Clinical Pharmacist

Key Responsibilities

Patient Care / Clinical Practice

Optimise patient care in defined wards/divisions by planning, managing,

monitoring, advising and reviewing specialist care plans for patients.

Formulate treatment plans for inpatients, considering their presenting symptoms,

medical and psychiatric history (including previous responses to medication), and

the evidence base for pharmacological approaches in that condition. These

treatment plans could be presented at multidisciplinary meetings for discussion

and review, or discussed with individual doctors as required.

Discuss future treatment options with medical teams and where appropriate the

patient. This will involve the provision of patient specific information and

discussion of the risks and benefits of various options, to aid concordance.

Undertake a medication review/history of newly admitted patients to identify

problems or medication issues that may influence the patients treatment plan,

including simplifying complex regimes.

Attend multidisciplinary team meetings and medicine review sessions making

clinical decisions and being able to support these when challenged with a logical

rationale and evidence base.

Provide specialist advice and information on the safe, cost-effective and

• evidenced based use of medicines in mental health and other therapeutic areas.
• Provide ongoing monitoring of Consent to Treatment Forms for patients detained
• under the Mental Health Act.
• To provide opinions on a patient's treatment, and discuss these issues with
• second opinion appointed doctors from the Mental Health Act Commission where
• required.

Maximise patients concordance and compliance with prescribed treatments by

planning and delivering medication education to patients on an individual or group

basis, prior to discharge and on request.

Recommend and interpret psychiatric rating scales, laboratory tests and other

• diagnostic tools to assess the safety and effectiveness of drug therapy for
• individual patients and recommend changes to practice and policy in light of
• changes in the evidence base.
• Amend prescriptions in line with the agreed Charity protocols and the Medicine
• Policy.

Promote and implement local prescribing guidelines, and monitor adherence to

these guidelines.

Ensure timely and accurate supply of new or changed treatments for individual

service users by liaising with pharmacy dispensary.

Clinically check inpatient, leave and discharge prescriptions to ensure

appropriateness, safety and legality of prescribed drugs and to ensure that they

comply with national and local guidelines.