Chief Pharmacy Technician - ePMA & Digital Services

Kingston Hospital; Kingston upon Thames; On-site; GBP 56,000 - 63,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working

Job summary

Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a Senior Pharmacy Technician to lead digital medicines initiatives within the Pharmacy Digital Team. The role focuses on maintaining and developing the ePMA system and training staff across hospital and community settings.

You will bridge pharmacy and digital functions, advancing patient safety through system redesign, protocol development and cross-team collaboration.

Qualifications

• BTEC in Pharmaceutical Sciences.
• NVQ Level 3 in pharmaceutical services (or equivalent).
• Registered with the GPHC.
• Additional qualifications or training in digital health or IT systems.

Responsibilities

• Maintain and optimise the Trust EPMA systems as part of the Pharmacy Digital Team.
• Provide expert training and support to multidisciplinary staff using the Trust Oracle Cerner Millenium EPMA system.
• Design and implement system changes to promote safe prescribing per Trust guidelines.
• Collaborate with the wider Trust Digital Teams on projects, upgrades and testing.
• Design, build and implement prescribing protocols, order sets and clinical decision support tools.
• Contribute to medication safety initiatives through system design, audits and continuous quality improvement.

Skills

NHS Hospital Pharmacy

Medicines optimisation

Digital health

Training staff

Problem solving

Education

BTEC in Pharmaceutical Sciences

NVQ Level 3 in pharmaceutical services

GPhC registration

Digital health / IT systems training

Tools

Oracle Cerner Millenium EPMA

Job description

Band 7

Main area Chief Technician Grade Band 7 Contract Permanent Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Work evenings, weekends and Bank Holidays according to rotas) Job ref 396-7926652-GO-LP-B

Site Kingston Hospital Town Kingston Salary £55,524 - £62,652 per annum inc Outer London HCAS (pro-rata) Salary period Yearly Closing 04/10/2026 23:59

Home, community, hospital

KingstonandRichmond NHS Foundation Trust offers a range offantasticopportunities to grow your career across both hospital and community settings in south London. Whether you're looking to build new skills or take your experience to the next level,weare uniquely placed toprovide therightenvironment to support your professional development.With colleagues working in people’s homes, in community clinics, and in our two hospitals, we have an outstanding breadth of knowledge and experience to draw from.

Our commitment to exceptional care is reflected in being the firsttrustof our kindin London to achieve an ‘Outstanding’ rating from the CQC for bothoverallquality andleadership.We exist to provide the best possible care for our patients and we do that by giving our colleagues what they need to be their best at work. We have won numerous awards from the HSJ and Nursing Times for the way we support our colleagues across all our services.

We are proud to be recognised for our outstanding cancer care, children's services, pioneering surgical teams, and exceptional rehabilitation services. Our maternity services have been rated the "Best in London" by women surveyed by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), with parents travelling to Kingston to take advantage of our considerable experience and expertise.

These words are important reminders, but it’s our behaviours that tell people who we are. We expect all colleagues to bring our values to life in their work.

• Compassionate: We provide care with kindness, understanding, and empathy for all.
• Inclusive: We embrace diversity and respect the unique contributions of every individual.
• Collaborative: We foster teamwork across all levels, working together and with our partners to deliver the best outcomes.
• Inspiring: We are committed to continuous improvement and excellence in patient care, staff development, and innovation.

Job overview

Pharmacy and digital might not be two things you immediately put together, but this role brings both together.

We’re looking for an experienced Senior Pharmacy Technician with a passion for digital healthcare to join us as Chief Technician, ePMA.

As part of our Pharmacy Digital and Informatics Team, you’ll help maintain, develop and optimise our ePMA system, working across the Trust to improve prescribing and patient safety.

You’ll support and train colleagues, contribute to multidisciplinary discussions and digital projects, and help solve problems as they arise. We’re looking for someone who communicates clearly, can make training engaging and enjoys finding better ways of doing things.

With healthcare becoming increasingly digital, this is an opportunity to build specialist ePMA skills while using your pharmacy knowledge to improve how medicines are prescribed and administered.

You’ll also retain your operational pharmacy experience in the dispensary, although the majority of the role will focus on digital medicines systems and supporting the people who use them.

Main duties of the job

• To help maintain and optimise our Trust Electronic Prescribing and Medicines Administration (EPMA) systems as an integral member of the Pharmacy Digital Team.
• Provide expert training and support to multidisciplinary staff using the Trust Oracle Cerner Millenium EPMA system.
• Working with multidisciplinary teams to design and implement system changes to promote safe prescribing in line with Trust clinical guidelines.
• Work in collaboration with the wider Trust Digital Teams on projects, system upgrades and configuration and regression testing.
• Design, build and implement prescribing protocols, order sets and clinical decision support tools in line with Trust guidelines.
• Contribute to medication safety initiatives through system design, audit and continuous quality improvement.

Working for our organisation

We work closely with colleagues across the wider multidisciplinary team, so you won’t be tucked away behind a computer working on ePMA in isolation. You’ll get to know people across different professions and specialties and become someone colleagues turn to when they need help navigating our digital systems.

And, because this is a role that sits between pharmacy, people and digital, there’s a real opportunity to learn. You’ll be surrounded by experienced pharmacy colleagues while also building relationships with teams across the Trust, giving you exposure to areas you might not ordinarily encounter in a traditional pharmacy technician role.

We want you to feel comfortable asking questions, sharing ideas and challenging the way we do things. If you spot something that could work better, we want to hear about it.

Kingston & Richmond NHS Foundation Trust Pharmacy Department provides a high quality, professional pharmacy service and has a strong track record in delivery quality and innovative services. Both the Pharmacy Department and the Trust have a long-standing reputation for being a friendly, rewarding compassionate place to work.

Person specification

Qualifications

• BTEC in Pharmaceutical Sciences
• NVQ Level 3 in pharmaceutical services (or equivalent)
• Registered with the GPHC
• Additional qualifications or training in digital health or IT systems

Experience and Skills

• Previous NHS Hospital Pharmacy
• Good understanding of medicines optimisation and the role of digital systems in improving patient safety
• Providing support and technical expertise on hospital electronic prescribing and administration systems
• Proven ability to master new systems rapidly
• Knowledge of professional code of conduct and guidance issued by the GPhC
• Knowledge of health informatics
• Experience with Healthcare IT computer systems

We support the NHS Flex for the Future pledge

We welcome conversations about flexible working from day one, including options such as adjusted hours, compressed hours and other arrangements. If flexibility matters to you, please talk to us - we’ll be happy to explore what’s possible for the role and the service.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

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.