Band 8b Divisional Lead Pharmacist - Calne

Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust; Calne; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A mental health care provider located in Calne seeks a Divisional Lead Pharmacist to lead the clinical pharmacy team, ensuring quality clinical services and strategic medicines optimisation. Candidates should have a postgraduate qualification in clinical pharmacy, experience in hospital settings, and strong leadership skills. The role involves managing teams, developing pharmacy services, and complying with best practice standards. This position also includes on-call duties and working some weekends.

Qualifications

• Registered with GPhC.
• Significant experience in hospital pharmacy.
• Experience in managing and developing teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead the clinical pharmacy team to provide medicines optimisation services.
• Participate in strategic planning for pharmacy services.
• Ensure compliance with legal and best practice standards.

Skills

Clinical pharmacy expertise

Leadership

Interpersonal communication

Time management

Education

Post-graduate diploma in clinical or psychiatric pharmacy

Masters in Clinical Pharmacy

Registered Independent Non-medical Prescriber

Job description

Band 8b Divisional Lead Pharmacist - Calne

We are looking for an enthusiastic and passionate pharmacist with a strong background in clinical pharmacy, quality improvement, and innovation to develop their career at a senior level by joining our dynamic pharmacy team. This post provides leadership to the mental health clinical pharmacy teams on the east side of the Trust, covering Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon, and Wiltshire (BSW).

Your role will be to lead the clinical pharmacy team in providing medicines optimisation services to wards and community teams, support and develop independent prescribing pharmacists, and ensure clinical staff support our wider teams in the best possible way across a large geographical area.

The postholder will also become an integral member of the senior pharmacy team, supporting the Chief Pharmacist to set the strategic direction for both medicines optimisation within the organisation and pharmacy services.

You will represent Pharmacy at Trust-wide meetings to develop and support the 'patient-facing' aspects of our medicines optimisation agenda.

The post includes on-call duties and some weekend and bank holiday working.

Main duties of the job

Participate in the pharmacy's provision of safe, effective, and responsive clinical and pharmaceutical supply services to Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust and any contracted services.

Contribute to the strategic planning of the pharmacy service and the implementation of service objectives.

Lead the development, delivery, and evaluation of clinical pharmacy services across the Trust, in line with the Trust and national medicines optimisation agendas.

Develop a competent, motivated, and versatile clinical pharmacy workforce across the service, managed within the existing budget and underpinned by technology, robust governance, and risk management.

Work with the Chief Pharmacist, Deputy Chief Pharmacists, and other Clinical Lead Pharmacists to ensure strategic plans are delivered and resources are utilised safely, efficiently, and effectively to improve financial management of treatments and medicines expenditure, patient experience, and outcomes.

Manage the Locality Lead Pharmacists and Specialist Pharmacists working in BSW, as well as BNSSG and SSC, to deliver clinical services and medicines optimisation, including audit and monitoring.

Lead on the delivery and development of robust and progressive medicines optimisation, working with the multidisciplinary team to ensure medicines optimisation is embedded in the organisation at operational and practice level.

Please see the attached job description for a full list of duties and responsibilities.

About us

We are AWP (Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust):a diverse organisation with over 5,000 dedicated staff providing inpatient and community-based mental health care.

We provide services from a range of locations to approximately 1.8 million people living in Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES), Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Swindon, across the county of Wiltshire and in parts of Dorset.

Our outstanding people promote mental health and wellbeing. The expertise and resources within AWP are dedicated to a person‑centred approach for those who use our services and for all employees. We recognise that happy and fulfilled employees give better care.

AWP is committed to support and create a positive research and evidence‑based environment and culture, which can have a beneficial impact on everyone who works for the organisation and the care we provide to those who use our services.

At AWP we actively encourage applicants from all backgrounds; we are particularly keen to encourage applications from people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, those with disabilities and from the LGBTQ+ community. We want people to bring their unique blend of experiences, backgrounds, perspectives and knowledge to AWP, as diversity makes us stronger.

Job responsibilities

Provide leadership, expertise, and management of clinical pharmacy services across the Trust to ensure compliance with legal statutory requirements, national standards, and best practice by all team members (e.g., Royal Pharmaceutical Society hospital standards and nationally/regionally defined clinical standards).

Be an active member of the Pharmacy Senior Management Team (SMT) in the overall development of all Trust pharmacy services, promoting multidisciplinary engagement and ownership.

Develop a strategic clinical pharmacy services plan in line with NHS/national priorities, pharmacy service objectives, and Trust objectives.

Service Delivery and Development

Lead, manage, and develop the provision of clinical pharmacy services to ensure the safe, effective, and patient‑centred use of medicines for all patients in the Trust.

Develop, review, and audit standards for clinical pharmacy services across the Trust in line with local and national recommendations and patient needs.

Support Trust and commissioner‑led teams with service development, including quality standards, CQUINs, and clinical audit programmes.

Provide the Chief Pharmacist with evaluated clinical pharmacy metrics/KPIs and clinical interventions at specified time intervals in an agreed format.

Support the Chief Pharmacist in the strategic management of pharmacy services, including strategy development, service planning, budgeting, and financial management.

Assist in the development and implementation of Trust medicines‑related policies, procedures, and guidelines, and ensure their regular review.

Please see the attached job description for a full list of duties and responsibilities.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Registered with GPhC
• Post‑graduate diploma in clinical or psychiatric pharmacy
• Member of Royal Pharmaceutical Society
• Masters in Clinical Pharmacy
• Registered Independent Non‑medical Prescriber
• Other postgraduate qualifications relevant to pharmacy practice, such as leadership, management or education and training qualifications
• Full (Credentialed) Membership of the College of Mental Health Pharmacists (CMHP) or willingness to work towards this
• Significant experience of working within hospital pharmacy
• Significant experience of working in specialist mental health inpatient and community
• Experience of delivering and developing teaching/training/ education up to and including post‑graduate level
• Demonstrable experience of working with senior healthcare professionals outside of Pharmacy
• Demonstrable experience of managing, developing and mentoring a large number of staff/teams
• Experience in policy/procedure/guideline writing and implementation
• Experience in setting up, delivering and developing services, particularly with commissioners

Knowledge, Skills and Abilitie

• Excellent interpersonal communication and reporting skills, verbal and written
• Ability to work under pressure, prioritise and meet deadlines
• Ability to access, review and process complex clinical information from appropriate sources.
• Good time management, problem solving and prioritisation skills; ability to manage own time and workload

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.