This is a very exciting opportunity for an enthusiastic and experienced pharmacist to undertake the Lead Rheumatology Pharmacist post at Frimley Park Hospital. At Frimley Park Hospital, services to the rheumatology patients are provided through a team dedicated to delivering high standards of care to rheumatology patients. The post holder will work closely with colleagues in the rheumatology team in the hospital, as well as colleagues in the ICS and community.
The post holder will lead the delivery of clinical pharmacy services to the rheumatology team, including review of guidelines and processes, training of junior pharmacists and other MDTs, and extensive review of patient’s medication to ensure medication optimisation is practised. In addition, this post holder will hold clinics and support homecare prescribing.
The Trust has recently started using the new electronic patient record system EPIC, so the post holder will have the opportunity to review ways of working and work with the MDT team to improve processes and patients’ outcomes.
Main duties of this role include:
- Provision of clinical pharmacy services to the rheumatology patients and clinics.
- Run clinics and co-ordinate homecare prescribing.
- To take an active role in committees relating to specialist area e.g. clinical governance committee
- To write and review rheumatology guidelines and work with directorate pharmacist at Wexham Park Hospital to review and send communications about rheumatology medicines.
- Provide clinical pharmacy services to other patients within the hospital
More details in the job description.
There’s never been a more exciting time to build your career at Frimley Health, one of the country’s largest and most respected trusts
Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust (FHFT) has an outstanding reputation and a proud record of achievement. We have an ongoing commitment to improving the health and care services for the 900,000 people we serve across Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey and south Buckinghamshire.
We continue to invest in our services and facilities, including a £10 million upgrade to the hospital maternity unit as well as £49m major new Emergency Assessment Centre on our Wexham Park site. The opening of a brand new £100m state of the art hospital which replaced the existing hospital facility at Heatherwood and are planning to invest further in diagnostics and inpatient capacity at Frimley Park.
We have also made significant investment in our quality improvement and digital programmes to support our vision and we will ensure that we achieve our aim of providing the highest quality healthcare to our patients. Our new EPR – Epic – went live in June and we are already beginning to reap the benefits of this ambitious investment.
Our three core values, and the behaviours that support them, guide everything we do and set out what we expect of our staff in the way they treat patients, visitors, service users and each other.
If you have a passion for clinical excellence, patient care and your own career development, you’ll feel at home at Frimley Health.
1.1.1 To work closely with the senior pharmacists, clinicians, nursing staff and other senior managers to develop pharmaceutical services to patients within the directorate.
1.1.2 To ensure close relations cross-site with the pharmacy team at Wexham Park Hospital
1.1.3 To provide a clinical service to Rheumatology Clinics & reviews at FHFT.
1.1.4 Provide a clinical pharmacy service to specialised areas and a clinical pharmacy service to cover other areas when ward cover is needed. The service includes:
• assessing pharmaceutical care needs
• initiating and carrying out care plans
• medicines reconciliation and optimisation
• review for need of drug therapies, selection of appropriate drug therapies/doses / modification of existing therapies
• advice to doctors / other health care staff
• discharge planning
• counselling patients
• attending ward rounds as per departmental requirements, which may involve flexibility of start / finish time
1.1.5 The service is according to departmental procedures and meets the minimum standards agreed with the Clinical Pharmacy Manager. The service provided will take current legislation into account.
1.1.6 To fulfil the role of an Independent Prescribing Pharmacist within the individual’s area of competence, including medicines reconciliation on admission and prescribing of currently prescribed medicines on discharge.
1.1.7 To help develop and promote suitable shared care arrangements for medicines between hospital and primary care by providing relevant information to patients and health care workers.
1.1.8 To take an active role in committees relating to specialist area e.g. clinical governance committee
1.2 Development of the Service
1.2.1 To undertake research in own area of field.
1.2.2 To lead on proposing policy or service changes and understanding it’s impact on other areas.
1.3 Formulary and Guidelines
1.3.1 To ensure that drugs utilised within the directorate reflect the recommendations, the policies and formulary of Frimley Health and those of tertiary centres. To increase economic awareness within the area through directorate financial reports and to advise on cost effective prescribing..
1.3.2 To produce drug evaluations for the DTC and MOB as requested by the Clinical Pharmacy Manager. To make recommendations to the directorate concerning the introduction and use of new drugs.
1.3.3 To make recommendations to clinicians and pharmacy concerning drug supply problems relating to drugs used within areas of specialty according to pharmacy procedures
1.3.4 To work with clinicians and nurses to develop, implement and monitor the use of protocols within Rheumatology to ensure the safe use and supply of medicines. This includes the development of protocols and advice to nursing
1.3.5 To support the maintenance of the Trust Drug Formulary, so it is accurate and up-to-date following decisions made at both the DTC and MOB meetings.
1.3.6 In the absence of the Principal Pharmacists ensure that consultants, requesting new products / new users of existing drugs, are provided with the relevant information and request forms.
1.3.7 In the absence of the Principal Pharmacists, to review Individual Prescribing applications, which are one-off requests for urgent medicines not normally held by the hospital. This involves obtaining background information relating to the request and liaising with the consultant requesting the new drug and the Chair of New Drugs and Formulary Committee.
This advert closes on Wednesday 2 Apr 2025