Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust
Key Responsibilities
- Lead and harmonize (with clinical lead pharmacist) the pharmacy cancer services team across Royal Free London sites (Barnet Hospital, Chase Farm Hospital, Royal Free Hospital, Finchley Memorial Hospital).
- Deliver, develop, and evaluate clinical pharmacy services for oncology, haematology, and palliative care specialties, adhering to objectives set by the Clinical Lead Pharmacist, Cancer, and Deputy Chief Pharmacist.
- Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams, service line leads, and divisional managers to develop initiatives and guidelines for safe and cost-effective use of medicines and chemotherapy, especially within the interface between primary and secondary care.
- Jointly manage high-cost cancer drug aspects with the principal pharmacist at RFH site and manage homecare medication supply as appropriate.
- Be a key member of the Chemotherapy Operational Group (COG).
- Lead the provision and development of a high-quality clinical pharmacy service within the multidisciplinary team for cancer, palliative care, and LSD unit patients, ensuring maximum efficacy, safety, and economic drug use, demonstrating professional accountability to enhance patient care.
- Regularly attend consultant ward rounds and multidisciplinary team meetings.
- Demonstrate expert specialist knowledge in cancer and palliative care.
- Deliver a high-quality ward-based pharmacy service, including medication histories, clarifying inconsistencies, ensuring appropriate use of home medications, drug supply reviews, medication regimen clarifications, drug interaction and adverse drug reaction monitoring, discharge planning, counselling, and compliance aid assessments.
- Provide pharmacy-led cancer outpatient clinics, including prescribing, review, verification, optimisation, and monitoring of systemic anti-cancer medicines (SACT).
- Provide expert prescribing advice in the specialist area, including selection, adverse events, and dosage adjustment.
- Promote high-quality, cost-effective prescribing and leading the development and adherence to evidence-based prescribing guidelines/protocols.
- Make evidence-based decisions in partnership with patients and other professionals.
- Develop and review Patient Group Directions and Shared Care guidelines.
- Participate in drug usage reviews.
- Develop relevant patient information leaflets.
- Ensure compliance with CQC medicines outcomes, NICE technology appraisals, and national policy.
- Liaise with other specialist pharmacists and palliative care pharmacist at Marie Curie Hospice Hampstead.
- Manage own caseload and work as an independent prescriber in cancer clinics, prescribing and optimising SACT.
- Demonstrate advanced clinical assessment of cancer patients, ensuring safe chemotherapy prescribing and treatment response documentation.
- Provide clinical screening support for chemotherapy medicines, including ensuring compliance with protocols and guidelines.
- Provide patient-facing medicines advice and counselling.
- Contribute to a high-quality patient experience.
- Deal effectively with medication errors and respond to patient and public complaints.
- Lead on the continuing development of policies and procedures to comply with legal requirements and best practice in cancer services.
- Provide expert advice to senior staff regarding network and national standards (e.g., North Central London Cancer Alliance/BOPA) and guidelines.
- Maintain records of chemotherapy regimens outside the agreed list and present them to the Local Chemotherapy Group.
- Lead on the production and implementation of business plans for the development of the pharmacy service.
- Audit the service to improve it.
Skills and Expertise
- Highly experienced cancer pharmacist.
- Proven leadership and team management skills.
- Experience in cancer clinics.
- Strong knowledge of systemic anti-cancer therapy (SACT).
- Knowledge of NICE and CQC guidelines.
- Expert in clinical assessment and prescribing.