialist clinical pharmacy services to the Care Group. The post holder will also work as part of the pharmacy Formulary and Governance team to support the provision of high quality, safe, comprehensive medicines policy and practice within the Trust. The post holder will support the Principal Pharmacist for Clinical Governance and Medicines Policy in managing the team. The post holder will liaise between wards, departments and pharmacy to ensure that pharmacy services are tailored to meet the Care Group's needs wherever possible.

Main duties of the job

Main Duties:

o Deputise for the Principal Pharmacist, Clinical Governance and Medicines Policy.

o Act as a specialist role model and an expert in the medical management within a clinical team providing in-patient clinical pharmacy services.

o Act as a pharmacist independent prescriber to optimise the care of patients.

o Ensure a high level of clinical pharmacy input to the care of patients, providing interface and discharge liaison and support.

o Actively participate in multidisciplinary ward rounds, delivering and promoting high quality, cost-effective, patient-focused pharmaceutical care.

o Promote safe drug use across the Trust.

o Support development, implementation and audit of local guidelines.

o Support the delivery, management and evaluation of clinical governance and policy relating to medicines within the Trust.

o Provide support to the Principal Pharmacist, Formulary and Clinical Effectiveness in the management of new drug, non-formulary and Individual Funding Requests, as needed.

o Supervise and train pharmacy staff across the department.

o Provide education and training of healthcare professionals within and outside the Trust.

o Regular financial reporting, drug usage and expenditure evaluation for non-formulary requests.

o To participate in practice and clinical research and audit.

o To work with the Principal Pharmacist to extend the boundaries of professional practice.

Job description

Main Duties and Responsibilities

Leadership

To deputise for the Principal Pharmacist for Clinical Governance and Medicines Policy as necessary. To propose and implement policies and procedures designed to improve the pharmacy service to patients in the Trust in conjunction with the Principal Pharmacist in line with national and international consensus guidelines. Support the delivery, management and evaluation of clinical governance and policy relating to medicines within the Trust. To lead and comment on policy and service changes and plans within the pharmacy department and to contribute to, and participate in, pharmacy service developments in line with departmental and Trust policy. To develop, implement, monitor and evaluate evidence-based prescribing guidelines and protocols for use both Trust wide and within Specialities. To ensure services provided are in line with local and national policies, guidelines and frameworks. To contribute and adhere to clinical pharmacy service standards. Support pharmacy teams and departments to provide patient focused care, provision of patient information and patient education. Liaise with the Patient Experience team to support improvements relating to pharmacy and the provision of information about medicines. Support the delivery, management and evaluation of clinical governance and policy relating to medicines within the Trust. Collate and analyse patient feedback from pharmacy services (Clinical and Operational) To be a member of and actively participate in Trust-wide committees relevant to role. To support the Principal Pharmacist, Formulary and Clinical Effectiveness in the management of new drug, non-formulary and Individual Funding Requests, as needed. To manage specific initiatives and changes affecting the pharmacy service in the department and across the Trust.

Clinical Responsibilities

To participate in and contribute to the clinical/ward pharmacy service. To act as a specialist practitioner within the field. To practice as an independent prescriber, in area of own expertise, and provide direct high quality of care to inpatients and outpatients within scope of practice To promote and deliver pharmaceutical care for patients. To provide highly specialised and complex evidence-based clinical advice and information using expert knowledge and experience to pharmacy, nursing, medical and other healthcare professionals on the care and treatment of patients, inside and outside of the Trust. To actively participate in consultant ward rounds as appropriate. To actively participate regularly in multidisciplinary ward rounds, antibiotic ward rounds and other multidisciplinary meetings as appropriate, delivering and promoting high quality, cost-effective, patient-focused pharmaceutical care. To participate in patient education and counselling schemes for all patients/carers. To ensure appropriate and timely supply of medication to patients in conjunction with dispensary staff, including the POD scheme and discharge facilitation for patients. To liaise with other pharmacists/healthcare professionals to ensure efficient transfer of clinical and medicines management issues. To develop shared care guidelines to support GP prescribing as necessary. To support the set up and provision of homecare services, as necessary, in line with Royal College of Pharmacy Homecare Services Professional Standards Maintain and further develop specialist information on the use of drugs in clinical conditions, ensuring accurate and up to date clinical information is available to all pharmacists performing out-of-hours duties in a format relevant to those pharmacists needs. To participate in Trust adverse incident reporting scheme.

