Pharmacy Purchasing Officer - Band 3

United Lincolnshire Hospitals; Lincoln; Hybrid; GBP 26,000 - 27,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working

NHS Pension

On-site parking

Job summary

United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust invites applications for a Pharmacy Purchasing Officer at Lincoln County Hospital. The role is AfC Band 3, permanent, 37.5 hours per week (Mon-Fri), offering a valuable position in NHS procurement within a large Trust.

Key duties include processing orders with Emis (Ascribe), managing purchasing decisions, and ensuring timely supply. The post requires NVQ3 in relevant field, GCSEs, and CIPS qualification; training for NVQ and potential weekend rotation may

Qualifications

• NVQ Level 3 in Business and Administration or equivalent.
• Minimum 4 GCSEs or equivalent incl. English and Maths.
• Certificate In Procurement and Supply (CIPS).
• Computer/IT certificate (ECDL).

Responsibilities

• Process orders for pharmaceuticals, medical gases and sundries using Emis (Ascribe).
• Follow up outstanding orders and communicate supply problems to Pharmacy staff.
• Make day-to-day decisions on drug purchasing considering contract pricing and lead times.
• Prioritise workload and assist with day-to-day procurement support tasks.

Skills

Financial systems

Invoices processing

Excel skills

Education

NVQ Level 3 in Business and Administration

GCSEs (4) including English and Maths

Certificate In Procurement and Supply (CIPS)

ECDL / Computer/IT certificate

Tools

Emis (Ascribe)

Job description

We are committed to developing a workforce that reflects the community it serves and welcome applicants from all sectors of the community.

Main area Pharmacy Purchasing Grade NHS AfC: Band 3 Contract Permanent Hours

• Full time
• Part time

37.5 hours per week (7.5 hour days Mon,Tue, Wed, Thur, Fri) Job ref 357-LN-552-26-B

Site Lincoln County Hospital Town Lincoln Salary £25,760 - £27,476 per annum Salary period Yearly Closing 08/10/2026 23:59

We recognise that outstanding care can only be delivered through our people. We want to attract people who can help us deliver our vision. We want in return to help people achieve what they wish in their careers in the NHS at ULTH.

We are always keen to welcome highly skilled, committed and compassionate individuals to our hospitals – people who put patients at the heart of everything they do and are ready to help us achieve our vision.

Our Group values guide everything we do. They are:

• Compassionate - We care about people - Compassionate is the act of showing empathy, kindness, and respect to others, recognising their individual needs and circumstances. It involves listening, understanding, and supporting others in a way that makes them feel valued, safe, and cared for.
• Collaborative - We work together as a team - Collaborative is working inclusively and respectfully with others to achieve shared goals. It involves open communication, valuing diverse perspectives, and building trust to create a supportive and effective team environment.
• Innovative - We strive to improve - Innovative is the process of exploring new ideas, approaches, and technologies to improve care, services, and working practices. It involves creativity, curiosity, and a willingness to take risks in a safe and supportive environment.

If you believe in them too, then you are ready to join the ULTH team.

We’ve taken great pride in building working environments where staff always feel valued, cared for and part of a team. Without doubt this is a challenging yet very rewarding job that is at the centre of health and care in Lincolnshire - making a positive difference to our patients.

Our Trust is situated in the beautiful county of Lincolnshire and is one of the biggest acute hospital trusts in England, serving a population of more than 700,000 people. We provide acute and specialist services to people in Lincolnshire and neighbouring counties. We have an annual income of £710 million (22/23) and we employ nearly 8,600 people.

Our Group Board have recently agreed a new vision statement – “Caring and building a healthier future for all” – stating their ambition for our Trust and the wider group to be among the best.

We also have a five year Integrated Improvement Plan setting out how we will achieve our strategic objectives, for patients, services, people and partners, the last recognising that our future success depends on our ability to ensure the Lincolnshire healthcare system is successful in achieving its ambition to help people live healthier lives and provide care closer to where people live.

Our latest CQC report increased our ratings for being effective and well-led from ‘Requires Improvement’ to ‘Good’. Our rating for caring remained as ‘Good’.

This is in recognition of the huge amount of work that our amazing staff have done to improve the quality of care for our patients in recent years.

We are committed to helping our staff balance their work and home lives and ensure they feel supported, valued and appreciative.

