Congratulations on qualifying as a pharmacist!
The information below covers the role requirements, expected candidate experience, and accompanying qualifications.
We are looking for clinically-minded pharmacists to join our countywide
rotational pharmacist team. We welcome applications from newly-qualified
pharmacists (or those due to qualify in summer 2025) as well as those already
qualified but seeking a hospital pharmacy career. We offer a high quality,
competency-led training programme to develop pharmacists into accomplished
practitioners of pharmaceutical care, in a supportive, team-orientated
environment. The posts include the opportunity for postgraduate study, support
to complete the newly qualified pharmacists pathway and the ability to
experience all aspects of hospital pharmacy.
Our on-call service is currently 1 night in 24 with a backup on call service
for support, and a buddy to help make those first few calls a little less
daunting.
Clinical mentors will provide support for your new role and there is a regular
band 6 forum organised by you and your peers to provide training relevant to
your needs. There is also lots of opportunity to help shape the way the
department develops alongside structured clinical activity time for training,
audits and development.
Whatever your long term aspirations, our friendly pharmacy team will support
you as you take your first steps to achieving your goals, providing you with a
strong foundation on which to base your future career.
Interview date is scheduled for Wednesday, 29th January 2025.
**Main duties of the job**
Be responsible for providing a ward based clinical pharmacy service across a
variety of rotations including:
* General surgery,
* Acute medicine (where you can experience working alongside our advanced clinical practitioners in ED)
* Specialty medicine with experience in various specialisms such as cardiology, respiratory, frailty etc.
* Specialist learning opportunities such as in ITU, Renal medicine, haematology and oncology.
Participate in a 1 in 24 on call and backup on call rota.
Provide Medication History Taking, Medicines Reconciliation, provision of
Patient Information and Counselling and ward-based discharge to an allocated
clinical ward or area according to the rotation
Deliver pharmaceutical care to patients recommend, substantiate and
communicate best therapeutic options for patients and implement changes in
prescribing practice to ensure evidence-based medicine is followed as
appropriate.
Undertake clinical audit of medicine use and pharmacy services within WAHT
Provide the clinical professional check on prescriptions dispensed within the
dispensary, ensuring that the Trust high cost drug procedure and Trust
Formulary is adhered to.
Provide day to day clinical supervision for trainee pharmacists, technical
pharmacy staff and students as assigned.
Provide clinical pharmacy teaching to pharmacy, medical and nursing staff
Provide weekend pharmacy services on rotation.
* Previous applicants need not apply *
**About us**
Our purpose is simple - Putting Patients First. We are looking for exceptional
colleagues who can help us achieve this.
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust is a large acute and specialised
hospital trust that provides a range of local acute services to the residents
of Worcestershire and more specialised services to a larger population in
Herefordshire and beyond.
The Trust operates hospital-based services from three sites in Kidderminster,
Redditch and Worcester
Our workforce is over 7,000 strong, and our caring staff are recognised as
providing good and outstanding patient-centred care. You could be one of them.
We are committed to recruiting the best people to work with us to achieve our
Vision - working in partnership to provide the best healthcare for our
communities, leading and supporting our teams to move 4ward. Our 4ward
behaviours, which we ask all staff to demonstrate, underpin our everyday work
and remain firmly at the heart of all we do.
Our objectives are simple:
* **Best services for local people**
* **Best experience of care and best outcomes for our patients**
* **Best use of resources**
* **Best people**
Better never stops, and our Clinical Services Strategy provides a clear future
vision for our Trust, our hospitals, our services and our role in the wider
health and care system.
**We are proud to have achieved Timewise accreditation - this means we are
committed to embedding flexible working within our organisation as a flex
positive employer.**
**Job description**
**Job responsibilities**
Key Duties:
Provision of Clinical Pharmacy Services:
The post holder will:
Provide clinical pharmacy services on rotation to the acute medical, surgical,
emergency, and critical care units, under the clinical supervision of Lead
Specialist Pharmacists.