Financial Management

To identify areas of potential cost-savings, and to implement systems to realise savings and contain prescribing costs. Using horizon scanning techniques identify future high-cost medications. To support the development and implementation of policies to control drug expenditure and ensure cost-effective prescribing. To educate other healthcare professionals on the costs associated with drug therapy and promote evidence-based, cost-effective prescribing within the Trust. To attend Pharmacy and Trust financial meetings when required. To work across traditional boundaries e.g. primary and secondary care.

People Management and Performance

Lead, coach and manage the performance of the team in line with good people management practices, ensuring excellence is recognised and underperformance is addressed. Participate in regular performance appraisal meetings and ensure each member of the team has a clear set of objectives and development plans. Ensure the team is compliant with all statutory, mandatory training together with any professional training requirements, ensuring they are up to date and fully compliant. Manage team absences including sickness in line with Trust policy ensuring the appropriate return to work meetings occur, e-roster is updated and productivity is at keep to the highest possible level. Identify and fill any vacancies that arise within the team in line with the Trusts recruitment policy and process. Identify talent and support the internal talent management process in order attract and retain and succession plan for your people. Review skills mix at regular intervals to identify any potential opportunities to maximise resource utilisation / allocation, ensuring job descriptions are kept up to date. Ensure overall wellbeing of the team is maintained. Continuously support in improving the morale of the team and implementing a culture of zero-tolerance for bullying and harassment. To participate in teaching and supervising students at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. To act as postgraduate tutor for diploma students. To act as a tutor for trainee pharmacists. To act as a Designated Prescribing Practitioner as appropriate. To participate in the recruitment and selection of pharmacy students, trainee pharmacists, and junior pharmacists as needed. To plan activities for and regularly train, supervise and assess at ward level junior pharmacy staff providing a ward/clinical pharmacy service to wards within the Care Group. To participate in the in-service clinical pharmacy training of all pharmacy staff. To undertake CPD to ensure that knowledge is continually updated. To participate regularly in the induction, training, teaching and development of medical, nursing and other healthcare staff. To appropriately delegate tasks to junior staff as and when required. To manage, organise and/or support the induction of new pharmacy staff.

Research and Service Development

To participate in and co-ordinate relevant practice research or audit projects to investigate and where appropriate improve the quality of service. To publish and present the results and outcomes of own research and audits locally, nationally or internationally as appropriate. To supervise junior pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and trainee pharmacists undertaking audit, QI and service evaluation projects.

About us

The Trust provides a full range of local and specialist services across its five sites. In June 2026, we launched our new strategy for 2026-31. Our vision is to transform healthcare, and we have agreed six strategic ambitions to help us improve care for patients, and the working lives of our staff.

Our six strategic ambitions are deliveringhigh-quality patient care; creating a great place to work; leading pioneering research, innovation and education; building strong and successful partnerships; providing timely and efficient care; and ensuring long-term financial sustainability.

We have also agreed four new organisational values - Caring, Collaborative, Inclusive, Innovative - and these underpin everything we do, and how our teams interact with the patients under our care.

We are at a pivotal point in our history and we require individuals who are ready to join a highly professional team and make a real, lasting difference to our patients and our people.

King's is committed to delivering Sustainable Healthcare for All via our Green Plan. In line with national Greener NHS ambitions, we have set net zero carbon targets of 2040 for our NHS Carbon Footprint and 2045 for our NHS Carbon Footprint Plus. Everyone's contribution is required in order to meet the goals set out in our Green Plan and we encourage all staff to work responsibly, minimising their contributions to the Trust's carbon emissions, waste and pollution wherever possible.