Job overview
HIGHLY SPECIALIST CARDIAC (CRITICAL CARE) PHARMACIST
Band 8a plus out of hours commitment
Fixed Term: 12 months
An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced, enthusiastic senior clinical pharmacist to join the cardiac team at Barts Heart Centre, part of Barts Health NHS Trust. This is an exceptional career opportunity for a high calibre pharmacist with vision, excellent organisation and leadership skills looking to develop their career, both clinically and professionally.
Barts Heart Centre is one of the country’s leading cardiac centres and the largest of its kind in Europe. At the forefront of new treatments for heart disease, our patients have some of the best clinical outcomes in the country. We treat patients from across the UK for a wide range of complex conditions including coronary heart disease, arrhythmias and heart failure. Our expanding critical care service includes management of complex post-operative cardiothoracic surgical patients, as well as an ECMO service.
Although this position is a 12 months fixed-term contract, the actual contract duration will be adjusted to account for the time taken to advertise the post, complete the hiring process, and finalise pre-employment checks. This means the contract will begin when the candidate starts the role and may be slightly shorter than 12 months.
Interview date 19th November
Main duties of the job
The post holder will work closely with medical and nursing staff to ensure the continued provision and development of high quality, comprehensive clinical pharmacy services to patients, influencing change at a divisional level, as well as managing junior pharmacy team members. Contribution to the research agenda working with staff across the Pharmacy departments and supervising student placements will also be integral to this role.
The successful applicant will be expected to be a team player with excellent interpersonal and communication skills. Experience in cardiology, as well as the management of level 2 or 3 critical care patients is essential, along with a clear vision of the future of clinical pharmacy within the specialty.
Working for our organisation
Barts Health is one of the largest NHS trusts in the country, and one of Britain’s leading healthcare providers.
The Barts Health group of NHS hospitals is entering an exciting new era on our improvement journey to becoming an outstanding organisation with a world-class clinical reputation. Having lifted ourselves out of special measures, we now have the impetus and breathing space to chart a fresh course in which we are continually striving to improve all our services for patients.
Our vision is to be a high-performing group of NHS hospitals, renowned for excellence and innovation, and providing safe and compassionate care to our patients in east London and beyond. That means being a provider of excellent patient safety, known for delivering consistently high standards of harm-free care and always caring for patients in the right place at the right time. It also means being an outstanding place to work, in which our WeCare values and behaviours are visible to all and guide us in how we work together.
We strive to live by our WeCare values and are committed to promoting inclusion, where every staff member has a sense of belonging. We value our differences and fully advocate, cultivate and support an inclusive working environment.
We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates as they are underrepresented within Barts Health at this band.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The full job description provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience, and knowledge required. For both documents, please view the attachment
Person specification
Experience
Essential criteria
1. Significant experience of working as a registered clinical pharmacy practitioner in an acute hospital NHS setting
2. Appropriate experience in providing a hospital-based pharmacy service within cardiac services, including experience managing level 2 or level 3 patients
3. Experience working as part of a multi-disciplinary team to provide patient care
4. Ability to undertake and facilitate quality improvement, reflective practice, teaching and CPD
5. Experience appraising staff and giving feedback
6. Experience of leading and supervising research, quality improvement or audit projects
7. Clinical experience in critical care
Desirable criteria
8. Experience in local implementation of national standards and guidelines
9. Experience of providing hospital-based clinical service within cardiac services at Band 7 level or equivalent
10. Operational management experience in a complex environment
11. Experience of successfully leading and implementing service improvement and change projects.
12. Experience of managing staff
13. Experience of managing a budget
Skills
Essential criteria
14. Excellent interpersonal skills
15. Able to complete documentation accurately with attention to detail
16. Able to accurately follow written procedures under pressure
17. Demonstrates numeracy skills and ability to perform accurate, complex calculations Ability to plan, prioritise and organise self, and others
18. Able to complete documentation accurately with attention to details
19. Able to accurately follow written procedures under pressure
20. Effective problem-solving skills
21. Excellent clinical and managerial critical appraisal skills enabling effective decision making relating to the adoption of new therapies
22. Excellent verbal and written communication and presentation skills suitable for a range of audiences, including chairing of meetings.
23. Good analytical & organisational ability
Desirable criteria
24. Demonstrated ability to negotiate with and influence senior medical staff and senior management
25. Management of risk in the clinical use of medicines
26. Demonstrates strong leadership skills
27. Demonstrates ability to deliver staff training
Knowledge
Essential criteria
28. Sound knowledge of drugs and therapeutics in cardiology at Diploma level or equivalent
29. Thorough understanding of clinical governance and clinical risk management
30. Knowledge and awareness of current national standards, guidelines and service delivery issues relevant to cardiology
31. Knowledge of Safe and Secure Handling of Medicines requirements
32. Understanding of the importance of adherence to SOPs and legislation
33. Demonstrates a good understanding of patient safety initiatives
34. Knowledge of the medication issues at the interface of primary and secondary care. Awareness of wider NHS policies, e.g. Long Term Plan
35. Up to date knowledge of legislation relevant to pharmacy practice, e.g. controlled drugs, Health and Safety at Work
36. Understanding of stock control systems
37. Able to demonstrate a good understanding of patient safety initiatives
Desirable criteria
38. Knowledge of rationing decisions in the NHS, Payment by Results (PbR) and commissioning
Qualifications
Essential criteria
39. MPharm or equivalent
40. Registered as a pharmacist with the GPhC
41. Postgraduate Pharmacy Qualification or equivalent experience (minimum postgraduate diploma level)
42. Independent prescribing qualification, or willing to undergo training to become an IP
Desirable criteria
43. MSc in Clinical Pharmacy or equivalent
44. Management qualification or equivalent experience
Other
Essential criteria
45. Leads by example, promoting the Bart’s health values
46. High level of work organisation, self-motivation, drive for performance and improvement, and flexibility in approach and attitude
47. Committed to the continuous development of staff and self
48. Decisive, using sound judgement in decision making in a timely and confident manner
49. Commitment to developing culture of openness and partnership
50. High self-awareness, understanding own emotions, strengths and limitations
51. Excellent verbal and written communication and presentation skills suitable for a range of audiences, including chairing of meetings
52. Able to move easily between the detail and the big picture on issues in understanding and explaining the complexity of challenges and possible solutions
53. Models, and is able to encourage others in being innovative in finding ways of improving the quality of services
54. Able to act as an Ambassador for the Service
55. Able to act as an Ambassador for the Service