Associate Pharmacy Director Operational Services

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Gloucester; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare provider in Gloucestershire is seeking an experienced pharmacist to lead the development and optimisation of their Electronic Prescribing and Medicines Administration (EPMA) system. This role involves working closely with pharmacy teams and the Electronic Patient Record (EPR) staff to enhance patient safety through digital solutions. The ideal candidate will play a crucial role in system governance and provide essential clinical expertise, collaborating with multidisciplinary teams to ensure safe, effective medicines management. Join a supportive and innovative team committed to improving healthcare delivery.

Benefits

Flexible working opportunities

Generous annual leave

NHS pension scheme

Local discounts

Health and wellbeing initiatives

Qualifications

• Experience in designing and implementing clinical systems.
• Knowledge of Electronic Prescribing and Medicines Administration systems.
• Ability to analyze incidents and develop governance protocols.

Responsibilities

• Lead design and governance of the EPMA system.
• Provide clinical pharmacy support and implement new technologies.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams to ensure patient safety.

Skills

Clinical pharmacy expertise

Digital leadership

Patient care

Collaboration

Analytical skills

Education

Pharmacy degree

Non-medical prescribing qualification

Job description

Overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced pharmacist to play a key role in the development and optimisation of our Electronic Prescribing and Medicines Administration (EPMA) system. Working closely with pharmacy colleagues and the Trust's Electronic Patient Record (EPR) team, you will provide senior clinical pharmacy expertise to support system design, implementation and new ways of working. We are looking for someone who is curious, solution-focused and collaborative, with a strong interest in digital transformation and improving patient safety through better use of technology. This senior clinical informatics role offers the opportunity to shape EPMA across Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, influencing medicines optimisation, quality of care and digital maturity. You will join a supportive organisation with strong clinical leadership and established EPMA, Digital Pharmacy Systems and EPR teams, giving you the autonomy and support to make a real impact across our acute services.

Additional working pattern details: weekend and late nights work. The post holder leads the design, implementation, optimisation, and governance of the EPMA system across GHFT, combining advanced clinical pharmacy expertise with digital leadership to ensure safe, effective, and efficient medicines management.

They maintain and update the medicines template database, develop and review EPMA policies, and ensure clinical content is evidence-based. Quality assurance responsibilities include auditing templates, order sets, and workflows, reviewing incidents and risks, and reporting findings to the Medicines Optimisation Committee.

Acting as a key liaison between clinical and digital teams, they gather feedback, support users, and promote best practice. They develop order sets, capture medicines-related data, and contribute to clinical governance through investigation of incidents and awareness of policy changes. They also plan for EPMA downtime, ensuring continuity of safe medicines management.

Maintaining a ward-based clinical presence, they support patient care through medicines reconciliation, prescription review, discharge planning, and staff/patient education. They collaborate with multidisciplinary teams, support pharmacy staff, and may utilise non-medical prescribing skills.

Overall, the role blends digital leadership, governance, and frontline pharmacy practice to ensure a safe, effective, and continuously improving EPMA system, underpinning high-quality medicines management across GHFT.

Working for our organisation

With over 9,000 staff, we are Gloucestershire's largest employer, offering flexible working and the chance to contribute to a digitally progressive Trust. Our acute hospital sites are centrally located with easy access to local amenities.

The pharmacy department has around 240 staff across both sites, providing inpatient and outpatient dispensaries, medicines information, procurement, and comprehensive clinical pharmacy support. Pharmacy is at the forefront of digital transformation, advancing EPMA and digital maturity to enhance patient safety, workflows, and care quality.

We work closely with the EPR programme, digital systems, and clinical informatics teams to deliver integrated, user-centred digital solutions. Specialist teams include Mental Health & Learning Disabilities pharmacy and oncology/haematology services, with award-winning initiatives such as pharmacist-led orthopaedic pre-admission clinics.

We are a friendly, inclusive, forward-thinking department committed to staff development, offering mentoring, support for pharmacist prescribers, and opportunities to grow as digital leaders, enabling career progression at all levels. The post holder will lead the build, implementation, optimisation, and ongoing development of the EPMA system across GHFT. This role ensures that the EPMA system supports patient safety, delivers high-quality care, enables efficient workforce utilisation, and promotes cost-effective prescribing. The post holder will provide specialist clinical pharmacy expertise, maintain a robust and accurate medicines and templates database, and ensure full compliance with Trust policies, national guidance, and statutory and regulatory requirements.

Key responsibilities include the development and maintenance of order sets, the creation and regular review of policies and procedures to support the safe and effective use of EPMA, and the delivery of a continuous audit and assurance programme. The post holder will proactively identify, analyse, and manage risks and incidents related to EPMA use and will provide regular reports and recommendations to the Medicines Optimisation Committee and other relevant governance forums.

The role requires close collaboration with multidisciplinary clinical teams, the EPMA and Electronic Patient Record (EPR) project teams, and external stakeholders, including Integrated Care System (ICS) partners and commissioners. The post holder will lead user engagement initiatives, deliver system training and expert advice, drive optimisation across all Trust sites, and contribute to business continuity and downtime planning to ensure safe prescribing and administration during system outages.

In addition to EPMA leadership responsibilities, the post holder will deliver clinical pharmacy services on designated wards. This includes undertaking medicines reconciliation, clinically reviewing prescriptions for safety, effectiveness, and appropriateness, resolving prescribing discrepancies in collaboration with medical staff, and supporting safe and timely discharge processes. The post holder will provide expert advice to medical and nursing teams, educate patients on the safe use of their medicines, liaise with community healthcare providers to ensure continuity of care, and participate in multidisciplinary ward rounds. Effective supervision and collaboration with pharmacy technicians is integral to this role, alongside strict adherence to legislation, national standards, and Trust policies.

Where qualified as a non-medical prescriber, the post holder may continue to prescribe within their scope of practice and in accordance with professional and legal requirements, in order to maintain clinical competence and support patient care.

At Gloucestershire Hospitals, our people are at the heart of everything we do. As the county's largest employer, we are proud to provide high-quality acute, elective, and specialist services to more than 650,000 people across our county. Our care is delivered across Gloucestershire Royal, Cheltenham General and Stroud Maternity Hospital.

With over 9,000 employees representing more than 95 nationalities, bringing together a mix of cultures and experiences to the care that we deliver. Whether you're beginning your NHS journey or looking to take the next step in your career, this is an exciting time to join us. We're investing heavily in innovation, research, and transformation, with more than 100 active clinical studies and major developments underway across our hospitals.

We take pride in working as one team, driven by a shared ambition to grow, develop, and continually improve. Every contribution is valued and by combining our collective strengths, we support not only our diverse communities but one another. You can expect a warm, supportive culture and colleagues who are passionate about teamwork, professional development and delivering exceptional care. We offer structured development programmes, mentoring and leadership opportunities to help you progress in your career.

We are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where everyone feels they belong. By joining our Trust, you will benefit from a comprehensive package that includes flexible working opportunities, generous annual leave, the NHS pension scheme, competitive bank rates, local discounts, access to on-site nurseries, reduced public transport costs, reward and recognition schemes and a wide range of health and wellbeing initiatives.

Be part of Gloucestershire Hospitals, explore your future with us today.