Job Description

Do you enjoy the challenges of meeting complex pharmaceutical care needs, with the back-up of an experienced clinical pharmacy team? Are you enthusiastic, self-motivated and keen to improve the direct care of patients?



Following the existing postholder's internal promotion, we have an opportunity for a Specialist Pharmacist to join the OUH Adult Critical Care Pharmacy team. We are a very supportive team comprising Consultant Pharmacist, Advanced Pharmacists and Specialist Pharmacists and we look forward to sharing our enthusiasm for improving pharmaceutical care for our patients with you. The focus of the job will be clinical pharmacy provision to the 30-bed Oxford Adult Critical Care Unit (OCCU), where you will look after general and trauma ICU patients as well as patients from specialised services such as Transplant and Haematology over our two sites. There will be opportunity to gain experience in project work across the Critical Care, Anaesthetics, Pre-op Assessment, Pain & Resuscitation (CAPR) Directorate.



The Specialist Pharmacist Adult Critical Care supports Highly Specialist Pharmacists and the Consultant Pharmacist Critical Care, and works alongside other Specialist Pharmacists in the CAPR pharmacy team to deliver safe, effective and efficient clinical pharmacy services to OCCU . This will include reviewing and optimising prescriptions, attendance at and contribution to MDT ward rounds, as well as providing advice and teaching for junior pharmacy staff and other critical care healthcare professionals, appropriate to the postholder's level of experience.



The postholder will, with appropriate support, deputise for the Senior Pharmacists in Critical Care at medicines or governance related unit level meetings, e.g. the OCC Quality & Safety Meeting, to enable the clinical units to meet high standards of patient care and safety. They will support the CAPR directorate pharmacy team in producing medicines evaluation, medicines protocols and treatment guidelines as well as participating in medicines-related audits or other projects related to Adult Critical Care or related areas as determined by team objectives.



The postholder will occasionally support the CAPR Lead Directorate Pharmacist in providing clinical pharmacy services to other specialities, e.g. Anaesthetics, within their level of skills or following appropriate training if required.



Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest NHS teaching trusts in the country. It provides a wide range of general and specialist clinical services and is a base for medical education, training and research. The Trust comprises four hospitals - the John Radcliffe Hospital, Churchill Hospital and Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Headington and the Horton General Hospital in Banbury.



Our values, standards and behaviours define the quality of clinical care we offer and the professional relationships we make with our patients, colleagues and the wider community.



We call this Delivering Compassionate Excellence and its focus is on our values of compassion, respect, learning, delivery, improvement and excellence.



These values put patients at the heart of what we do and underpin the quality healthcare we would like for ourselves or a member of our family. Watch how we set out to deliver compassionate excellence via the OUH YouTube channel .



Candidates who are successful at being shortlisted for this role will undergo a two stage interview process of a values based interview, followed by a a technical interview .



Main Tasks and Responsibilities



Direct Patient Care



1. Deliver compassionate excellence via a patient focused clinical pharmacy service, in accordance with national medicines optimisation principles and local clinical pharmacy procedures.



2. Analyse prescriptions, alongside technical resources, patient records and information from patient consults to form an opinion on the most appropriate course of action.



3. Accurately and sensitively communicate medicines related information to a variety of healthcare professionals and patients including those with language difficulties, physical or mental disabilities, in a way that facilitates shared decision making.



4. Optimise transfer of patient care, though timely completion of medicines reconciliation and communication with GPs and community pharmacy teams.



5. Participate in and promote antimicrobial stewardship, medicines safety, and medicines effectiveness initiatives.



6. Where relevant to a rotation complete training in clinical trials and support the supply of investigational medicinal products.



7. Where a scope of practice has been identified within a rotation, train to become a NMP

8. For registered professionals authorised to prescribe:

In roles requiring therapeutic medications and treatments, and after approval from the Trust's respective Non-Medical Prescribing Lead, the practitioner will prescribe medications safely and effectively in line with their scope of practice, utilising local or organisational guidelines, national guidelines, and adhering to the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) Prescribing Standards, and those of the GPhC



9. Support OUH dispensaries, and liaise with external agencies (Such as aseptic production services or homecare providers) to ensure safe, timely and appropriate supply of medications to patients.