So,what is in it for you?

• Flexible working: Depending on the needs of your role, we will consider requests for flexible and/or part-time working for whatever reason you should need it. We recognise flexible working will not look the same for everyone, because it depends on the nature of the role and the needs of the individual.

Types of flexibility could include:

• Part-time - less than 37.5 hours per week.
• Off-site/remote working - working from home or other sites for part or all the week.
• Compressed hours – usually full-time hours but over fewer days or shifts.
• Staggered hours – having different start and finish times.
• Set shift patterns – to allow for predictability
• NHS Pension:A generous and flexible pension scheme with contributions from us as your employer fully protected against inflation and guaranteed by the government
• Annual Leave: Starting at 27 days a year, rising to 33 days after 10 years plus eight bank holidays (for staff covered by Agenda for Change) For Medical Workforce positions (Consultant and Specialty Doctor), the full-time entitlement commences from 32 days per annum. For all other Medical Workforce positions, the full-time entitlement commences from 27 days per annum.
• Bank working:The chance to work extra hours at enhanced rates and we will pay you weekly too, ideal if your income needs a quick boost.

In addition, there ismore.

• Family & Childcare: Including on-site nurseries at Lincoln County Hospital and Pilgrim Hospital Boston, maternity, paternity, adoption & shared parental leave following a set period of employment.
• Health & Wellbeing: including counselling, mental health first aid, physiotherapy, eye tests.
• Learning & Development including Lincolnshire Talent Academy, leadership training, medical education, clinical education, Lincolnshire clinical research
• Financial support and benefits including Cycle2Work, car lease scheme, home electronics. Free on-site parking and free tea and coffee and the ability to save and borrow through your salary.
• Rewards & Recognition including staff awards, long service awards, retirement awards, examples of excellence and staff lottery.

Enjoy a better quality of life in one of the UK’s most welcoming counties. Whether you’re taking the first exciting steps in your career, itching for a new challenge or searching for a better place to raise a family, Lincolnshire welcomes everyone. Discover a range of rewarding health and social care careers in a county that’s friendly, fascinating, affordable and brimming with everything you need to live a happy life.

Job overview

• Pharmacy Purchasing Officer
• Pharmacy
• Lincoln County Hospital
• AfC Band 3 - £25,760 to £27,476 per annum pro rata
• 37.5 hours per week part time / full time
• 8:45am - 17:15pm - 7.5 hour working days on Mon & Tue required. Future requirements may involve flexible working hours with future 7 day working pattern as per ULHT requirements.
• Contract Type - Permanent

Process orders for all pharmaceuticals, medical gases and sundries for ULHT sites using Emis (Ascribe) computer system and associated manual systems.

Follow up outstanding orders, order alternative generic products and communicate supply problems to Pharmacy staff.

Make day to day decisions on drug purchasing issues taking into account contract pricing, supplier lead times, out of stock situations and degree of urgency required.

Prioritise own workload and assist with the day to day work of Procurement support clerks.

It is anticipated that we will receive a high number of applicants for this post. Therefore we advise applicants to submit applications early to avoid disappointment as we reserve the right to close the vacancy prior to the advertised closing date, if deemed appropriate.

Main duties of the job

Applications are invited for the post of Pharmacy Purchasing Officer, to work in the Pharmacy Dept. at Lincoln County Hospital.

The Pharmacy Department at Lincoln County Hospital provides ward based, dispensary, and aseptic dispensing services to a range of general and specialist areas including Admissions Unit, General Medical and Surgical, Haematology and Oncology and Critical Care wards. We have a well integrated team of Clinical Pharmacists, technicians and support workers and there is a supportive Pharmacy Education and Training team.

Process orders for all pharmaceuticals, medical gases and sundries for ULHT sites using Ascribe computer system and associated manual systems.

Follow up outstanding orders, order alternative generic products and communicate supply problems to Pharmacy staff.

Make day to day decisions on drug purchasing issues taking into account contract pricing, supplier lead times, out of stock situations and degree of urgency required.

The ability to work accurately is essential. This post includes some lifting and handling requirements. Job training will be provided along with Trust and department induction. Successful applicant will be required to hold or be willing to undertake an NVQ level 2 training course in Pharmacy Services. The department is moving towards providing services over 7 days so the successful applicant may be required to participate in a rota covering Saturdays and Sundays.

