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Pharmacy Services is an integrated unit encompassing all aspects of pharmacy and prescribing support services across Community and Acute care systems throughout Greater Glasgow & Clyde. Over the past 5 years, a highly specialist clinical pharmacist outreach service has emerged, for patients who are homeless and have complex needs in the city centre.
The Pharmacy Homeless Outreach Engagement Non-medical Independent Rx (PHOENIx) team comprises 3 experienced independent prescribers (all part time), and one part time Simon Community Scotland outreach worker. Visiting different venues and walking the city centre, the team engage, offer full health check including medication review, prescribe and refer patients who have complex health and social care needs. The work is demanding, but incredibly rewarding, with patient feedback confirming the need to expand the service. Joint working with health, social care and the voluntary sector is established.
Due to the need to offer innovative approaches to address the complex physical and mental health needs of people with problem drug and/or alcohol use, the PHOENIx team has received additional funding to target people with problem drug or alcohol use. This work will involve close collaboration with other outreach teams, particularly in addictions, at a time when drug related deaths are increasing. The PHOENIx team will collaborate with a wider team to address patients’ complex needs, with onward referral to addictions services for people with problem alcohol and/or drug use who are out of treatment, or under treated.
The patients we aim to target are homeless, many with problem drug/alcohol use. Persistent and pervasive personality disorders affect engagement with services, multiple mental health problems and physical health problems. The pharmacist(s) will work closely with the existing Pharmacist/Simon Community Scotland Outreach team. The focus of the role will be to offer trauma informed practice:
- identify and engage people with complex needs, with a view to assessing and prescribing to act as a bridge into mainstream care; referring into multidisciplinary teams for treatment for problem alcohol or drug use;
- link with housing and benefits agencies to address wider health needs;
- support the evaluation of the service including research.
Experience of prescribing for people with complex multimorbidities is essential, as is a postgraduate qualification with a significant research component (to enable rapid, high quality evaluation of this innovative role). Applicants with a flexible, non judgemental approach, street sense, strong sense of team working, and ability to navigate across health, social care, and voluntary sectors, on behalf of destitute patients, are welcome to apply. Work out with regular hours may be required.
It is essential you have a BSc Honours or Masters Pharmacy Degree with current registration with the
General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) and have substantial post registration experience. The hours of this post will worked Monday to Friday until 8.00pm. Weekend working may be required.
For part time posts your salary will be paid pro rata
Informal Contact
For further information please contact Richard Lowrie Richard.lowrie@ggc.scot.nhs.uk. 07971827565
Details on how to contact the Recruitment Service can be found within the Candidate Information Packs .