Consultant Pharmacist – Antimicrobial Stewardship

at  University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust

We are excited to be looking to recruit to our first consultant pharmacist post at the Trust and across the Devon system.
Are you an enthusiastic, dynamic and experienced clinical pharmacist with an interest in Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS) & Infection Management?
Are you already working as a Consultant Pharmacist or working towards Credentialing as set by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society?
Would you like to be the named AMS lead for the organisation, working closely with the Trust AMS team, consultant microbiologists and DIPC to deliver a high-quality AMS programme, alongside supporting & developing the Integrated care system AMS strategy?
Are you at the stage of your career where you would like to be responsible for managing, leading & coordinating the Trust AMS Team including, advanced specialist pharmacists, data analyst & surveillance assistant?
Applications are encouraged from both existing consultant pharmacists & aspiring pharmacists looking to be accredited in the next 12-24 months. The post is also in the process of being submitted for RPS approval for recognition as a Consultant Pharmacist position.
Pharmacist yet to be complete their credentialing would join as Lead Pharmacist (band 8b) and once credentialed would move up to a band 8c & be awarded the Consultant Pharmacist Title & Trust AMS Lead.

The successful applicant will also be supported to work with Devon ICB and other stakeholders on the system wide delivery of AMS .

• Named antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) lead for the organisation and will be responsible for the leadership and operational delivery of a high-quality antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) programme in line with the agreed priorities for the Trust
• Practice as an expert consultant antimicrobial pharmacist, providing highly specialist evidence-based advice in infection management
• Oversee and or lead regular AMS and antifungal stewardship (AFS) ward rounds with or without a consultant microbiologist and speciality clinician
• Lead, manage and strategically develop specialist clinical pharmacy and medicines optimisation services related to the use of antimicrobial agents within the Trust
• Lead and manage research, quality improvement projects, service evaluations and audits to improve antimicrobial prescribing and infection prevention and control in collaboration with the antimicrobial team, pharmacy department and Higher Education Institutes
• Work with the clinical and governance teams to develop guidelines, protocols and PGDs
• Recognised as a regional and national expert in AMS, representing and acting as a role model for the pharmacy profession at national NHS and government forums

Preference will be given to internal Trust staff, as well as ‘Priority’ and ‘At Risk’ status including NHS At Risk staff throughout Devon who are able to display recent relevant experience as dictated by the Person Specification.
University Hospitals Plymouth NHS is the largest hospital on the Southwest Peninsula providing comprehensive secondary and tertiary care to a population of around 2,000,000 people who can access our specialist services including cardiothoracic surgery, kidney transplantation, neurosurgery, and the regional trauma Centre. Our specialist cancer treatments include bone marrow transplant, sarcoma surgery and hepatobiliary and pancreatic cancer surgery (not exhaustive). We work closely with our community partners in delivering comprehensive health and social care including general practice, care homes, mental health, neurological rehabilitation, and general medicine.
In Plymouth we are undergoing an exciting transformation which is seeing the continuous development of career opportunities for the right candidate. As one of seven NHS Trusts nationally to be hosting the ‘People First’ pilot our team are continuously identifying innovative ways to improve their own practice and in doing so improving our patient’s experience.
From September 2024, the highly-ranked University of Bath MPharm degree will be available to study at the University of Plymouth. There will be opportunities for pharmacist colleagues to participate in these educational activities, with the potential for more formal roles with the University of Bath in the future.

Our team would support you to attain your goals. You will be working with a Chief Pharmacist who is committed to you as an individual.

• Responsible to the Deputy Chief Pharmacist and Consultant Microbiologist lead for AMS for the delivery of a high-quality antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) programme in line with the agreed priorities for the Trust.
• Lead on pharmaceutical matters relating to antimicrobial prescribing, ensuring adherence to national/local guidelines and medicines legislation e.g. Medicines Safety Executive and National initiatives.
• To Interpret, deliver and monitor strategies to comply with national/local targets or statements, for example contributing to national point prevalence audits, anti-infective CQUINS.
• In collaboration with the multi-disciplinary team critically evaluate and interpret published data on new drugs to make recommendations about treatment pathways and cost implications.
• To lead on the implementation of NHSE commissioning decisions relating to the treatment of anti-infectives, ensuring safe prescribing by the production of protocols and guidelines.
• Prepare and feedback regular reports on antimicrobial usage with appropriate interpretation to relevant clinical and managerial staff and committees.
• Monitor and report on patient outcomes in relation to antimicrobials and infection management.

