Advanced Specialist Pharmacist for Antipsychotics
An exciting opportunity for an Advanced Pharmacist to play a key role in shaping high quality, person centred mental health care across LSW, primary care, and neighbourhood teams. Working closely with the Lead Pharmacist, you will provide expert clinical leadership in the optimisation of oral antipsychotic medicines, ensuring prescribing is safe, evidence based, and aligned with shared care pathways.
As a trusted specialist, you will deliver proactive 12‑monthly shared care reviews, focusing on treatment effectiveness, safety and monitoring, deprescribing where appropriate. Your expertise will support GPs and neighbourhood teams through a responsive advice and guidance service, helping to resolve medication queries and shared care challenges.
As an integral member of the team, you will champion integrated, place based working, coordinating care across service interfaces and ensuring treatment decisions are made collaboratively, with individuals at the centre. Beyond direct patient care, you will influence improvement by supporting the development of clinical guidelines, shared care processes, audit activity, and QI.
This role offers the opportunity to inspire and develop others in antipsychotic prescribing.
Role may not be eligible for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker route.
Please note that post may close earlier than the specified deadline.
All staff are expected to be able and willing to work across a 7 day service.
Main duties of the job
The Advanced Pharmacist works as a senior clinical specialist in the oral antipsychotic shared care pathway, providing pharmaceutical care across LSW, primary care, and neighbourhood teams. The post holder undertakes complex clinical assessments and therapeutic reviews, optimising oral antipsychotic treatment, managing high risk medicines, and works autonomously within their specialist scope while escalating complex or systemwide issues appropriately.
The post holder contributes to multidisciplinary working, providing expert medicines advice to support integrated care, continuity across interfaces, and person centred decision making. They identify individuals requiring review, coordinate antipsychotic monitoring, and ensure care plans reflect shared, place based approaches.
The post holder delivers responsive expert advice and guidance to GPs, practice based pharmacists, LSW clinicians, and neighbourhood practitioners, supporting safe and consistent application of shared care arrangements. They lead annual shared care reviews, ensuring medicines reconciliation, assessment of treatment effectiveness, physical health and metabolic monitoring, and consideration of deprescribing. Findings and recommendations are communicated clearly, with appropriate follow up and escalation.
In addition, the role contributes to the development of prescribing protocols, monitoring frameworks, clinical guidelines, and patient facing resources, alongside audit, QI, education, and service development.
Job responsibilities
Clinical / Professional
To be responsible for and lead the provision of a high quality, specialised clinical pharmacy service to ensure the safe, clinically effective and cost efficient use of drugs in designated area of mental health.
To be responsible for the delivery of the clinical pharmacy services to nominated areas, including attendance at consultant ward rounds, providing expert pharmaceutical advice and setting standards for junior pharmacists to emulate.
To be responsible for the provision of professional pharmaceutical advice to healthcare colleagues, patients, and carers as necessary, including through the advice and guidance service.
To develop and monitor pharmacy initiatives such as the advice and guidance service, medicines reconciliation and provision of communications through shared care pathways to GPs, which promote seamless transfer of patients from secondary care to primary care and vice versa.
To lead on and develop policy or service changes within designated area of Mental Health which improve ward or community services and be responsible for their implementation with the support of the Lead Pharmacist for Antipsychotics.
To promote and monitor compliance with the South and West Devon Joint Formulary and to assist in formulary applications and review for medicines to be used in designated area of Mental Health.
To work as an independent prescriber, holding a caseload of patients to manage and monitor at 12 month annual reviews when under shared care pathway for oral antipsychotics.
To be responsible for monitoring prescribing practice to promote cost-effective and economic use of resources and contribute to the establishment and implementation of prescribing guidelines within mental health.
To be lead on and be responsible for reporting and review of clinical and other pharmacy related audits within mental health.
To be responsible for the development of junior pharmacist staff within mental health including rotational pharmacists and trainee pharmacists.
To provide evidence of Continuing Professional Development on an annual basis at appraisal, in accordance with guidance issued by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).
To cover for ward pharmacists as required, during periods of absence.
Occasional dispensary cover including dispensing and checking of medication following local SOPs.
Analytical and Judgemental Skills
Have highly developed skills for analysing drug, patient intimation in mental health in order to provide advice on medicines, dosages, production issues/ in areas where information is lacking and medical or other opinion differs.
Clinical screening of prescription charts and undertaking medication reviews including charts and discharge prescriptions, to ensure prescriptions are safe and appropriate.
Responding to and recording medicines information requests from prescribers and other healthcare professionals relating to mental health and providing advice on medicines proactively. In many cases this is a complex task involving highly specialist up to date knowledge, effective search strategies, evaluation of the evidence base and formulation of an appropriate response.
To be responsible for the investigation and monitoring of medicines related incidents relating to mental health within designated area, recommending and implementing change as required to improve patient safety, collating these for discussion at pharmacy team meetings and at the Medicines Governance Group (MGG).
Clinical Governance
To be responsible for and lead on clinical governance and risk management through interventions which optimise the management of medicines in designated area of mental health, supporting best practice throughout all areas of responsibility.
To participate in and lead multidisciplinary groups in the review and development of selected medicines related policies and procedures relating to designated area of mental health and present at meetings, e.g. MGG.
To lead on the development and review of documents e.g. Patient Group Directions, Policies, Guidelines and Protocols relating to mental health and presenting reviewed documents to the MGG.
