Advanced Specialist Mental Health Pharmacist

Overview

In this role you will lead specialist medicines optimisation within community mental health services, working with a multidisciplinary team to improve health outcomes and reduce hospital admissions. You will support service development and provide expert medicines advice to service users, carers and clinicians. The position offers opportunities to use non-medical prescribing and to influence care pathways across primary and secondary care. The role is office-based with a strong focus on collaborative, evidence-based practice.

Pay / Benefits

• flexible working
• career development
• welcoming environment
• diversity and inclusion
• opportunities for training and education
• commitment to high-quality care

Responsibilities

• Deliver advanced medicines optimisation for community mental health patients to support safe, person-centred care
• Collaborate with psychiatrists, prescribers, care coordinators and GPs to optimise treatment and aid recovery
• Conduct medication reviews and make appropriate initiation, optimisation, switching or discontinuation recommendations
• Support identification and use of clozapine and long-acting injectable antipsychotics to reduce relapse and hospital admissions
• Promote relapse prevention through adherence support, patient education and side-effect management
• Improve physical health outcomes via monitoring and collaboration with primary care
• Provide expert education to service users, carers and healthcare professionals to aid informed decisions
• Contribute to service development, quality improvement, audits, research and education across the borough
• Lead or deputise for the Lead Pharmacist in meetings and strategic discussions
• Develop and deliver formal training on pharmacological interventions for multidisciplinary teams
• Where qualified, practise as an independent prescriber in the community service line
• Use Qii methodology and participate in ongoing projects and innovations
• Support staff to optimise medicines in recovery
• Shape prescribing practice through evidence-based recommendations and leadership

Key requirements

• Master in Pharmacy or equivalent
• Registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council
• Evidence of continuing professional development
• Demonstrable advanced experience as a clinical pharmacist in mental health
• Experience in supervising staff
• Experience delivering training to multidisciplinary teams
• Experience developing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating protocols/guidelines
• Desirable: independent prescribing, CMHP/RPS membership, QII training or equivalent, EPMA experience

• clinical leadership
• communication and education
• teamwork and collaboration
• medicines optimisation in mental health
• clozapine and long-acting injectable antipsychotics
• physical health monitoring

…