Frailty Pharmacist/ Frailty Practitioner

at  Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust

Clinical responsibilities 1. To promote and ensure safe, clinically and cost effective drug prescribing and administration to Frailty patients at Frimley Health NHS Trust. 2. To provide a specialist pharmacy service to Frailty, including: a.
a referral service b. guidelines c. training (both to the team and the wider Trust) d. attendance at Clinical Meetings 3.
To work closely with the Consultant Nurse for older people, frailty practitioners, in reach GPs and Consultant Geriatrician to provide effective and reactive services to patients with decompensated frailty to ensure rapid delivery of treatment, care planning and hospital admission prevention where appropriate. 4. Develop, deliver and ensure high quality innovative clinical practice. Be proactive in clinical decision making, underpinned by an advanced level of theoretical and practical knowledge and be able to demonstrate improved patient care outcomes 5.
To work autonomously utilising advanced clinical skills including history taking, clinical examination to formulate differential diagnosis, treatment and management plan 6. To be responsible and accountable for own decisions, actions and omissions at this level of practice, demonstrating a critical understanding of own level of responsibility and autonomy and the limits of own competence and professional scope of practice, including when working with complexity, risk, uncertainty and incomplete information 7. To prescribe and review mediation as a non medical prescriber, including medicines reconciliation on admission, medications on advice of consultants on post-take ward rounds and prescribing of currently prescribed medicines on discharge. 8.
Demonstrate a high level of knowledge in relation to pattern of disease or disorder, markers of condition progression and range of treatment available at each stage of disorder or condition 9. Be able to assess critically and re-evaluate the clinical situation as the patients condition changes. Anticipating likely potential physical and psychological problems caused either by the condition or treatment for individuals living with frailty 10. To be responsible for the delivery of a detailed, accurate and potentially complete clinical handover and to produce detailed and accurate written information within the medical notes regarding all clinical assessments, investigations completed and requested, and treatments administered 11.
To proactively seek engagement within the wider Frimley Health Care & ICS for the Frailty agenda. 12. To maintain a high profile on the wards and provide education and training to multi-disciplinary groups. 13.
To maintain an active presence in both the Frailty & Pharmacy depts. (attendance at meetings, etc) 14. To maintain and develop formal links with medical consultants, plus the medical and nursing teams. 15.
To predict the financial impact of any changes/trends in drug use and make recommendations for cost savings. 16. To actively interdict imprudent antimicrobial prescribing by terminating unnecessary durations, undertaking IV to PO switching or liaising with the prescriber(s) such that this is addressed. 17.
To provide relevant drug information as requested to medical, nursing and other healthcare professional staff. 18. To be an active member of clinical governance groups relevant to the post. 19.
To assist in the development of drug treatment protocols where appropriate. 20. To undertake project work, audit or service improvement work within medical wards, in association with the Clinical Audit department. 21.
To promote patient safety and in particular medication safety by actions and leadership and by encouraging error reporting via the RL6 system thus facilitating medication error reduction processes. 22. To liaise closely with the Pharmacy Governance Manager to ensure that appropriate actions are taken to comply with NHS England Patient Safety alerts, National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) or successor organisations, and Care Quality Commission (CQC) assessments. 23.
To advise medical, nursing and other professional staff on appropriate drug use and selection in order to achieve cost effective prescribing, adherence to Trust formularies and the safe use of medicines. 24. To fulfil the role and duties of the Responsible Pharmacist when required, and complete appropriate records as required by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) 25. To participate in the Frailty weekend (maximum of 3 weekend days per month), and bank holiday rotas.
26. To participate in any other duties as required by the Chief of Service for Frailty, the Chief Pharmacist or their deputies. Leadership and managerial responsibilities 1. Line manage Frailty Practitioners, acting as a role model, mentor, educator and clinical support for the existing service and as it expands.
Ensuring sustainability through succession planning within the team. 2. Participate in the recruitment, selection and retention of both trained and untrained staff which will include the development of job descriptions, short listing candidates and interviewing. 3.
Review the effectiveness of clinical care provided ensuring that patient safety is maintained, and care delivery meets the standards required by the Trust and the Care Quality Commission. 4. Manage change through strategic thinking, use of negotiating skills, self-awareness, and effective communication. Work proactively in managing change in own speciality to improve practice and health outcomes.
5. Undertake clinical supervision and non-medical prescribing supervision sessions to maintain competence. 6. Assess and monitor risk in own and others practice, acting on results, thereby ensuring safe delivery of care.
7. Lead and contribute to investigations of incidents and complaints when required, participate in identifying lessons learned and the sharing of knowledge across the organisation. Education, development and professional responsibilities 1. Act as a constant source of clinical and theoretical knowledge for all grades and disciplines of staff as well as patients and their carers, providing support and clinical advice in specialist areas, based on evidence-based research.
2. Promote a learning environment within the clinical area of responsibility in which individuals take ownership of their professional development. Take an active role in undertaking staff training needs analysis as appropriate. 3.
Critically assess and address own learning needs, negotiating a personal development plan that reflects the breadth of ongoing professional development across the four pillars of advanced practice ensuring own appropriate and ongoing clinical support. 4. Disseminate best practice research findings whilst developing and contributing to local guidelines, interpreting, and adapting national protocols and standards to enhance patient care and safety. 5.
Deliver presentations, participate in workshops on a local, regional, and national level. 6. Ensure own compliance, and team compliance, with mandatory training, revalidation, and lifelong learning

Please refer the Job description for details