To support professional leads in identifying and addressing evidence-based medicine practice consistent with the requirements of clinical governance and of national directives.
To work with the Lead Pharmacist for Antipsychotics, Pharmacy Senior Leadership Team and Senior Leaders within Mental Health to lead on continuous quality improvement projects and audit within designated area of mental health.
Managerial
To provide mentoring, training, supervision and line management of mental health substantive and rotational pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and other pharmacy staff and students as required, including appraisals and performance reviews.
To organise the trainee pharmacist timetable when they rotate through designated area of mental health.
To act as Designated Supervisor to a Trainee Pharmacist annually as required.
To mentor/buddy other NMPs within Mental Health.
To act as a Designated Prescribing Practitioner, Educational supervisor or Practice Supervisor as appropriate for members of the team undertaking their independent prescribing training.
Freedom to Act
Pharmacists are expected to work largely unsupervised and to act on their own professional judgement.
Clinical supervision from another health professional can be arranged and is to be encouraged.
Technical roles are defined by standard operating procedures which should always be followed.
Clinical roles are supported by policies and guidelines within which the pharmacist is allowed professional discretion / interpretation.
This role includes setting the parameters under which other pharmacy staff will operate.
Training and Education
To lead on the training and development of pharmacy staff within designated area Mental Health and support training of other staff members within the team as appropriate.
To plan, develop and deliver appropriate training and education to healthcare colleagues, carer groups, neighbourhood teams and outside agencies to promote the safe use and clinical application of medicines within mental health.
To be responsible for and lead on the induction of new pharmacy staff within designated area of mental health.
To assist and lead, where appropriate, on the training provided to pharmacy students, trainee pharmacists and other pharmacy staff.
Health, Safety and Security
To work safely in the home, clinical area, dispensary, ward and office environments ensuring any risks identified to health and safety are managed or escalated to line manager.
To ensure safety and security of medicines, prescription stationery and patient identifiable documents according to locally agreed standard operating procedures.
To inform line manager of any breaches of safety or security or if agreed procedures are thought to be inadequate to manage the risk.
Communications and Relationships
The ability to communicate highly complex drug or medicine related information to prescribers, clinicians, patients, relatives within designated area of mental health via a variety of platforms. This includes advice given through the advice and guidance service.
Well-developed verbal and written communications skills (including telephone and email) are essential to the role.
To liaise with all levels of healthcare staff and professionals working in the multidisciplinary team within or involved in the patients care.
The ability to challenge and accept professional challenge from other health care professionals.
To liaise with patients and carers, neighbourhood teams, the acute hospitals, doctors, GPs, community nurses and community pharmacists to ensure appropriate supply of medicines.
To communicate pharmacy / medication issues clearly and concisely at team meetings and governance groups e.g. Medicines Governance Group.
To work virtually through use of technology where required.
Person Specification
Experience
* Experience as a practising pharmacist, including experience of working in mental health and as a member of a Multidisciplinary Team
* Experience of networking with other healthcare professionals across the full range of disciplines at all levels
* Experience of review and development of pharmacy / medication related policies, procedures and PGDs
* Experience of audit work
* Experience of delivering education to healthcare staff and patients / carers via workshops, informal discussion or formal lectures
* Experience of preparing documents for clinical governance groups and presenting these to a committee
* Experience of leading on audit and producing reports
* Experience of mentoring, supervision and line management
* Experience of influencing, negotiating and implementing change in practice
* Experience of working in a hospital environment
Knowledge
* Excellent knowledge of clinical pharmacy as it relates to mental health and substance misuse
* Knowledge and understanding of antimicrobial stewardship
* Understanding of non-medical prescribing, patient group directions and other alternatives to medical prescribing
* Aware of current healthcare targets, NICE guidance and other national directives and the implications for implementation in primary and secondary care
* Highly specialised knowledge of drug use within mental health
* Broad knowledge of the structure, organisation and priorities of the NHS and other healthcare services at a national and local level
Qualifications
* Masters Degree (or equivalent) in Pharmacy
* Registered Practising Member of the General Pharmaceutical Council
* Specialist knowledge acquired by postgraduate diploma or equivalent evidence of specialist knowledge, competence and achievements in practice in mental health
* Evidence of Continuing Professional Development and revalidation
* Postgraduate qualification in psychiatric pharmacy
* Member of specialist interest groups
* Working towards membership of the RPS Faculty or towards being a credentialed member of the College of Mental Health Pharmacy
* Independent prescriber or willingness to work towards
Skills
* Excellent communication and interpersonal skills including verbal, written and formal presentation skills for a wide variety of audiences
* Computer literate including Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Email and Internet
* Excellent critical appraisal and analytical skills, with a sound understanding of evidence based medicine
* Good listening skills and excellent networking and negotiating skills
* Can work with and influence managers, nursing and medical staff
* Leadership and team working skills
* Ability to act as an excellent role model and mentor
* Self‑motivated and able to motivate others with enthusiasm
* Able to reflect on and appraise own performance and that of others
* Ability to plan and prioritise own work and that of others with good organisational and time‑management skills
* Able to work under pressure and to tight deadlines
* Ability to frequently travel independently and in a timely manner between Livewell Southwest sites and community locations including areas not served by public transport
* Ability to influence and negotiate with a range of stakeholders to implement change in practice
* Able to resolve conflict and disagreement
* Ability to manage change
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
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