Bank Dispensary Pharmacy Assistant

Lancashire Teaching Hospitals; Preston; On-site; GBP 34,440,000 - 37,195,000; Full time

Job summary

Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust invites applications for a Pharmacy Assistant – dispensing services at Royal Preston Hospital and Chorley Hospital. The role supports patient care, works with the pharmacy team, and offers development opportunities.

The core hours are 7.5 hours, 8am-7:30pm, Monday to Friday; weekend and bank holiday rosters apply. Cross-site duties across Royal Preston and Chorley Hospital.

Qualifications

• GCSE level Maths and English.
• Experience working in a pharmacy setting.
• Good telephone and communication skills.
• Computer literacy including keyboard skills.
• Knowledge of health and safety.
• Experience working in a busy, customer-facing environment.
• Ability to work as part of a pharmacy team.

Responsibilities

• Provide an effective medicine supply service to wards, departments and patients.
• Dispense medications.
• Stock control, rotation and expiry date checking and use of the Pharmacy IT System.
• Provide an effective reception service, receiving incoming work and dealing with customer enquiries.
• Maintains stock of dispensing sundries and carries out housekeeping duties to maintain good environmental standards.
• Supports the training and development of pharmacy team.

Skills

Teamwork

Stock control systems

Communication skills

Computer literacy

Health & safety

Pharmacy experience

Customer facing

Busy environment experience

Education

Maths & English GCSE

Job description

We hope to be welcoming you to the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals team soon; we've shown you exactly why we're 'a great place to work', now it's time to see for yourself! Have a look at our current vacancies down below and make the first step to starting a fantastic new career. Need help with your NHS application? We've got you covered! Our brand-new step-by-step NHS Application Help Video will guide you through the process, making it easier, faster, and stress-free to apply. Additionally, you can check out our helpful Application Guide as well!

You can also look at our recruitment flipbook , an interactive brochure showcasing various entry-level roles. It includes a fun quiz to help you find the right role and links to more information about our hospitals and our fantastic staff.

Corporate Services Roles

For roles in our corporate services departments including – Digital Services (I.T), Recruitment, Employment Services, Temporary Staffing, Rostering, Procurement and Finance, these departments are now part of OneLSC and can be found on the ELHT website: https://elht.nhs.uk/working-us/our-vacancies

Main area Pharmacy Grade Band 2 Contract Bank Hours 0 hours per week (Ad Hoc Hours - 7.5 hour shift from 8am - 19:30 Monday to Friday. You will be expected to participate inweekend and Bank holiday on a rota basis.) Job ref 438-PB5010

Site Royal Preston Hospital Town Preston Salary £12.92 per hour Closing 30/10/2026 23:59

Job overview

Are you an enthusiastic hard working and patient focussed person with an interest in pharmacy?

Are you currently working as a pharmacy dispenser in community and are looking to gain experience in a hospital setting?

If you are keen to join a forward thinking pharmacy department supporting patient care we would love to hear from you.

The Pharmacy Department at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is delighted to be able to offer a vacancy for a Pharmacy Assistant – dispensing services

As an employer we have earned a reputation for focusing on the development of our staff and for being an organisation people are proud to work for.

The wellbeing of staff is important to us; we have a dedicated Health and Wellbeing team who provide support on a range of topics, run fitness classes and organise mindfulness sessions

Main duties of the job

We are one of the largest trusts in the country, providing district general hospital services to people in Preston and Chorley and specialist care (Neurology, Neurosurgery, Burns and Plastics, Oncology and Renal Medicine) to 1.5m people across Lancashire and South Cumbria in addition we are proud to be the regional Major Trauma Centre providing life and limb saving treatment for patients throughout Lancashire and South Cumbria.

• Working with pharmacy teams to prepare and supply medicines products directly towards for patient use
• Stock control including ordering, receipting drug deliveries stock rotation, expiry checking and date checking
• Sorting medications, disposing of unwanted medicines and updating pharmacy computer.
• Dispensary based duties

Working for our organisation

We have 10,000 fantastic people working hard to deliver quality services to our patients. Whatever your role, you help look after 370,000 people in our local area & give specialist care to 1.5 million people across Lancashire & Cumbria.

Working with us gives you the knowledge and sense of pride that every activity you do genuinely does make a difference to support our patients & staff, ensuring we keep thriving & delivering outstanding healthcare right across our local towns.

You’ll have access to varied development opportunities, learn new skills, meet fab people & do things you’d never have done. You’ll learn about working in a hospital, interacting with people from all different roles to build skills & enhance your career path.

You’ll make an impact, be challenged to think differently, be bold & help innovate to keep improving things. Everything we do centres around patient care which means your role is pivotal and something really to be proud of.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Duties include, but are not limited to:

• Provide an effective medicine supply service to wards/departments and patients of the Trust
• Dispensing medications
• Stock control, stock rotation, expiry date checking and use of the Pharmacy IT System
• Provides an effective reception service, receiving incoming work and dealing with customer enquiries.
• Maintains stock of dispensing sundries and carries out housekeeping duties to maintain good environmental standards.
• Supports the training and development of pharmacy team

The core hours of duty are a 7.5 hour shift from 8am - 19:30 Monday to Friday. Applicants will be expected to participate in weekend and Bank holiday on a rota basis.