Supporting Professional Activities



10. Complete a local induction programme, including core training and maintain core skills throughout employment.



11. Act as a role model for pharmacy within the Trust, demonstrating the GPhC Standards for Pharmacy Professionals and our Trust values.



12. Support and promote the Trusts equality, diversity and inclusion principles and our sustainability model.



13. Plan and organise your own workload in alignment with professional and organisational priorities.



14. Delegate and escalate appropriately.



15. Report any unexpected or untoward events via the Trusts incident reporting system.



16. Work collaboratively with the multidisciplinary team, and the support of your team lead, in developing the pharmacy service in line with the department and Trust strategies in response to changing service needs



17. Support compliance with medicines related legislative and regulatory requirements, including maintaining the security and quality of medicines stock and be able to develop an action plan for improvements in a designated area.



18. Support the development and implementation of treatment protocols and guidelines for use of medicines within the clinical area



19. Contribute to and implement the clinical governance plans of the clinical area and the pharmacy clinical governance plans.



20. Participate in, support and lead on Audits, Service evaluation and Quality/Cost Improvement Projects that align to our strategy and support our culture of continuous improvement.



21. Provide specialised professional and technical education at a professional or under-graduate level and at a level that patient/carers can understand in both inpatient and outpatient clinical environments across the primary and secondary care settings.



22. Tutor and support the training of trainee foundation pharmacists and technicians.



23. Any other reasonable duties as requested by the Clinical Director of Pharmacy, or Associate Director of Pharmacy - Clinical Service.



General Conditions



Effort and Environment



High levels of concentration may need to be maintained for extended period Precision and accuracy are essential in pharmacy professionals' work. Physical effort may be necessary to stand for prolonged periods, move between departments, lifting & handling equipment or medicines. Emotional effort may be required to maintain a calm and compassionate disposition when dealing with distressed patients or relatives. Duties may on occasion be considered to be distressing and/or emotionally demanding. Volume of work may occasionally lead to feeling under pressure. There is potential for exposure to cytotoxic or cytostatic medicines and bodily fluids.

Risk Management



The management of risk is the responsibility of everyone and will be achieved within a progressive, honest and open environment.



Staff will be provided with the necessary education, training and support to enable them to meet this responsibility.



Staff should be familiar with the



Major Incident Policy

Fire Policy

Information governance



and should make themselves familiar with the 'local response' plan and their role within that response.

Responsibilities for Health and Safety



The post holder is responsible for ensuring that all duties and responsibilities of this post are carried out in compliance with the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974, Statutory Regulations and Trust Policies and Procedures. This will be supported by the provision of training and specialist advice where required.

Infection Control



Infection Control is everyone's responsibility. All staff, both clinical and non-clinical, are required to adhere to the Trusts' Infection Prevention and Control Policies and make every effort to maintain high standards of infection control at all times thereby reducing the burden of Healthcare Associated Infections including MRSA.



All staff employed by OUH have the following key responsibilities:



Staff must wash their hands or use alcohol gel on entry and exit from all clinical areas and/or between each patient contact.

Staff members have a duty to attend mandatory infection control training provided for them by the Trust.

Staff members who develop an infection (other than common colds and illness) that may be transmittable to patients have a duty to contact Occupational Health.



Child Protection



The post holder will endeavour at all times to uphold the rights of children and young people in accordance with the UN Convention Rights of the Child.

Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults



The Trust is committed to safeguarding children and vulnerable adults throughout the organisation. As a member of the trust there is a duty to assist in protecting patients and their families from any form of harm when they are vulnerable.

Information Governance



All staff must complete annual information governance training. If you have a Trust email account this can be completed on-line, otherwise you must attend a classroom session. For further details, go to the Information Governance intranet site.

Data Quality



Data quality is a vital element of every member of staff's job role. Oxford University Hospitals recognises the importance of information in the provision of patient care and in reporting on its performance. Data quality is therefore crucial in ensuring complete, timely and accurate information is available in support of patient care, clinical governance, performance management, service planning, and financial and resource planning and performance.



All staff should ensure that they have read and understood the Trust's Data Quality Policy.