Working for our organisation

Lincoln Hospital is a thriving university city and with the opening of the medical school, it provides all major specialties and a 24-hour major accident and emergency service.

United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust has been granted teaching hospital status, after demonstrating evidence to significant teaching commitment. From now on it will be known as United Lincolnshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

Pilgrim Hospital is situated in beautiful countryside and serves the communities in the South Lincolnshire area. It provides all major specialties and a 24-hour major accident and emergency service.

Grantham and District Hospital serves the communities of Grantham and the local area. It provides ambulatory paediatric and accident and emergency services.

Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust (LCHS) and United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust (ULHT) have come together in a Group arrangement, with the goal of improving the care provided to patients across the county.

This will not constitute a formal merger of the two organisations, but will bring the Trusts together under a single Board and Executive Leadership Team, with the goal of improving the care that is provided to patients both in the community and in hospitals across Lincolnshire. Both Trusts will retain their separate statutory names and legal obligations.

The Group will be known as Lincolnshire Community and Hospitals NHS Group (LCHG).

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

What should you do next?

Person specification

Qualifications

• NVQ Level 3 in Business and Administration or equivalent, or by demonstration of experience, knowledge and skills at this level relevant to these qualifications
• Minimum 4 GCSE’s or equivalent at grade A-C, including English and Maths
• Certificate In Procurement and Supply (CIPS)
• Computer/IT certificate (ECDL)

Previous Experience

• Experience of Financial systems and processes
• Experience of processing financial transactions, such as invoices and orders
• Good level of knowledge and experience of IT software, in particular strong Excel spreadsheet knowledge
• Evidence of purchasing and the processes involved
• Experience in a high volume, fast-moving business environment

Communication and Relationship skills

• Proven verbal and written communication skills
• Able to work both proactively using own initiative and as an effective and flexible member of a team
• Able to communicate effectively with both internal and external, financial and non financial staff

Analytical and judgement skills

• Numerate and able to analyse and present data and take appropriate actions
• Able to handle sensitive information confidentially
• Readiness to try new things
• Ability to seek appropriate assistance from colleagues

Planning and organisational skills

• Good organisational skills; able to prioritise and deliver accurate results to deadlines under pressure

Physical skills

• Able to achieve both speed and high levels of accuracy when undertaking financial data tasks, whilst experiencing
• Able to use a keyboard and VDU for a large part of a day

other requirements specific to role

• Conscientious, reliable, self-motivated, mature outlook, results orientated
• Adaptable and flexible
• Commitment to continuous improvement of customer focused services
• Awareness and Knowledge of the dignity in care agenda.
• Ability to evidence/demonstrate key values and behaviours in line with the Trust framework: Patient Centred Safety Compassion Respect and Excellence

ULTH recognises that everyone is different, and values the unique contribution that individual experiences, knowledge and skills make in delivering quality healthcare and becoming a model employer. We are committed to transforming our organisational culture by actively committing to implementing the Trust Single Equality Scheme, and other policies, such as the Dignity in Care policy and the Dignity at Work policy. We will continue to promote equality and challenge discrimination in all service provision, recognising and meeting the needs of the diverse communities we serve. We will strive to provide an environment in which people want to work and to be a model employer leading in good employment practice.

Due to the high volume of applications we receive, ULTH reserves the right to close this advert prior to the closing date.

We welcome applications from the UK Armed Forces Community. On the application form please tick “Member of the Armed Forces Community” if the below applies to you.

You are:

• A Veteran
• A Military Reserve
• Partner/Spouse of those Serving NB: partners/spouses are only eligible whilst their partner is serving in the Armed Forces

All new employees will be subject to a charge for the DBS check that is required for the post. The Disclosure & Barring Service application form (formerly CRB) will be provided by ULTH and the fee will be deducted from your salary over a 3 month period.

Candidates are advised to read the attached guidance on using AI technology. When you complete your application, you are required to declare that the information in your application form is true and complete.

Please note, for applicants with previous NHS service: If successful at interview, we will initiate an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) via the Electronic Staff Record (ESR). This retrieves key data from your current or previous NHS employer to support onboarding, including competency status, Continuous Service Dates (CSD), and annual leave entitlement.

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.