The post-holder will be expected to:Maintain ongoing development of networks of key policy & strategy professionals across th.....
The post-holder will be expected to:Maintain ongoing development of networks of key policy & strategy professionals across the health and care system, including: North West Chief pharmacists group. Act as a central point of reference for internal and external stakeholders in relation to the use of outsourced medicines supply services and other medicines within any tendering processes. Have regular contact with internal and external stakeholders and regularly engage with them over sensitive, complex, contentious and confidential issues. Input into the development of care pathways across the interface in order to develop enhanced services if necessary. Develop relationships with identified external groups e.g. NHMC, National Clinical Homecare Association (NCHA), NHSE, etc and ensure that the regional workplan is aligned with these groups and their objectives and strategies where appropriate. Participate in relevant internal and external working groups/projects, services and initiatives to provide project information and analytical advice and expertise. OperationalLeadership To provide expert advice and leadership on all aspects of the pharmacy outsourced medicines service to all NHS organisations within the region. To work with the National Homecare Medicines Committee (NHMC), other regional specialists and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) to promote the effective implementation of national standards. To influence national homecare strategy and policy by involvement with the NHMC and the RPS. To provide leadership on the management of regional and trust level homecare contracts in the region and to ensure that these comply with EU regulations and best practice. This will involve managing an unpredictable work load. To work with the chief pharmacist group and strategic partners to develop an annual workplan to deliver both regional contracts for homecare including change management opportunities. To interpret and advise Trusts on budgets, expenditure, savings and contract variance relating to outsourced medicines services. To set up meetings as appropriate including regular contract review meetings and performance management meetings to ensure that clinical stakeholders and patients are fully involved in service planning. This will involve the interpretation and communication of potentially contentious information to representatives of third party outsourced medicines service providers, clinicians, pharmacists and patients. To provide proactive informative advice to NHS organisations within the region on commercial and technical matters relating to outsourced medicines service contracts and purchasing arrangements including appropriate medical devices. To arrange the delivery of suitable Education and Training for Trust pharmacy procurement staff in relation to homecare medicine pharmacy practice. To liaise with Regional QA Pharmacists to ensure an appropriate quality framework is in place. To facilitate the sharing of resources and intelligence across the NHS to provide robust benchmarking data and to minimise duplication of effort. Maintain and develop links with the pharmaceutical industry and outsourced medicines service providers to identify innovative ways of partnership working and to gather market intelligence. Management of Service To drive forward innovative ways of purchasing and distributing medicines to patients at home which maximise cost efficiencies. This will involve the planning of long term projects and strategies for pharmacy outsourced medicines services within a dynamic and uncertain environment. These projects and strategies will affect services across the whole region. To handle highly complex medicine and service related information and the communication of such information to clinicians, pharmacists, procurement leads, administrative staff and patients. To take a lead role in agenda setting for the outsourced medicines service meetings including overseeing any relevant contract adjudications for the region. To assist with ensuring that adjudicated contracts result in an efficient supply chain which supports the appropriate use of homecare. To provide specialist procurement advice and support to Specialist Commissioners, Commissioning bodies and Clinical Networks. To plan and deliver training meetings and study days for complex and/or highly complex specialised pharmacy outsourced medicines services. Evaluation of Service To monitor, interpret and advise Trusts on contract expenditure, savings and contract variance. This will include the interpretation of highly complex information and data regarding drug usage, service delivery and expenditure within this specialised field. To analyse regional KPI data using the nationally agreed dataset, compare with other regions if possible and report findings to Trusts. To provide support in adoption and implementation of changes to practice to ensure that financial savings are realised. To provide regular reports and updates on projects and savings. To access benchmarking information via Pharmex and Rx-Info databases. To provide regular information on accrued savings from tendering and contracting. To monitor and provide guidance on trends for homecare-related medicine expenditure within secondary care. Policy and Service Development To assist with the formulation of national policy and national strategy via links with the NHMC and the RPS for homecare medicine procurement and promote interpretation and implementation at regional level. To work cooperatively with the other regional outsourced medicines service leads around the country to contribute to the national agenda on governance and standardisation. To influence the national strategy for homecare services within England by working with the RPS to review and improve national RPS standards and the RPS handbook for homecare. To work with and influence clinicians, pharmacy clinical leads and pharmacy procurement leads within the region to ensure that homecare services meet national standards for best practice to improve clinical, financial and operational governance. To collate regional information regarding reported incidents and complaints and analysing service related issues to identify areas of risk and where service improvements would be beneficial. To compare the performance in the North West with other regional data if possible. To work with commissioners in the contracting and procurement strategies for high cost and specialist treatment areas including the negotiation of regional gain share agreements and the funding of local pharmacy outsourced medicines services. Accountability / freedom to act Be accountable for their own actions and for those of any staff that they line manage. Manage their own work autonomously and that of any staff that they line manage. Have considerable flexibility and autonomy in taking forward the scope of the overall piece of work. Be the lead expert for outsourced medicine supply services use within the region and will be expected to advise on the details of outsourced medicine services, best practice across the national community and the best ways of implementing practice on a local level. Be expected to act independently, with a large proportion of their working week out in the field, without access to senior support or advice. Be expected to be an expert in the field, with credibility at all levels. Analytical and judgement skills Analyse good practice findings of highly complex data to understand how they can be applied in the region and working through the implications of this within services. Have a good understanding of the stakeholders, information and other factors that relate to the local healthcare environment and how this fits into the wider agenda. Analyse complex national strategy documents, breaking them down and making them applicable to a local audience. Collate and analyse large data sets relating to regional services and presenting this in a useful format to groups of stakeholders. Communications Communicate regularly with senior clinicians and other senior pharmacists and managers in Acute Trusts, ICBs, clusters and networks across the region. This may also include the area teams and experts from other parts of the country. Be responsible for sharing information and best practice and persuading and influencing change in services with a range of other stakeholders. These will often be challenging and difficult discussions around the detail of national and local policy. Be expected to carry out a high degree of influencing with colleagues in both commissioning and provider organisations. Be responsible for communicating implementation of agreed treatment algorithms, as required including complex clinical issues. Be required to relay complex information to a range of lay, managerial or clinical audience. Provide a source of independent advice, through critical appraisal, on clinical effectiveness of drugs and cost-effective medicines management, collating national and local models of good practice and implementing these where appropriate. Be expected to present complex, sensitive and contentious information to a range of senior stakeholders, using well developed negotiation and reassurance skills to gain acceptance and buy-in to pan-regional proposals. Build and maintain proactive arrangements with suppliers, and other NHS bodies Financial and physical resources Contribute to the financial modelling and development of costed models for identified areas where procurement and collaborative opportunities are identified within the scope of the role. Contribute to the development of specifications for contracts and tenders based on identification of potential opportunities for therapeutic rationalisation. Support the Procurement Policy Group to ensure that it delivers on the strategic clinical governance responsibilities including managing medication risks, financial planning.
