Lead Digital Pharmacist

Job description Job responsibilities JOB DESCRIPTION FRONT COVER SHEETJOB DESCRIPTION: Lead Digital Pharmacist DIRECTORATE: MedicalTEAM: PharmacyRESPONSIBLE TO: Medicines Safety OfficerLOCATION: Mount Gould Admin Building/Hybrid WFHWORK PATTERN: Monday to Friday, Occasional on-call evening and weekends.JOB DETAILS

Job Title:

Lead Digital Pharmacist

Band:

8B

JOB PURPOSEThe Lead Digital Pharmacist is a senior strategic clinical leader responsible for organisation wide leadership, design, implementation and optimisation of digital medicines systems, with particular accountability for Electronic Prescribing and Medicines Administration (EPMA).The post holder provides expert professional, clinical and digital leadership across mental health, learning disability, neurorehabilitation and community services, ensuring that digital medicines systems enable safe, effective, legally compliant and person centred care. The role has a Organisation wide impact, shaping digital medicines strategy, influencing corporate decision making, and ensuring alignment with national policy, regulatory requirements and transformation priorities.Operating at a highly autonomous level, the post holder acts as the principal specialist authority for digital medicines optimisation, providing expert advice to the Clinical Director of Pharmacy, senior clinicians, managers and executives on complex, high risk and strategic issues relating to digital prescribing, medicines safety and clinical workflow design.3. SCOPE AND RANGEThe Lead Digital Pharmacist operates at a strategic and corporate level, providing leadership across the full lifecycle of digital medicines systems, from strategy development and system architecture through to implementation, assurance, optimisation and continuous improvement.The post holder:Acts as the organisations senior clinical subject matter expert for digital prescribing, EPMA, interoperability and medicines related digital infrastructure.Leads complex, multi professional and multi directorate programmes of work that have a significant impact on clinical practice, patient safety, legal compliance and organisational risk.Exercises professional leadership across pharmacy, nursing, medical, digital and informatics teams, influencing practice without direct managerial authority where appropriate.Chairs or provides senior input into corporate governance and assurance structures, ensuring that digital medicines systems meet statutory, regulatory and clinical safety requirements.The role requires advanced clinical judgement, strategic thinking and expert knowledge, particularly in relation to high risk medicines, complex prescribing regimens, mental health legislation, and digitally enabled clinical pathways.MAIN DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIESStrategic and Professional LeadershipProvide visible, organisation wide leadership for digital medicines optimisation, shaping strategic direction and supporting delivery of corporate priorities.Act as the corporate lead pharmacist for EPMA and digital medicines systems, representing pharmacy at senior internal and external forums.Provide expert, high level professional advice to the Clinical Director of Pharmacy, Medicines Safety Officer and executive colleagues on digital medicines strategy, risk and assurance.Influence and negotiate change at a senior level across professional and organisational boundaries to deliver transformational improvement.Responsibility for Managing People and Professional PracticeProvide line management and professional leadership to senior specialist roles within the digital medicines workstream, including the Lead EPMA Nurse.Offer expert clinical supervision, mentorship and leadership to pharmacists, technicians and other professionals working in digital and medicines safety roles.Act as a senior role model, promoting advanced professional practice, innovation, and continuous improvement across pharmacy and multidisciplinary teams.Contribute to workforce development, succession planning and capability building for digital medicines roles.Responsibility for Service Development and Clinical GovernanceLead the development, implementation and ongoing review of organisation wide digital medicines policies, procedures and governance frameworks.Ensure EPMA and related systems are configured to reflect complex legal frameworks including the Mental Health Act, Mental Capacity Act, consent to treatment processes and restrictive practice requirements.Provide assurance that digital medicines systems support safe clinical workflows, reduce variation and manage medicines related riskLead the response to medicines safety incidents and emerging risks related to digital prescribing systems, advising on mitigation and improvement actions.Responsibility for Financial and Physical ResourcesProvide strategic oversight of EPMA configuration and digital tools to ensure cost effective, evidence based and sustainable use of medicines.Lead formulary governance within digital systems, balancing clinical effectiveness, safety and financial stewardship.Use advanced data analysis and reporting to inform executive level decision making, identifying trends, risks and opportunities for improvement.Contribute specialist expertise to business cases, investment decisions and digital transformation programmes affecting medicines management.Responsibility for Information, Analysis and Complex Decision MakingExercise advanced specialist judgement in situations involving clinical uncertainty, incomplete evidence, conflicting professional views or significant organisational risk.Lead the development and interpretation of complex digital reports, analytics and dashboards to drive quality improvement and patient safety.Ensure that decisions related to digital medicines systems are robust, defensible and capable of standing legal and regulatory scrutiny.Clinical Practice (Specialist)Where required, provide a highly specialist clinical pharmacy service to support complex digital, medicines safety or transformation priorities.Maintain professional competence and credibility to support expert leadership, recognising that clinical delivery is not the primary focus of the role.Research, Audit and InnovationLead and support strategic audit, evaluation and research activity in digital medicines and mental health prescribing practice.Promote innovation, adoption of best practice and contribution to the wider professional evidence base through publication and dissemination of learning.COMMUNICATIONS AND RELATIONSHIPSProvide senior professional and strategic leadership to the EPMA programme, including chairing and facilitating key operational and governance forums to ensure delivery against organisational priorities and safety objectives.Lead engagement with senior clinicians, professional leaders and operational teams to codesign, influence and embed EPMA and EPS systems, supporting complex organisational change and promoting adoption of safe, standardised digital prescribing practice.Communicate highly complex and sensitive medicinesrelated information to people who use services, carers and families, ensuring information is accessible, legally compliant and supports informed shared decision making. This may include managing challenging conversations with individuals with mental health conditions or learning disabilities where there is significant clinical, emotional or behavioural complexity.Provide authoritative expert advice on medicines and digital prescribing to prescribers and other healthcare professionals, including participation in senior multidisciplinary forums, delivery of strategic briefings, and written guidance. This includes constructively challenging established clinical decisions where required to mitigate risk and ensure safe practice.Work in close partnership with senior pharmacy technicians and specialist staff to develop, communicate and oversee implementation of EPMA related improvement actions, ensuring consistency and safety across the organisation.Communicate organisational standards for safe and effective medicines use to medical and nursing staff through strategic engagement, audit feedback, presentations and formal governance structures, supporting the Medicines Safety Officer in fulfilling statutory and regulatory responsibilities.Provide assurance through accurate, professional documentation of specialist clinical interventions, ensuring that medicines related decisions and actions are clearly recorded, communicated and auditable.Develop and maintain strategic relationships with external healthcare organisations, commissioners and system partners to influence and improve digital medicines systems and pathways across organisational boundaries.Communicate complex EPMA and digital medicines issues to multi professional and corporate groups, including digital transformation, informatics and operational teams, shaping system design and clinical workflows.Act as the senior clinical interface between pharmacy and wider digital programmes, providing expert input into the development of integrated electronic patient record workflows, including systems such as SystmOne EPR, and ensuring alignment with medicines optimisation and patient safety requirements.Working ConditionsPredominantly office based with hybrid working arrangements.Regular presence in clinical environments, including mental health inpatient and community settings, which may involve exposure to challenging conditions such as noise, distressed behaviour or contact with bodily fluids.