This role is cross site at Royal Preston Hospital and Chorley Hospital.

Qualifications and Education

• Maths and English competent / Educated to GCSE level

Knowledge and Experience

• Experience of working in a team
• Knowledge of stock control systems
• Good telephone/ communication skills
• Computer experience including good keyboard skills
• Knowledge of Health & safety
• Experience of working in pharmacy
• Experience of working in a customer facing role
• Experience of working in a busy environment.

Thanks for taking the time to view this advert; we’re looking forward to receiving your application. You should be aware that the vacancy may close earlier than the published date if sufficient applications are received so it would be best to apply as soon as you can. We’ll contact you by e‑mail to update you on the progress of your application so please check the e‑mail account that you applied from (including spam/junk) regularly.

We are committed to promoting equality of opportunity, celebrating and valuing diversity and eliminating any form of unlawful discrimination across our workforce, ensuring our people are truly representative of the communities we serve. All individuals regardless of race, age, disability, ethnicity, nationality, gender, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, religion or belief, marriage and civil partnership, neurodiversity or veteran status are encouraged to apply for this post. Our Statement on the Recruitment of Ex-Offenders is available Here

To support you in your application process we’ve created a What we can offer you guide that shows what you can expect when you join our hospitals. The guide includes links to our strategic aims and objectives as well as our values, development support and rewards and benefits. To help you get the best from your application we’ve also put together two guides to help you make your application the best it can be. Just click here and here to go through them, or have themopen as you complete your application.

We recognise that the recruitment process may present barriers for some and you may need personal adjustments to enable you to participate in our recruitment process. Please make contact with the recruitment team at the earliest opportunity to ensure that measures can be put in place to enable your application for this post.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) when writing job applications

If you choose to use AI or other tools to assist in writing your application, it's essential to personalise this information, particularly your supporting information section. While AI can help streamline the writing process, these tools cannot fully grasp the context or requirements of the job you’re applying for. There is also a risk that it can generate false or misleading information.

AI-generated job applications can often be generic, impersonal and may not accurately reflect your qualifications, knowledge, skills, and experiences. It is crucial that you personalise your supporting statement by articulating these in your unique voice. Relying solely on AI to write your application or supporting information section is not advocated by Lancashire Teaching Hospitals and could negatively impact your chances of success in the application process.

We have added a disclaimer to our application process advising that the use of AI is monitored and if applicants have used it then they are required to declare this.

Supporting Information

The supporting information section is an opportunity for you to showcase how your qualifications, knowledge, skill and experiences align with the requirements and criteria outlined in the job description and person.

Our recruiting managers score applications based on the criteria listed in the person specification. They will be looking for evidence of how you meet these criteria. To increase your chances of securing an interview, provide examples of how you have applied your skills and knowledge in real-life situations. Share work-related successes and challenges you’ve navigated that align with the criteria. These could be from various aspects of your life, including work, education, and personal experiences.

Consider structuring your supporting information section with clear headings or bullet points. This approach will help both you and the recruiting manager navigate through your application more effectively.

Working Smarter pledge

We are reminded everyday of how important life is, so as part of our Working Smarter pledge we offer a variety of flexible working options and wellbeing support to enable our people to find and maintain the right work-life balance.

Secondments

If you are applying for a secondment role please ensure you have agreement from your current line manager prior to attending an interview. Also please ensure you have read the LTHTR Secondment Policy. A copy of this can be found on the intranet or by contacting [e-mail]

Please note a young person must be in part-time education or training until they’re 18. therefore if you are under 18 we are unable to employ you on a full time basis, unless it is in an apprenticeship role.

Disclosure and Barring Service checks

If the role you’ve applied for requires a Disclosure and Barring Services (DBS) check we will administer this on your behalf and the cost will be recovered from your salary, either as a one-off payment, or over 3 months. The level of check required depends on the role that you have been offered. Currently the charges are - Basic DBS check £26.40 Standard DBS check £26.40 and Enhanced DBS check £54.40. You should be aware that if you are successful in obtaining a position that requires a DBS check but later withdraw your application, you may be required to reimburse the cost of the DBS check. DBS checks remain free of charge for volunteer positions. The DBS Code of Practice can be accessed here .

In line with guidance from United Kingdom Health Security Agency, all staff and volunteers are required to comply with Trust Infection Prevention and Control processes in relation to safe working. This includes mask wearing and adherence to social distancing at all Trust sites.

We look forward to hearing from you soon!

Employer certification / accreditation badges

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Name James Miles Job title Dispensary Team Leader, Chorley Hospital Email address [e-mail] Telephone number 01257245253 Additional information

James Miles and Jenny Barnes

Dispensary Team Leaders

01257245283