Job summary
Employer heading
Principal Pharmacist for Community Services / LIMOS
Band 8b
Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, (LGT), is a community-focused provider of local and acute care, delivering high-quality services to over one million people living across the London boroughs of Lewisham, Greenwich, and Bexley. We provide whole-life care and are here to support our communities to live healthier lives as well as taking care of them when they need us the most.
Employing almost 7,500 colleagues, affectionately known as Team LGT, we provide services at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich, University Hospital Lewisham, and at over a dozen community settings in Lewisham. We also provide some services at Queen Mary’s Hospital in Sidcup.
We have recently launched our new vision and values to mark the LGT10 – the tenth anniversary of our Trust forming in 2013. Our trust vision is to be exceptional. In the quality of our patient care; our support for colleagues; and in the difference we make through our partnerships and in our communities.
To achieve this we value Respect, Compassion, and Inclusion; Being accountable over staying comfortable; Listening over always knowing best; and Succeeding together over achieving alone. You can read more about our visions and values here
Our hospitals and community sites provide a wide range of inpatient and outpatient services, as well as emergency and planned care. The Trust is rated as “good” or “outstanding” in over three-quarters of the services inspected by the Care Quality Commission.
Every year our work includes performing 10,000 procedures in our theatres; bringing seven and a half thousand new lives into the world; carrying out 570,000 visits to patients in their homes or communities and providing emergency care for more than 300,000 patients arriving in our busy Urgent and Emergency Departments.
LGT is a centre for the education and training of medical students enrolled with King’s College London’s GKT School of Medical Education. We are a training centre for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals. We are pioneering new roles that will support the changing needs of our patients and are one of the largest employers of physician associates in the country.
We are committed to working with our partners to deliver the best outcomes for our local communities. This means playing an active role in the South East London Integrated Care System (ICS), and in formal partnerships including the South East London Acute Provider Collaborative, provider partnerships with our local mental health trusts and borough-based boards of the ICS in Bexley, Greenwich and Lewisham.
Job overview
Interested in a clinical leadership role working across both the interface and community setting as part of an established, successful, and friendly pharmacy team?
An exciting and unique opportunity has arisen for an enthusiastic, senior pharmacist to work within a leadership role as part of the Community Services Pharmacy team and award-winning Lewisham Integrated Medicines Optimisation Service (LIMOS). LIMOS provides a formal pathway for medicines support and pharmacy input which is integrated across both the pharmacy workforce and wider multidisciplinary teams working in hospital, community and care home settings.
Interviews will take place Thursday 19th December 2024
Main duties of the job
This senior role requires partnership working across both health and social care interfaces and presents the opportunity to further develop the integrated approach to medicines across community, primary and secondary care settings in Lewisham.
Key responsibilities include management and further development of the interface and domiciliary care service arm of the LIMOS team, provision of strategic pharmacy leadership around immunisation and vaccination to provider services, professional input into the development of patient group directions, and oversight of the safe and secure handling of medicines and associated policy development and medicines optimisation in community settings. The post will also include an element of clinical commitment and direct patient care to provide patient centred and holistic medication reviews to proactively manage people with complex polypharmacy particularly the elderly and those with multiple long-term conditions in both in-reach and home settings.
In addition to having lots of enthusiasm, applicants should ideally have some experience of working in primary care or the community services setting and a multidisciplinary environment. This is a full-time post however candidates interested in a degree of flexible working are also encouraged to make contact to discuss opportunities ahead of application.
Working for our organisation
LIMOS is a unique and highly regarded team which enables a collaborative approach to medicines support across the pharmacy workforce within the hospital, community and GP practice settings. Integration of medicines support assessments within pathways for social care adds to this joined up approach to a rewarding opportunity to work as part of the MDT to improve patient care as part of the delivery of robust structured medication reviews and overprescribing agenda.
Our people are our greatest asset. When we feel supported and happy at work, this positivity reaches those very people we are here for, the patients. Engaged employees perform at their best and our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) initiatives contribute to cultivate a culture of engagement. We have four staff networks, a corporate EDI Team and a suite of programmes and events which aim to insert the 5 aspirations:
- Improving representation at senior levels of staff with disabilities, from black, Asian, and ethnic minorities background, identify as LGBTQ+ and women, through improved recruitment and leadership development
- Widening access (anchor institution) and employability
- Improving the experience of staff with disability
- Improving the EDI literacy and confidence of trust staff through training and development
- Making equalities mainstream
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
To be responsible for provision of pharmaceutical advice and/ or support to appropriate provider/community services to ensure the legal, safe and secure handling of medicines in the community settings.
To facilitate the co-ordination for Trust wide clinical governance initiatives related to community services, promoting multidisciplinary engagement and delivery of such initiatives
To manage and develop the interface and domiciliary arm of the pharmacy Lewisham Integrated Medicines Optimisation Service (LIMOS), monitor implementation and the impact on care.
To provide operational and clinical support to pharmacy developments as dictated by Trust, departmental and service objectives.
To deputise for the Service Lead Pharmacist – Community Services / LIMOS.
Person specification
Experience
Essential criteria
- Experience of medicines management in community care and domiciliary settings
- Demonstrable experience managing and developing pharmacy services.
- Previous management role.
- Evidence of working collaboratively with multi-disciplinary teams.
Desirable criteria
- Registered pharmacist independent prescriber
- Experience of the medicines management issues for vulnerable client groups e.g. complex elderly / vulnerable / multiple LCTs
- Minimum of 3 years experience in primary care or community care setting.
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Specialist knowledge in relevant areas of community health services e.g. patient group directions (PGDs) and immunisation & vaccination.
- Understanding of primary care issues and organisational structures
- Ability to think strategically. Applies sound professional judgement to legal and ethical issues.
- Ability to prioritise and plan work effectively alone and for a team Including the ability to delegate appropriately.
Desirable criteria
- Expertise on legal issues and support e.g. PGD development.
Personal Qualities
Essential criteria
- To be able to negotiate with health professionals in a diplomatic manner, including when knowledge is challenged, occasionally in an emotional atmosphere.
- Flexible approach to work
- Ability to cope with challenges and change
- Demonstrable ability to inspire others to be positive in support of continuous improvement
- Reliable, polite and approachable
Applicant requirements
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Kath Howes
- Job title
- Lead Pharmacist LIMOS / Community Health Services
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 07789271074
- Additional information
Dibya Rai (current postholder)
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