Pharmaceutical Defence Limited (PDL) is a member-owned organisation supporting around 31,000 pharmacist members and the pharmacy profession. The leading risk advisors to the profession, PDL’s incident support service is dedicated to members around the clock, for confidential, expert advice. The professional indemnity policy for pharmacists provided by PDL covers everything in the scope of pharmacy and is tailored to meet the evolving needs of members working in a range of pharmacy settings.
Purpose
We are seeking a Professional Officer to provide member support and advice in the event of a medication error, and risk management advisory services for the pharmacy profession.
Ideally the successful applicant will have current and recent experience in community and/or hospital pharmacy.
With a focus on member support, some experience in the educational, tutoring and/or mentoring fields would also be an advantage.
As the role encompasses assisting in developing research papers and submissions to support medication safety within the profession, some policy, research or academic experience would also be looked upon favourably.
Role
Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, other key internal relationships include the three other Professional Officers, State Directors and Local Advisory Committees (LACs). You will provide professional services focusing on:
- Providing member support and advice in the event of a dispensing error or other notifiable event and actioning PDL members’ Notifications of Incidents (NOIs).
- Collating, filing and classifying NOI information and reconciling and reporting upon statistics.
- Risk management and advocacy work for the pharmacy profession in consultation with relevant regulatory and other pharmacy organisations.
- Mentoring of pharmacists, in line with the PDL Mentoring Program.
- Other duties as required.
Key Outcomes
- Effective and valued peer support fostering strong engagement with pharmacy members in the event of an incident.
- Contribution to policy development and application.
- Minimised level of medication safety errors for the profession nationally.
- Improved risk management outcomes for the pharmacy profession.
- Strong rapport with other relevant pharmacy organisations, insurers and legal practitioners to achieve optimal outcomes.
Key Responsibilities
- Receive and action PDL members’ Notifications of Incidents (NOIs) in all jurisdictions as agreed.
- Collate, file and classify NOI information and reconcile and report upon statistics.
- Review, analyse, report upon and implement recommended strategies to address adverse trends.
- Liaise with LAC members on relevant matters in their jurisdiction.
- This position will also involve other tasks such as attending pharmacy seminars, conferences, and student/intern sessions as the PDL representative.
- Strategic support/advice and assistance to management executives.
- Handle information with discretion and confidentiality.
- May Chair a Local Advisory Committee (LAC).
- Engagement with LACs and State Directors e.g. preparation of data prior to LAC meetings with analysis of incidents and comparisons to national reporting, updates from Directors regarding State-specific issues.
- Assist with developing and presenting targeted submissions, presentations, articles, newsletters, Practice Alerts, webinars and the like to various pharmacy forums in relation to areas of risk and liability.
- Follow up contact with members involved in significant incidents or regulatory notification.
- Liaising with Guild Insurance and their legal providers, providing better insight into outcomes for members involved in regulatory investigation.
- Handling some of the simpler regulatory matters and other incident notifications on behalf of the insurer.
- Assessment and review of online reporting processes and member feedback.
Other Requirements
- Must hold Ahpra general registration.
- Availability for after business hours and weekend support for members, on a roster basis.
- Ability to work effectively within a small, cohesive and geographically dispersed team.
- This is a part-time role, involving three or four full days per week.
Highly Desirable
- Have a strong understanding of pharmacy procedures and regulations.
- Understanding of working in a range of contemporary pharmacy settings.
- Previous pharmacy ownership or management in pharmacy is desirable but not essential.
How to Apply
Applications, including a current CV, are to be emailed to the CEO, David Brown, at david.brown@pdl.org.au. For more information or to ask any questions, please email the CEO, David Brown, via david.brown@pdl.org.au or phone 0403 892 961.
Applications close Friday 12 January 2024
