Associate Director Pharmacy- Medicines Assurance & Pharmacy Governance

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Detailed job description and main responsibilities

**** If you are successful in the shortlisting round you will be invited to attend a recruitment and selection process. This is likely to take place in Early November. ****

We are a large and friendly team at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust (UHCW) operating from University Hospital, Coventry and Hospital of St Cross in Rugby. Our large Acute Teaching Hospital has almost 1400 beds and is located in a PFI hospital which opened in 2006, situated just off the junction of the M6 and M69.

We are a major trauma centre and tertiary and specialist referral centre for many specialties including Neurosciences and Stroke, Oncology, Haematology, Paediatrics, Cardiothoracic, Renal Medicine and Renal Transplant. We are also a large clinical trials centre with over 140 active trials currently recruited to.

In 2018 we fully automated all our medication storage on wards (72 Omnicells and growing), this was the first part of our move towards our longer term automation strategy. The next phase has been to automate our main dispensary (July 2023) ready for the new Trust EPR system (which arrived summer 2024) . This is an exciting time to join this journey as we move towards being fully automated across all our activities; prescribing, clinical screening, dispensing and storage.

As a medication wholesaler we also support many local partners with clinical pharmacy services. We also work closely with our national/local commissioners and partner organisations. The post holder will be required to work closely and build relationships with all our key partners.

As an acute teaching hospital our department has strong links with the Medical School at Warwick University, the Department of Medicines Management at Keele University and the School of Pharmacy at Aston University.

The post holder will work closely with SLT colleagues and will be supported and mentored by the Director of Pharmacy. As an expanding and busy service there will always be opportunities to stretch and develop, the only moderation being the pace you want to set, support from SLT being implicit.

The Trust has a dedicated team to support continuous quality improvement (QI) and we are focused on embedding a QI culture within pharmacy, using defined methodology to develop and improve our services. UHCW was selected as one of only 5 Trusts to work in collaboration with Virginia Mason of Seattle, USA. Virginia Mason developed and adopted a management system that has been sustained over the last 15 years. This continuous improvement culture has resulted in them being recognised as one of the safest hospitals in the USA. They have developed the original lean tools and methodology of Toyota Production Systems, and applied it to healthcare to establish a patient centered approach to improvement. Adopting patient centered tools to empower staff and drive changes to Organisational cultures. As a department we have actively encouraged and support our leaders to develop through these programs.

If the advert interests you please take some time to read the attached JD/Person Spec, advert and structure chart, for a detailed view of what kind of leader we are looking for.

Interested and considering applying? We would encourage you to get in touch with us to arrange an informal discussion and/or visit. Also take some time to look at our Twitter page @UHCW_Pharmacy, to get a feel for the team and trust. Look forward to hearing from our next Associate Director - Trust Medicines Assurance and Pharmacy Governance. The post holder will:

• Ensure Trust Medication related policies are robust, enabling and reviewed with stakeholders as a key Trust assurance.
• Provide professional leadership and management of the pharmacy Governance Team, delegating certain aspects through the Lead Pharmacist(s) and Technician(s) as appropriate.
• Be responsible for the continual development and implementation of medicines assurance strategies and policies that meet the needs of the Trust, its patients and any local or national drivers, standards or legislation.
• Support the Director and Deputy Director of Pharmacy in achieving the long terms goals and vision of the Trust and Pharmacy Department.
• Deputise for certain aspects of the Deputy Director and Directors role as needed.
• Develop and maintain a Medication Strategy Dashboard (Trust) and maintain the internal pharmacy governance dashboard
• Pro-actively influence safe and cost effective therapy with medicines with other senior clinical staff within the Trust, aligned to governance drivers
• Be a member of and provide specialist and expert advice and direction to various Trust committees that may include, Medicines Management/Practice Committee, OMT and QIPS
• Ensure the Lead Pharmacist - Clinical Guidelines and PGD's and Lead Pharmacist - Medication Safety Officer are supported and accountable via line management to deliver their portfolios. Line manage other senior staff across the department where required as part of a supportive SLT role.
• Work with the Pharmacy SLT to regularly review and alter staff skill mix to meet changing needs and capacity.
• Demonstrate innovation in the delivery of Medicines Optimisation approaches so the boundaries of current service delivery are extended and the potential skills of the workforce are utilised to the maximum.
• Provide pharmaceutical and governance input to the development, implementation and maintenance of EPR/EPMA or any other IT related system at the Trust, supported by the Lead
• Pharmacist - EPR/EPMA and supporting the Deputy Director of Pharmacy.
• Lead, encourage and cultivate an environment of clinical and practice based research and audit. To develop and contribute to current and future research and audit projects associated with the use of medicines, prescribing and related matters.