Clinical Practice

• To oversee and/or lead regular AMS and antifungal stewardship (AFS) ward rounds with or without a consultant microbiologist and speciality clinician.
• Participate in antimicrobial stewardship ward rounds and relevant MDTs, review prescriptions, challenge treatment choices and communicate highly complex drug and therapeutic information to senior clinicians, senior manager, other professionals, patients, and their carers in order to influence treatment options.
• Responsible for supporting the Chief Pharmacist / Deputy Chief Pharmacist / Associate Chief Pharmacist in developing, monitoring, and reporting on drug expenditure and medicines budget and the delivery of financial savings on anti-infective agents and antifungal as part of the pharmacy CIP.
• Work as a consultant pharmacist and member of the AMS team and wider UHP pharmacy team, highly providing specialist clinical pharmacy care to patients across the Trust.
• Practice as a Pharmacist Prescriber / advanced practitioner in infection management working within professional competence and an agreed scope of practice at all times.
• Able to develop a personalised pharmaceutical care plan for complex and specialist infection conditions and take responsibility for that plan.
• Able to develop and be accountable for an appropriate monitoring plan for patients with complex infective pharmaceutical care needs.
• Uses expert clinical practice to interpret complex laboratory tests and/or disease markers in the management of patients with infections.
• Accept referrals from medical, nursing and pharmacy staff to resolve complex, challenging or sensitive issues.
• To provide highly specialised pharmaceutical advice and support relating to anti-infectives, to pharmacy staff and other healthcare professionals to encourage and ensure good prescribing practices, optimise outcomes and reduce individual patient and organisational risk.
• To manage, lead and co-ordinate the AMS team including advanced specialist AMS pharmacists, MS data analyst and the AMS surveillance assistant) to provide effective audit and feedback, data collection, data visualisation and report preparation to support the trust AMS programme.
• To manage, lead and co-ordinate the AMS pharmacy team including advanced specialist AMS pharmacists (OPAT and AMS & HIV) and pharmacy technicians in the provision of a safe, effective and efficient clinical pharmacy service in accordance with local and national standards and strategy and to ensure all members of the pharmacy team are trained and competent for their roles.
• Accountable for oversight of the Trust Outpatient Antimicrobial Therapy (OPAT) service to ensure it is delivered in line with BSAC best practice.
• Lead on the monitoring, review, and reporting on medicines related incidents or complaints specifically related to antimicrobials or infection advising on pharmaceutical risk management strategies.
• Work closely with infection prevention and control teams to support healthcare-associated infection (HCAI) root cause analysis and implementing strategies to reduce HCAIs.
• Configure and implement inductions for all pharmacy staff involved in antimicrobial stewardship and to provide education and training to all healthcare professionals as required.
• Development, implementation, and update of clinical pharmacy and medicines related protocols and guidelines related to antimicrobial prescribing across the Trust.
• Propose policy or service changes which improve services and may have multidisciplinary and resource implications.
• Assist in the development and implementation of PGD’s and non-medical prescribing initiatives, when appropriate.
• To prepare for and participate in Peer Review and other external quality assessments.
• To use your expertise as a regional and national expert in AMS within the Trust and externally to form working partnerships with other health and social care service providers from across the wider healthcare system.
• To act as a role model as a clinical pharmacist and team leader, to pharmacists, technicians, ATOs and all other members of the multidisciplinary team.
• The post holder will be required to represent the clinical pharmacy team, microbiology and infection control at both internal and external committees and forums including the Drug and Therapeutics committee, Medicines Safety Committee, Infection prevention and control Clinical Governance and Care Group operational meetings as appropriate.
• As trust AMS lead, to chair the Trust Antimicrobial Stewardship Group
• Be an active member of any Antimicrobial Stewardship networks and represent the Trust at any relevant local and national meetings as appropriate.
• Aligns where possible AMS delivery to the Devon ICB AMS Strategy, supporting a system wide approach.

Please refer the Job description for details