Primary Care Pharmacist

NHS National Services Scotland; Kirkwall; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 52,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Distant Islands Allowance

NHS Pension scheme

Job summary

NHS Orkney seeks an enthusiastic Primary Care Clinical Pharmacist to join the Polypharmacy & Medicines Reablement Service. The role covers Orkney-wide GP practices, care homes, and patients in their homes, delivering structured polypharmacy reviews and medicines optimisation to support independence for frailty and multimorbidity.

Flexible working is available, including hybrid and remote options. The post, based at The Balfour, is full-time (36 hours) with a fixed-term/secondment until November

Qualifications

• Registered pharmacist with excellent clinical, communication and interpersonal skills.
• Independent Prescribing qualification is essential.

Responsibilities

• Conduct structured polypharmacy reviews and medicines reconciliation.
• Deliver medicines optimisation activities to reduce medicines-related harm.
• Support remote consultations and multidisciplinary case discussions using NHS Near Me and Teams.
• Collaborate with GP practices, care homes, hospitals, and community services to provide person‑centred pharmaceutical care.

Skills

Clinical pharmacy

Communication skills

Education

Independent Prescribing qualification

Job description

Primary Care Clinical Pharmacist (Polypharmacy & Medicines Reablement)

Help Shape the Future of Medicines Optimisation in One of Scotland's Most Unique Health Systems

We are looking for an enthusiastic and motivated pharmacist to join NHS Orkney's Primary Care Pharmacy Team and help deliver an innovative new Polypharmacy and Medicines Reablement Service across Orkney.

This exciting new post has been created through transformational funding to improve outcomes for people with frailty, multimorbidity and complex medicines needs. Working across GP practices, care homes, community settings and patients' own homes, the successful candidate will undertake structured polypharmacy reviews, medicines reconciliation and medicines optimisation activities aimed at reducing medicines-related harm and supporting people to remain independent for longer.

The post holder will work closely with GP practices, community pharmacies, hospital teams, care homes, care at home services, patients and carers to provide person-centred pharmaceutical care across mainland Orkney and the outer isles. The service has been designed around innovative and flexible models of care, making extensive use of digital technology, including NHS Near Me and Microsoft Teams, to support remote consultations, multidisciplinary case discussions, patient reviews and collaborative working across geographically dispersed communities.

Flexible Working Opportunities

Location, Working Pattern and Contract Duration:

This post will be based at The Balfour

The successful candidate will work: Full Time 36 hours per week

This post is Fixed-Term/Secondment* until November 2028 months due to funding for a specific project

It is a condition of this employment that you must live and remain a resident within the UK for the post in which you will be employed with NHS Orkney.

We recognise that attracting the right candidate may require a different approach to traditional recruitment. As a result, we welcome applications from pharmacists interested in:

• Secondment of Fixed-Term Opportunities – Post
• Full-time or part-time working arrangements (Part time (minimum of 3 x 7.5hr days))
• This post will be based at The Balfour, however we are open to discussions around hybrid and remote working.

The role combines remote clinical practice and collaborative working with planned visits to Orkney, allowing the successful candidate to contribute to patient care and service development while benefiting from flexible working arrangements. We are committed to exploring innovative ways of delivering pharmaceutical care across remote and island communities while maintaining high-quality, person-centred services.

Benefits and Salary:

Did you know NHS Scotland salaries are higher than those in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland?

The salary for this post is Band 7 and if residing on Orkney, you’ll also receive a Distant Islands Allowance of £1,719 pro rata per annum, adding extra value to your rewarding career with us.

NHS Orkney also offers an attractive pension scheme, wide range of work life balance policies, employee assistance programme and various discounts to both local and national retailers.

About the Role

You will join a friendly, supportive and experienced pharmacy team and be supported by our established Primary Care Pharmacy Service. Team working is central to how we deliver care, and you will have opportunities to contribute to service development, quality improvement and innovative models of care across NHS Orkney.

The role offers experience across the four pillars of advanced pharmacy practice: clinical practice, leadership and management, education, and research. We are committed to supporting the successful candidate's professional development, including progression through the Royal Pharmaceutical Society credentialing programme.

This is an exciting opportunity to make a real difference to patient care while helping shape a new service expected to deliver significant benefits for patients and the wider health and care system. The programme aims to support over 800 polypharmacy reviews annually and improve access to pharmaceutical care for people living in remote and island communities.

The successful candidate must be a registered pharmacist with excellent clinical, communication and interpersonal skills. Experience in primary care, community pharmacy or hospital pharmacy is welcomed. An Independent Prescribing qualification is essential.

Why NHS Orkney?

This post offers a unique opportunity to work within a progressive and innovative health system that is embracing new ways of delivering care. Whether based in Orkney or working remotely as part of a hybrid arrangement, you will join a friendly and enthusiastic team committed to improving outcomes for patients through collaboration, technology-enabled care and service innovation.

You will have the opportunity to make a visible difference to the health and wellbeing of the Orkney population while helping shape the future of medicines optimisation across Scotland's island communities.

NHS Orkney is an equal opportunities employer committed to advancing equality and particularly welcomes applications from groups of people currently underrepresented within the workforce. We are a committed participant in the Disability Confident Leader Scheme and guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum essential criteria for our vacancies.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) - Candidates should provide original and authentic responses to all questions within the application form. The use of artificial intelligence (AI), automated tools, or other third-party assistance to generate, draft, or significantly modify responses is strongly discouraged. By submitting your application, you confirm that all answers are your own work, reflect your personal knowledge, skills and experience, and have not been solely produced or altered by AI or similar technologies.

Failure to comply with this requirement may result in your application being withdrawn from the application process.

Please note this advert may close early if sufficient applications are received.

*Please discuss seeking a secondment with your line manager, prior to submitting an application.