Provide specialised pharmaceutical advice concerning the care of patients and
undertake pharmaceutical risk management for the Units where duties are being
carried out.
Ensure compliance with medicines legislation, the Trust Medicines Policy, and
medicines related national and local guidelines within the Units where duties
are being carried out.
Be accountable for his or her own professional actions guided by appropriate
technical and professional SOPs and associated policies, national directives,
standards, guidelines, senior pharmacist colleagues, and the post-holders own
specialised knowledge.
Plan his or her duties and prioritise workload where duties are being carried
out according to the needs of patients, medical and nursing staff in order to
complete the following within the time available:
* Analysing patients individual pharmaceutical care needs
* Identifying and correcting prescribing errorsunclear prescriptions with medical staff.
* Advising prescribers on doses, side effects, alternative treatments
Communicate complex pharmaceutical recommendations and advice concerning
patients treatment effectively to medical and nursing staff and other health
care professionals.
Interview newly admitted patients to construct an accurate medication history,
assess complianceconcordance issues, and:
* Review information against the admission details and prescription chart.
* Identify to medical staff any potential or actual medicines-related hospital admissions or associated issues and outline any required action to resolve identified discrepancies.
Construct pharmaceutical care plans for patients, assess and monitor clinical
progress and outcome with regard to their medication and actively intervene to
ensure that patients receive optimal care with minimal side effects.
Monitor TPN on a daily basis against individual patients need and clinical
condition.
Assess patients discharge information requirements as early as possible in the
admission stay to be able to prepare information on medicines for them based
on individual need.
Assist with the therapeutic blood monitoring of identified drugs within the
post-holders clinical area including:
* Initial patient assessment and initiation of appropriate loading or starting doses
* Completion of request cards for level assaying
* Interpretation of blood level results and subsequent adjustment of the patients dose of medicine and amendment of the patients prescription in order to optimise the beneficial results of therapy whilst minimising any potential toxicity.
Use MS Word, Excel and Powerpoint to produce patient information, information
for medical and nursing staff, audits and project reports.
Provision of Information and Counselling:
The post holder will:
Advise medical, nursing and technical pharmacy staff on the safe and
appropriate management of medicines together with the safe handling and
disposal of medicines including those which are noxious or harmful.
Advise all health care professionals on storage, stability, compatibility and
expiry issues regarding medicines.
On rotation, assist the Specialist Pharmacist for Medicines Information by
providing information to consultants, General Practitioners, medical, nursing
and pharmacy staff on all aspects of medicines and therapy with medicines for
individual patients and patient groups.
Counsel and provide information about their medicines to patients with complex
needs such as a physical disability which may affect information requirements
(sight or hearing) or language difficulties.
Provision of Professional Dispensary Services:
The post holder will be responsible for:
Providing on a rotational basis the clinical pharmacist check on all
prescriptions dispensed by the Worcester Dispensary. This will require the
scrutiny of prescriptions from medical and other practitioners to ensure they
are accurate, appropriate for the patients needs, legal and cost-effective
with respect to:
* Appropriate therapeutic selection of medicines
* Appropriate dose, frequency and quantity
* Avoidance of potentially harmful drug-drug interactions or side effects
* Adherence to the Trust Formulary, unlicensed medicines policy and high cost drug procedures.
Questioning and challenging the prescriptions of prescribers whenever the post
holder perceives it to be professionally appropriate and in the best interests
of the patient.
Ensuring the accurate dispensing and documentation of clinical trial material
as requested.
Use the Pharmacy Computer System to query the availability, location and cost
of medicines, and to dispense and supply medicines.
Use the Electronic Discharge System for processing discharge prescriptions
Provision of cancer services:
Provide on a rotational basis the professional checking of chemotherapy
prescriptions for patients. This will require the scrutiny of prescriptions
from oncologists and haematologists to ensure they are accurate, appropriate
for the patients needs and supplied withi