Medicines Information Lead Pharmacist

Job description Job responsibilities

To lead, supervise and deliver the Medicines Information Service and to ensure staffing levels / resources / meet the minimum requirements as recommended by United Kingdom Medicines Information (UKMi): To ensure the service meets the UKMi standards for Enquiry Answering, Education and Training, Publications, Clinical Governance and Risk Management. (UKMi is an NHS pharmacy-based service aimed to support safe, effective and efficient use of medicines by the provision of evidence-based information and advice on the therapeutic use of medicines.) This involves giving patient specific advice on complex and highly complex enquiries on medicines and their place in therapy. Enquiries may comprise written or oral requests and require varying degrees of research, analysis, interpretation and calculation and are processed according to agreed deadlines. Enquiries may be of a sensitive or contentious nature, and may involve providing advice in cases involving ethical dilemmas, vulnerable patient groups or sensitive issues, such as drugs in pregnancy and lactation, substance misuse, palliative care, side-effects and unlicensed medicines. To lead in the communication of highly complex medicine related information to prescribers, clinicians, patients, relatives, carers being aware that other professionals may challenge advice. To lead, manage and run the Patient Medicine Helpline. Plan in conjunction with other MI staff, that there is always an appropriately trained pharmacist or pre-registration pharmacist available to at the very least take in enquiries and/or answer such urgent enquiries. To document all enquiries using a paperless office system / MiDatabank, including relevant patient details, specialist information resources such as textbooks, electronic databases and specialist websites consulted, and advice given. This involves spending the majority of the working day using a computer. To be responsible for the paperless office system / MiDatabank to ensure the system is up-to-date, secure and cost-effective. To research the enquiry using a range of information sources so that information relevant to the query is identified and irrelevant information disregarded in a systematic way. Information is evaluated in an impartial manner and summarised to give appropriate factual information and/or professional opinion. To provide evidence-based answers to enquiries using the most appropriate style of communication for each situation. Manages the Medicines Information Department and own time to ensure that responses are provided to an agreed deadline, which is negotiated with the enquirer. On occasion, advice may be required urgently for patient care and, hence, the workload can be pressurised and unpredictable. Work must be prioritised and adjusted in response to changing circumstances. To be the author of writing and updating standard operating procedures for systems of work in the Medicines Information Department based on UKMi standard operating procedures and UKMi standards. To represent the department at regional and national UKMi meetings and use these networking opportunities to develop new contacts and share best practice. To lead on ensuring that the Medicines Information Department keep the appropriate up-to-date resources, e.g. books, journals and electronic databases. To undertake research in own area of field. To lead on proposing policy or service changes and understanding its impact on other areas. To lead on the implementation of a risk management plan for the Medicines Information department to provide a framework for a safe working system in accordance with UKMi requirements. To develop the service and its customer base across the ICS, working with GPs, PCNs, Community Pharmacies and others. To publish newsletters and other resources for use within the Trust and other users. To lead and be responsible for the undertaking of quality assurance within the Medicines Information Department to ensure the enquiry answering service is of a sufficiently high standard. This includes participating in audit and peer reviews both internally and externally via the UKMi network. The Lead MI Pharmacist is expected to co-ordinate this work with the Pharmacy Clinical Governance Manager. To lead on the organisation and analysis of user satisfaction surveys to ensure the service meets the needs of its users. To lead on implementing to improve the Medicines Information Service as a result of these quality assurance activities. To audit performance of the Medicines Information department against Service Level Agreements in place. To support the specialist pharmacists with the production of medication/ formulary appraisals and guidelines. To support the formulary team with the maintenance of the Trust Drug Formulary, so it is accurate and up-to-date following decisions made at both the APC and MOB meetings. To support the formulary team reviewing Individual Prescribing applications, which are one-off requests for urgent medicines not normally held by the hospital. This involves obtaining background information relating to the request and liaising with the consultant requesting the new drug. To lead on the provision of in-house training in Medicines Information for clinical pharmacists, supervising Specialist MI Pharmacists where appropriate. To lead, supervise, and teach less experienced staff in the enquiry answering service in conjunction with Specialist MI Pharmacists. To lead on the training of trainee pharmacists and junior clinical rotational pharmacists in their Mi rotation in conjunction with Specialist MI Pharmacists. Training is based on UKMi standards and follows a structured approach using a range of UKMi training tools. Helps trainees manage their workload and assess staff performance according to Mi competencies. To lead on providing information / data to individuals requesting information in line with the Freedom of Information Act and documenting this information provision on MiDatabank. To carry out pharmaceutical duties associated with the dispensing of inpatient and outpatient prescriptions. To assist with the training of all levels of pharmacy staff and other healthcare staff as required. To provide clinical cover to other wards as agreed with the Clinical Services Manager in the absence of the regular ward pharmacist. To lecture to medical, pharmacy, nursing and other healthcare professionals as required. To promote cost-effective use of drugs and work with clinicians to develop guidelines, if appropriate. To effectively manage Band 7 Specialist Medicines Information Pharmacists and Band 5 Medicines information Technician. To assist in selection and recruitment of staff. To undertake appraisals for managed staff. To effectively manage performance related issues. To participate in the weekend, late duty, bank holiday and emergency duty service rotas in accordance with Trust procedures. To undertake other reasonable duties, within the framework of the post, as directed by the Chief Pharmacist.