Pharmacist Specialist – Primary Care – National Operations

Grade A – £50,466 (National Framework) or £55,484 (London Framework – if you are London office based or homebased and live within the boundary of the M25) – There is also an additional homeworking allowance of £514 per annum for those working from home Contracted Hours: Full time 37 hours per week Contract Type: Permanent Location: Home based – Flexible     Are you committed to helping us regulate health and social care within England? When thinking about what drives you every day in your job, what keeps you motivated and passionate about your work what comes to mind? For 3000+ people at the CQC we end each day knowing that we have made a difference to the lives of those most in need in our communities. We make sure health and social care services provide people with safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care and encourage care services to improve. We are looking for people who are caring, demonstrate integrity and work well as part of a team to join with us and share in this sense of achievement. If you would like to help us make a positive impact to health and social care within England, then read on. Why this could be a great role for you…. As a Pharmacist Specialist with significant experience in primary care, you’ll be part of a dynamic Medicines Optimisation Team providing specialist advice and expert knowledge to support inspection, registration and risk management across the organisation. You will be leading and promoting CQC’s medicines optimisation agenda in all health and social care services. What we can offer you… Your health and wellbeing are important to us and are supported through generous annual leave (starting at 27 days and rising with service to 32.5days, plus 8 Bank Holidays), a cycle to work scheme, discounted gym vouchers and access to a free employee assistance service 24 hours a day. We also understand the importance of financial health and offer membership of the NHS pension scheme, contributing about 14% of basic salary. You will also be able to access discounts to supermarkets, high street stores, electronics, fleet cars, plus we also have an internal reward scheme which could see you earn yourself a voucher or two! All of our Homeworkers are also kitted out with everything they need to comfortably work from home. We want to support you to succeed and be your very best, with opportunities for training and development along with the support of experienced managers and mentors. We want to make working for CQC a great experience for everyone, and to role model a diverse and representative culture. To support an inclusive environment where colleagues feel empowered to bring their whole self to work, we support a variety of staff networks, including the Race Equality Network, LGBT+ Equality Network, Carers Equality Network, Disability Equality Network and Gender Equality network. What you will bring… As a natural leader, with excellent presentation skills, you will proactively take the lead in specifically allocated areas to support and advise inspections teams in predicting, identifying and prioritising medicines risks within their portfolios. You will routinely provide training and support for CQC representatives for issues relating to medicines optimisation and actively engage with key external stakeholders to promote the safe management of medicines. We are looking for a specialist pharmacist with expertise in primary care. You should have experience of effectively influencing general practice to drive medicines optimisation. You will have successfully led change in general practice, demonstrating integrity and professionalism when responding to challenge to ensure patient care is at the heart of your approach. Accountabilities: Under the leadership and management of the Medicines Manager, the Pharmacist Specialist will: Pro-actively provide pharmaceutical expertise to CQC regulatory activity with regard to medicines optimisation and the management of the risks associated with the unsafe use of medicines in all regulated settings. Manage own workload and referrals effectively. Pro-actively predict and identify medicines risks within all regulated settings to ensure CQC effectively manages the risks associated with the unsafe use of medicines. Provide expert medicines optimisation support to CQC inspection teams to ensure sound judgements are made. Quality assure allocated inspection team outputs with regard to medicines optimisation to ensure consistency and credibility. Provide leadership, training and support to internal and external stakeholders to enhance their knowledge and understanding of issues relating to medicines optimisation and the safe management of medicines, including controlled drugs. Autonomously manage CQC’s statutory responsibilities for the safe management of controlled drugs by managing the links with a named Controlled Drugs Local Intelligence Network. Deputise for the Medicines Manager as appropriate. Observe the highest standards of impartiality, integrity and objectivity in relation to advice and activities that are undertaken on CQC’s behalf. Adopt an approach of openness and transparency in all business activities and the provision of advice undertaken on CQC’s behalf. Promote a culture of wellbeing, demonstrating inclusive leadership and valuing difference. Ensure all work carried out is within the scope of that required and relevant CQC policies/guidance are adhered to. Maintain personal expertise in pharmacy, medicines optimisation, safe management of medicines and regulatory processes by undertaking appropriate continuing professional development, actively participating in CQC training and implementing a professionally focussed personal development plan. Essential Skills and Experience: Registration as a Pharmacist with the General Pharmaceutical Council. Practised as a pharmacist for a minimum of 5 years with a minimum of 2 years’ experience in a primary care setting. Experience of managing pharmaceutical services and delivering clinical care. Specialist professional knowledge of effective medicines optimisation and safe management of medicines in primary care services. Developed understanding of primary care networks and integrated care systems. Understanding of medicines law and its application to registered services, . Understanding of national policy, quality and outcomes framework (QOF) and enhanced services in general practice. Experience of using GP clinical systems such as EMIS and SystmOne. Ability to apply specialist pharmaceutical and regulatory knowledge to primary care providers. Ability to analyse, translate and present complex technical information, including ePACT and other prescribing data, making it accessible and understood by internal and external audiences. Experience of engaging effectively with people who use services. Excellent written communication and presentation skills. IT literate with thorough understanding of Microsoft Office. Ability to work autonomously and collaboratively and demonstrate excellent leadership skills. Ability to prioritise, manage own workload and referrals effectively. Ability to effectively communicate with people at all levels and in multiple settings. Desirable Skills & Experience: Strong analytical skills. Experience of translating complex data and information into a user-friendly format. Understanding of the role of the Care Quality Commission and its relationships with key stakeholders, including the full range of partner agencies in the health and social care system. Understanding of regulatory law and its application to registered services. Ability to coach and develop others. Understanding of Quality Improvement methodology.   We are committed to being open and transparent around our processes and we endeavour to offer every candidate the opportunity to perform at their best throughout the recruitment process. We seek to support candidates to identify potential challenges and work with them to identify and facilitate reasonable adjustments as appropriate. Should you require assistance and/or would like to request a reasonable adjustment at any stage of the recruitment process CQC is committed to promoting a fair and inclusive workplace where all our people can flourish and reach their full potential. We know diverse teams allow for a more creative and productive environment and therefore encourage applications from everyone regardless of: age, gender/sex, gender identity or expression, religion or belief, disability, ethnicity or sexual orientation. For this role, we are particularly encouraging people from Black and Minority Ethnic communities and people with a disability to apply, who are currently under-represented at this level in the organisation. Our Values   Excellence – Meeting our challenge to be a high-performing organisation Caring – Treating everyone with dignity and respect Integrity – Demonstrating our passion for ‘doing the right thing’ Teamwork – Enabling us to be the best we can