Senior LIMOS Pharmacist - Care Homes

This job is brought to you by Jobs/Redefined, the UK's leading over-50s age inclusive jobs board.

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

Are you passionate about the elderly and improving safe use of medicines in care home residents?

Due to maternity leave, we have an exciting part time vacancy for an enthusiastic pharmacist to join our friendly care home arm of the Lewisham Integrated Medicines Optimisation Team (LIMOS) 22.5hours a week (0.6 WTE) for 6 months.

LIMOS is an award-winning team that offers a structured referral pathway for patients in community settings who face medication-related issues. Our specialist pharmacy team provides assessment, support, and follow-up across primary and secondary care, as well as health and social care boundaries to improve the safe and effective use of medicines both across systems and in individual patients and holistic review.

There could be some flexibility with hours being worked over 3 or 4 days a week. Interested candidates are encouraged to make contact for an informal discussion to find out more or discuss opportunities as part of the role.

Main duties of the job

The post-holder will work within the care home service arm of LIMOS supporting older adult residents within Lewisham care homes get the most from their medicines. This role involves collaboration with the wider multidisciplinary team, including GPs, nurses, carers, and other staff, to provide specialised advice to patients and professionals across health and social care. A key responsibility is to manage residents with complex polypharmacy, reducing risk and ensuring benefits of prescribed medicines through a team-based approach to care.

Key objectives also include ensuring that medicine care plans for residents are optimised through holistic and multidisciplinary clinical structured medication review in line with the overprescribing agenda, supporting the implementation of recommendations from the NICE guidance for Managing Medicines in Care Homes including the safe transfer of care, and minimising unnecessary medicines-related hospital admissions.

Whilst experience in care homes is not essential, lots of enthusiasm and a desire to use transferable clinical skills around medicines optimisation and holistic patient care in a primary care setting in the elderly population is key.

Working for our organisation

Being supported by a network of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, this post is an ideal opportunity for clinical pharmacists who have the drive to improve medicines use as a team approach to care. The post maintains close links with secondary care through integrated pathways around medicines support within Lewisham. This close working includes accessing CPD via peer learning events with pharmacy professionals within the borough and across community and secondary care settings.

At LGT, 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:

1. 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
2. Widening access (anchor institution) and employability
3. Improving the experience of staff with disability
4. Improving the EDI literacy and confidence of trust staff through training and development
5. Making equalities mainstream

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Job Purpose:

Lewisham Integrated Medicines Optimisation Service (LIMOS) provides a formal pathway for the referral of patients living in the community setting with medicine-related problems for assessment, support and follow-up by a specialist pharmacy team, working across the primary and secondary care interface and also health and social care boundaries. The post-holder will support the medicines management aspects of this initiative through working within the LIMOS service within care homes in Lewisham Borough.

The key objectives of the role are to ensure that medicines care plans for care home residents are optimised by undertaking multidisciplinary clinical medication reviews, supporting the implementation of recommendations from the NICE guidance for Managing Medicines in Care Homes including around the safe transfer of care, and minimising unnecessary medicines-related hospital admissions The overarching aim is to improve the quality of life and care for these patients and to promote patient centered and cost-effective prescribing resulting in better patient outcomes and maximise the gain from medicines.

This is a highly specialised post, which involves analysing and interpreting highly complex clinical situations to develop, provide and communicate effective medicines management solutions. They will lead the development of this highly specialist service and provide expert advice in this area.

Key Result Areas & Performance:
• To undertake clinical medication review for residents of care homes, identifying areas where medicines use is sub-optimal and put in place solutions to support patients to take their medicines as prescribed.
• To work with individuals and care home staff to determine the most appropriate way for medicines to be supplied and administered for that resident, allowing the resident to maintain independence wherever possible.
• To review patients discharged from secondary care, or transferred from another care setting, to proactively identify any necessary changes and/or rectify any unintentional changes before they result in patient harm, and to identify where admissions may have been medicines related.
• To liaise with relevant healthcare and allied professionals (e.g. community pharmacist, GP, care home staff, hospital staff), particularly when a resident transfers between care settings, to ensure seamless pharmaceutical care and provide specific medication advice where needed and support implementation of safe systems for repeat prescribing and reduction of waste across the healthcare environment
• Participate in clinical audit and collect appropriate management data.
• To ensure an individual medicines care plan is developed and implemented for each resident in partnership with a multidisciplinary team including GPs, community pharmacists, the individual and or their carer/family member, care home staff and other specialists as appropriate.
• To analyse and interpret complex situations and problems involving medicines and devise possible solutions and changes to practice to ensure that ensure that people in care homes receive the same standards of health care as those living in their own home and that evidence based clinical guidelines and practice are applied to the frail older care home population.
• Provide medicines management expertise and support to patients in the full range of intermediate care and service settings.
• Provide support to improve adherence and help patients get the best from their medicines, reducing medicines related admissions (including falls), and promoting appropriate evidence-based and cost effective prescribing.
• Liaise with the patient's community pharmacist, relatives and formal carers as appropriate. Liaise with colleagues across health and social care, where necessary to optimize appropriate patient centred care in respect of medicines. Reporting recommendations to and discussing with the patient's hospital specialist and GP, and signposting or referring to other services as appropriate.
• Provide highly specialist medicines management support to, and training for, nurses and other members of the multi-disciplinary primary care team caring for patients with chronic diseases/long term conditions in the community and hospital setting where necessary, including specialist and Community nurses, and other clinicians as needed..
• Provide highly specialist medicines advice and training to patients, carers, and care home staff on medicines related issues in older people.
• To develop protocols in collaboration with key stakeholders as necessary to support these initiatives.
• To supervise the role of nominated pharmacy technicians and or band 7 pharmacists to ensure the delivery of quality improvement and where appropriate, designated prescribing workstreams within the care home or GP practice setting.

