Primary Care Mental Health Pharmacist

NHS Borders; Melrose; On-site; GBP 53,000 - 61,000; Part time

Job summary

NHS Borders is seeking a skilled, motivated pharmacist to join our Pharmacy team as a Primary Care Pharmacist with a focus on mental health prescribing.

This role involves working closely with GP practices, primary care mental health services, community pharmacy and wider multidisciplinary teams to improve prescribing quality, reduce medicines-related harm, and support safe, effective use of psychotropic medicines.

Responsibilities

• Lead prescribing safety and quality improvement aligned to national indicators.
• Review high-risk prescribing such as benzodiazepines and complex regimens.
• Improve medicines optimisation and safe, effective use of psychotropic medicines.

Job description

Primary Care Mental Health Pharmacist

Job reference: 262949

Salary: Band 7 (£52,845 - £61,466)

Job closing date: 04/11/2026

Job Type: Other Therapeutic

Location: Borders General Hospital

Employment type: Permanent

Hours Per Week: 30

Job posted date: 21/10/2026

Employer (NHS Board): NHS Borders

Department: Pharmacy

OUR VALUES IN ACTION

Compassion Kindness Integrity Teamwork Excellence

NHS Borders is seeking a skilled, motivated and forward-thinking pharmacist to join our Pharmacy team as a Primary Care Pharmacist with a focus on mental health prescribing.

This is an excellent opportunity to play a key role in developing and delivering high-quality, person-centred medicines optimisation for people with mental health needs across primary care. Working closely with GP practices, primary care mental health services, community pharmacy and wider multidisciplinary teams, you will help improve prescribing quality, reduce medicines-related harm, and support the safe and effective use of psychotropic medicines.

A central part of this role will be leading and supporting prescribing safety and quality improvement aligned to Scottish National Therapeutic Indicators. This includes reviewing high-risk prescribing, such as the mental health triple whammy, long-term benzodiazepine and z-drug use, and other complex psychotropic regimens. The post directly supports NHS Borders priorities to improve access, deliver care closer to home, strengthen prevention and early intervention, and provide safe, sustainable, high-quality care. We are looking for a registered pharmacist with relevant post-registration experience, strong clinical judgement, excellent communication skills, and a clear commitment to collaborative working and service improvement.

Why join NHS Borders?

NHS Borders offers the opportunity to build a rewarding career in a supportive, forward-looking organisation committed to high-quality patient care and continuous improvement. You will join a collaborative Pharmacy team with strong professional links across primary care and mental health services, giving you the chance to influence service development, strengthen prescribing quality, and make a meaningful difference to patient outcomes.

Whether you're early in your career or looking to take the next step into a more senior role, NHS Borders offers a supportive environment where you can grow, influence change, and make a real impact.

To work in the United Kingdom, there is a legal requirement for an individual to demonstrate that they have the relevant permission to work in the country. This permission is, without exception, granted by the UK Visa and Immigrations Service. As part of the pre-employment checks for a preferred candidate, NHS Scotland Boards will check your entitlement to work in the UK. It can be evidenced through a number of routes including specific types of visa as well as EU settled and pre-settled status. To find out more about these routes of permission, please refer to the GOV.UK website here.

It is ESSENTIAL that you have checked that you either already have an appropriate right to work in the UK or that the post would be eligible to be sponsored BEFORE submitting your application form.

We cannot accept late applications so please ensure your application is submitted early.

For part time posts the salary shown will be pro rata. NHS Scotland is committed to encouraging equality and diversity among our workforce and eliminating unlawful discrimination. The aim is for our workforce to be truly representative and for each employee to feel respected and able to give their best. To this end, NHS Scotland welcomes applications from all sections of society.

AI tools:

AI tools like ChatGPT or Copilot can be great for planning and preparing your application, but your answers must be your own.

• Show us the real you: Your application should reflect your skills, experience, and motivations authentically.
• Use AI wisely: It's fine to use AI for ideas or to check spelling and grammar, but don't let it write your answers.
• Why this matters: Applications that rely on AI-generated content may be withdrawn. By applying, you confirm your responses are based on your own knowledge and achievements.

Supporting Documents

• Borders Additional Information (PDF)
• Borders Values and Behaviours (PDF)
• Primary Care Pharmacist JD (PDF)