For further details of the role please see the attached job description.

Person specification

Qualifications & Training

Essential criteria

• See supporting documents

Desirable criteria

• See supporting documents

Experience

Essential criteria

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Desirable criteria

• See supporting documents

Knowledge

Essential criteria

• See supporting documents

Desirable criteria

• See supporting documents

Skills & Abilites

Essential criteria

• See supporting documents

Desirable criteria

• See supporting documents

To ensure that we provide world-class patient care, UHCW recruits people that can demonstrate the Trust's Values and Behaviours in their everyday life. Therefore, if you are invited to interview, you will be undertaking a Values Based Interview/Assessment, which explores not only what you do but how and why you do it.
Before applying, we encourage you to review the Trust's Values and Behaviours which can be accessed on the right side of this page under the job description.
The Supporting Information Section in your application should therefore reflect your understanding of the Trust's Values and associated Behaviours. You will be expected to provide us with examples from work experience and/or personal life which demonstrate these values through your behaviour.

The Trust is committed to Equal Opportunities within the workplace. All vacancies will be considered for Job Share unless otherwise stated. All applicants who have a disability and who meet the minimum criteria for the job will be interviewed. Where a post has an overwhelming response, this Trust may use random selection in order to reduce numbers to interview, any disabled applicants will automatically be guaranteed an interview and will be exempt from this process.

In submitting an application form, you authorise University Hospital Coventry & Warwickshire NHS Trust to confirm from your previous or current NHS employer and other prior employers; previous NHS service details and personal data held about you, including Occupational Health data (inoculations and screening tests). This data will be transferred using NHS Electronic Staff Record and third-party systems via an automated process and only used for the purposes of obtaining and maintaining accurate employment records, should you be appointed to the post.

UHCW NHS Trust, by virtue of its Green Plan, is committed to ensuring that the way we provide services minimises the impact on the environment and the future health of the public e.g. zero waste to landfill, reducing our carbon footprint and increasing our recycling and reuse percentages.

If you are successful at interview you will receive a conditional offer of employment and we'll ask you for information so that we can carry out pre-employment checks. You must successfully complete all pre-employment checks to progress to a final unconditional offer.

We must confirm the identity of our staff and their right to work in the United Kingdom. We will ask you to submit proof of your identity and right to work documents via a secure digital platform approved by the Home Office, named TrustID. Alternatively, you may be asked to attend our office with original documents.

Depending on you level of exposure with patients you may be required to undertake a Standard or Enhanced DBS. The cost of this check will be charged to you and will be deducted from your salary over the first 3 months of employment at the current rate.

All correspondence will be sent by email; please check your account regularly including your Junk/SPAM folders

Employer certification / accreditation badges

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

• Job Description (PDF, 214.8KB)
• Job Advert - please read (PDF, 320.6KB)
• Team Structure - please read (PDF, 328.6KB)
• Candidate Information (PDF, 291.8KB)
• Welcoming Candidates with Disability (PDF, 49.5KB)
• How to complete an application form & Values Fact Sheet (DOCX, 874.6KB)