Advanced Specialist Pharmacist, Community Mental Health Services

An opportunity has arisen for a highly motivated pharmacist with good leadership skills to join the Harrow Older Adults Mental Health Team.

The role will require you to have knowledge with mental health medicines and provide autonomous input into prescribing decisions affecting older adults in mental health crisis.

The OAHTT has intention to revise its EPS system in order to allow electronic recording of medication administered by nursing staff to service users, and the successful candidate will have a role in working with the digital health team to identify an appropriate model for this.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will have a leading role in delivering and supporting the provision of clinical pharmacy services to the older adult community mental health services.

This will involve working with the multidisciplinary teams within the community service to provide high quality, professional and specialist input into the delivery of clinical pharmacy services.

To liaise directly with GPs on specific prescribing/de‑prescribing as appropriate.

To work closely with relevant other community mental health teams and inpatient specialist clinical pharmacists to ensure that seamless pharmaceutical care is provided throughout each patient's journey through the various Trust services.

Working for our organisation

This post offers an excellent opportunity for a candidate with a keen interest in mental health to work in a highly skilled team that is well integrated with local health and social care services.

You will be encouraged and supported in developing your skills to support the development of medication pathways within the older adult mental health team.

• Ensure safe and appropriate use of medicines in order to maximise benefit and minimise risk to patients. This includes regular review of prescriptions, identification of significant drug interactions, advice for clinical monitoring, compliance with legal aspects (Medicines Act, Mental Health Act) of medicine supply and compliance with the Trust formulary.
• Be responsible for providing clinical pharmacy input to the older adult home treatment team, and to the multidisciplinary team caring for outpatients across the community
• Monitors and ensures best practice and cost-effective use of medicines, keeping up to date as best practice changes.
• Be responsible for providing a clinical pharmacy service to groups of patients with mental illness in the community

• Review prescriptions for accuracy and legality and identify actual or potential problems.
• Review medicines and provide medicines optimisation and rationalisation to reduce risks, promote safe prescribing.
• Promote parity of esteem by undertaking clinical medication reviews for patients with complex issues, comorbidities, polypharmacy and ensure appropriate monitoring or tests are requested.
• Ensure effective outcomes of treatment with medicines

• Manage and make appropriate referrals to other members of the multidisciplinary team and within the pharmacy department.
• Work with the Lead Pharmacist and service leads to review patient safety incidents relating to medicines and put systems in place to reduce the likelihood of recurrence.
• Works with the Lead Pharmacist on the implementation of national standards.
• Provide advice to clinicians on unlicensed medicines use and areas of practice where the evidence base is lacking and medical opinion may differ.
• Reduce risk associated with medicines use by contributing to the safe medication practice agenda. This will include identification and reporting of medicines related incidents, advising healthcare and associated staff on any unsafe practice. Support identification and reporting of medicines related incidents through CNWL or borough / PCN/ ICB. To be involved in sharing and learning from medication safety incidents.
• Be able to critically appraise the literature and give accurate interpretation in order to improve use of medicines.
• To demonstrate expert clinical knowledge in the speciality of mental health pharmacy and to motivate and inspire others.
• The post holder will continually update their skills and knowledge as part of continuing professional development.
• To ensure that the Clinical Services Lead and Chief Pharmacists are made aware of circumstances that may mitigate against safe standards of practice in the use of medication and advice on remedial action
• To provide medicines…