Job summary
Are you a qualified Clinical Pharmacist with an interest in working in Mental Health Services?

We are seeking an enthusiastic and motivated Clinical Pharmacist to join our established, friendly, and highly respected Pharmacy team at St Martin's Hospital in Canterbury on a 12-month maternity cover contract.

This is an exciting opportunity to develop your clinical skills within mental health services while working as part of a supportive multidisciplinary team dedicated to delivering high-quality patient care.

This role would suit pharmacists with previous mental health and hospital experience who are looking to consolidate their skills, as well as those considering a move into mental health pharmacy from another sector.

As a Clinical Pharmacist for the Trust, you will be provided with opportunities for personal growth and development, including support for post-graduate qualifications in mental health pharmacy. Some of our pharmacists are qualified as independent prescribers and the opportunities to qualify and practice as prescribers will grow as our team does.

Clinical Pharmacist Benefits

• Annual leave allowance starting at 27 days per year (when working full time) + Bank Holidays.
• Access to the fantastic NHS pension scheme.
• Eligibility for the Blue Light Card (discount service for the NHS, providing members with thousands of amazing discounts online and on the high street).

Main duties of the job
In this role, you will assist the Lead Clinical Pharmacist, Chief Pharmacist, and Deputy Chief Pharmacist in developing a comprehensive medicines management service to patients in the locality. Duties will include:

• Providing a comprehensive clinical pharmacy service for patients receiving medium secure care at the Trevor Gibbens Unit in Maidstone.
• Developing close working relationships with other members of the multi-disciplinary team and contributing to clinical care plans.
• Responding to medication-related queries, providing advice on prescribing and promoting evidence-based practice.
• Discussing medication with patients and carers and developing a variety of approaches to support informed care.
• Working closely and liaising with other pharmacy colleagues in the other localities and within the community mental health teams to ensure a high-quality medicines management and optimisation service is maintained across the Trust.
• Educating colleagues (including doctors and nurses) about medicines management and medicines optimisation.

If this sounds like the opportunity you have been waiting for, come and join our diverse and compassionate team committed to delivering excellent care and support for service users and their loved ones.

About us
We are Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust. We care for the mental health and wellbeing of people across Kent and Medway and are rated 'Good' by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Our teams support children, young people and adults with a wide range of mental health needs. We also provide specialist services, including all-age eating disorder services and neurodevelopmental assessments for children and young people, such as autism and ADHD.

Because we work across the whole county and across hospital and community settings, we can make care more joined up and easier to access for the people we serve.

Our vision is simple: we are here to help communities not just live with mental illness, but live well. It's why we're passionate about working with communities to make mental health care better for everyone. Everything we do is guided by our values: caring, inclusive, curious and confident.

Join us if you share our passion for better mental health care and want to be part of a team that's working well together.

Job responsibilities
Please refer to the attached job description for full details and main responsibilities of the role.

We are serious about diversity and inclusion, and we are working hard to build this into our DNA. We warmly welcome applications for any of our roles from people from diverse backgrounds, and we are proactively encouraging applications from under-represented communities for our more senior roles, like this one.

Qualifications
Essential

• Masters degree in pharmacy plus 1 year pre-registration training
• Registered with GPhC, with at least 3 years' experience
• Post-graduate qualification in Clinical Pharmacy or equivalent specialist knowledge, acquired through a broad spectrum of clinical pharmacy training and experience

Desirable

• Post graduate qualification in psychopharmacology
• Member of the college of mental health pharmacy

Experience
Essential

• Interest in working in Mental Health Services
• Knowledge of Mental Health therapeutics
• Experience of hospital pharmacy
• Understanding of principals of Clinical Governance
• Able to work collaboratively in multidisciplinary setting

Desirable

• Experience of working on a forensic ward or psychiatric intensive care unit

Knowledge and skills
Essential

• Good level of relevant clinical knowledge
• Good written and verbal communication skills
• Good level of interpersonal skills so as to effectively exchange complex and sensitive information
• Good level of analytical skills
• Up to date knowledge of prescribing issues in mental health
• Relevant knowledge of pharmaceutical standards of practice

Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Applicants must have current UK professional registration.