Job summary
The Senior Clinical Pharmacist plays a crucial role within our virtual wards, with a clinical focus on frailty, respiratory and general medicine, working collaboratively with acute providers across Cheshire and Merseyside ICB. This is an exciting opportunity to work in a dynamic and evolving environment, providing pharmaceutical expertise to support the delivery of safe and effective patient care.

We are looking for a Senior Clinical Pharmacist to join our Virtual Ward Pharmacy Team on a fixed term basis for 12 months, working alongside the Principal Clinical Pharmacist to design, enhance and deliver high quality pharmacy services to patients receiving care on virtual wards. Each role works alongside the pharmacy and clinical teams at the acute trust which deliver the virtual ward service they are allocated to. We are now looking for an enthusiastic pharmacist to provide virtual ward services for Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. The Wirral Virtual Wards offer frailty and respiratory services, based at Arrowe Park Hospital and Clatterbridge Hospital, respectively. The role is split across the two specialities, with majority of input into the frailty service.

Join our team and make a difference in the lives of patients across Cheshire and Merseyside!

Main duties of the job
The main duties of the role include:

• Providing specialist clinical pharmacy services to the virtual wards, ensuring the safe and appropriate use of medicines.
• Collaborating with the multidisciplinary team to optimise medicines management, including medicines reconciliation, prescribing, and monitoring.
• Conducting comprehensive medication reviews and providing evidence-based recommendations to improve patient outcomes.
• Supporting the development and implementation of clinical guidelines, protocols and policies related to pharmacy and medicines management for virtual wards.
• Providing education and training to healthcare professionals, patients and carers on medicines-related topics.
• Contributing to audit, research, and service improvement projects to enhance pharmaceutical care for patients on virtual wards.

About us
Cheshire and Merseyside ICB covers a population of 2.7million people with services provided by 17 NHS trusts, 349 GP practices, 9 local authorities and 590 pharmacies.

This role is hosted by North Cheshire and Mersey NHS Foundation Trust on behalf of the Cheshire and Merseyside ICB and the post holder will be based within the virtual ward services at Arrowe Park Hospital and Clatterbridge Hospital. The role will provide services to the Virtual Ward site but will be part of a team of pharmacists working across all areas of the ICB.

The Medicines Management team at C&M ICB and pharmacy team at North Cheshire and Mersey NHS Foundation Trust are committed to the professional development of their staff. Full induction and training will be provided for staff working in this new area of practice, and we will support staff who wish to undertake additional training linked to their role.

Job responsibilities
The post holder will be an integral member of the C&M virtual wards pharmacy team. The main duties are to provide specialist clinical pharmacy services to patients admitted to the virtual wards across the ICB footprint and be part of the Place virtual ward clinical teams:

please note that a full JD/PS is attached to this vacancy

Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential

• Master's degree in pharmacy or equivalent
• Registered as a pharmacist with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).
• Specialist knowledge acquired through a post graduate diploma course in Clinical Pharmacy or similar or alternatively acquired through relevant and equivalent experience

Desirable

• Registered independent prescriber with the GPhC.

Physical Effort
Essential

• Able to lift / carry pharmaceutical goods.

Experience
Essential

• Extensive relevant post-registration experience
• Broad specialist clinical pharmacy knowledge.
• Developing and undertaking clinical and non-clinical audits.
• Familiarity with the concepts of evidence-based medicines.
• Involved in identifying and assessing risk to improve patient safety.
• Ability to demonstrate evidence of working in multi-disciplinary teams.
• Specialist knowledge and experience on relevant areas of community health services.
• Understanding of issues related to independent prescribing.
• Experience of providing clinical pharmacy services.
• Expertise of addressing and resolving legal issues related to medicines.
• Experience of implementing NICE, NSF recommendations related to medicines.
• Addressing, implementing and monitoring compliance with NHS Improvement Patient Safety Alerts related to medicines.
• Developing and delivering medicines management training to other healthcare professionals

Desirable

• Managing or advising on drug budgets and drugs costs and how to monitor these.
• Experience of provision of medicines information and associated systems.
• Experience of working with older people with complex health needs as a clinical pharmacist.
• Management/supervision of pharmacy staff.

Skills, Knowledge and Competencies
Essential

• Excellent organisational skills.
• Ability to develop effective working relationships at all levels.
• Effective influencing and negotiation skills and ability to persuade others.
• Ability to communicate effectively with a range of healthcare staff including prescribers, social care staff and patients.
• Ability to work independently and within a team.
• Good time management skills, with ability to prioritise and manage own workload.
• Knowledge of other professional registering bodies e.g., NMC, GMC.
• Able to apply sound professional judgement to legal and ethical issues.
• Able to work and deliver within identified timelines.
• Self-motivated and able to initiate change.
• Good written communication skills.
• Methodological approach and attention to detail in terms of medicines.

Desirable

• Ability to generate prescribing data using epact.net and to interpret data produced.

Specific role requirements
Essential

• Reliable, enthusiastic and self-motivated.
• Flexible approach.
• Able to concentrate on dispensing / checking/ clinical screening for extended periods.
• Able to cope with interruptions when busy.
• Able to work to deadlines i.e., transport, patients requiring medication.

Physical skills
Essential

• Computer literate including use of word-processing, excel spread-sheets, power-point.
• Ability to write report and other documents.

Desirable

• Knowledge of primary care clinical Systems (EMIS/SystmOne)
• Knowledge of secondary care clinical systems.

Mental Effort
Essential

• Ability to assimilate, analyse and interpret complex data.
• Critical appraisal skills.
• Ability to challenge.
• Ability to work under pressure and be able to make important decisions.
• Ability to deal with ambiguity and uncertainty.

Skills, Knowledge and Competencies
Essential

• Good presentation skills.
• Good verbal communication skills.

Specific role requirements
Essential

• Professional appearance and manner.

Emotional Effort
Essential

• Exposure to upsetting situations, high level of resilience to deal with distressing and/or challenging situations
• Distressed patients with complex diseases. May work with distressed patients, relatives due to drug regime, drug misadventures.

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

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.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).