Service Development
• To contribute to developing, implementing and monitoring new systems for Lewisham Integrated Medicines Optimisation Services across care homes with the desired outcome of improving medicines management for vulnerable (and older) patients with complex medicines management needs to contribute to reducing medicines related readmissions to hospital.
• To work with the hospital admitting teams and colleagues from primary care to determine previous medication issues and therefore plan patient requirements to optimise medicines management in all care settings.
• To proactively introduce and implement new/revised policies and guidelines to improve medicines optimisation across primary/ secondary care interface and into the general practice setting
• To obtain feedback on electronic discharge related information to ensure continuing improvement of communications around medicines and associated information on discharge from hospital..
• To provide training regarding medication related issues and good practice concerning systems and processes for managing medicines to pharmacy colleagues, nursing and medical staff, ranging from one to one communications to more formal presentations in order to promote medicines optimisation services and practice.
• To initiate action related to improving the use of medicines for better outcomes and reducing medicines waste across the primary/ secondary care interface and if needed, within the general practice setting
• To support care home staff to implement recommendations from the NICE guidance for Managing Medicines in Care Homes.
• To support care home staff to develop a robust process for identifying, reporting, reviewing and learning from medicines errors involving residents.
• To provide operational and clinical support to medicines optimisation developments and prescribing initiatives and objectives as dictated by the CCG, Trust, and where required, GP practice. d.
• To plan action to continuously improve the quality of services provided within the Pharmacy department and to ensure a quality improvement approach is taken to medication optimisation throughout the Trust.
• To facilitate the expansion and continual promotion of the use of patients own drugs in collaboration with primary care.
• To work closely with band 7 pharmacists where needed to promote and embed the role of a pharmacist either in the care home or GP practice setting.
• To evaluate with the Lead Pharmacist and Principal Pharmacist for Community Services & LIMOS, outcome measures associated with the Lewisham Integrated Medicines Optimisation Service and the resource requirements for extending the service to other areas or patient cohorts as dictated by Trust, departmental and service objectives.

Person specification

Qualifications & Traininng

Essential criteria

• B. Pharm / M. Pharm / BSc (Pharmacy)
• Postgraduate Diploma in either Clinical Pharmacy or General Pharmacy Practice (or equivalent)
• Registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC)

Desirable criteria

• Other postgraduate qualifications relevant to pharmacy practice, such as management or education & training qualifications.
• Registered pharmacist independent prescriber or working towards qualification.
• RPS Faculty Member

Experience

Essential criteria

• A minimum of 5 years post-registration experience
• Experience in clinical pharmacy gained by working in a variety of specialities within hospital and/or community pharmacy services
• Experience in clinical pharmacy gained by working in a variety of specialities within hospital and/or community pharmacy services
• Experience of multi-professional and interface working across organisations
• Demonstrable experience managing and developing pharmacy services.
• Evidence of change management.
• Practical experience in co-ordinating and leading on clinical audit
• Experience in supervising others

Desirable criteria

• Experience of design and delivery of training programmes.
• Experience of working with intermediate care and/or care homes.

Knowledge & Skills

Essential criteria

• Ability to work on own initiative and effectively as part of a team both within pharmacy and a multidisciplinary environment
• Ability to delegate appropriately.
• Ability to manage difficult and complex issues or refer appropriately
• Ability to prioritise and plan work effectively alone and for a team.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate complex information effectively using clear written and spoken English and overcome barriers to understanding
• Self motivation and the ability to motivate others
• Ability to work positively and calmly under pressure
• Proficient in all Microsoft Office software with proven computer literacy and IT skills
• Demonstrated ability to conduct teaching and assessment in accordance with a learning plan
• Knowledge of the mentorship process

Desirable criteria

• In depth specialist knowledge of NHS clinical governance strategy, policy and current issues.
• Evidence of publications.

We reserve the right to close the post before the stated closing date, please apply early. We do not contact applicants with the outcome of the shortlisting. If you have been shortlisted, you will receive an invite to an assessment day or interview.

As a local employer and anchor institution we work closely with our community to recruit locally and we welcome applications from the widest variety of people to ensure our workforce are reflective of the local communities which we serve. We encourage all suitable candidates to apply including if you are Black, Asian or other ethnic minorities, live with a disability (visible or not) or are LGBT+. We have a number of active staff networks including Disability, LGBT+, Multicultural Inclusion and Women's staff networks to bring staff together and celebrate diversity across our whole workforce.

Please note, not all roles will meet the criteria for a skilled worker visa.

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 & Person spec (PDF, 300.0KB)
• Working at LGT (PDF, 4.2MB)