Principal Pharmacist - Surgery

Northampton General Hospital Nhs Trust

Northampton

On-site

GBP 67,000 - 77,000

Part time

8 days ago

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Job summary

Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust seeks a Principal Pharmacist (Surgery) on a part-time secondment to cover maternity leave. The post leads the surgical division's pharmacy service and shapes strategy to ensure safe and effective medicines management.

The role collaborates with MDTs, aligning with directorate priorities and national guidance. The post holder sits within the Pharmacy Management Team, providing expert medicines advice, governance and development of service plans to support

Qualifications

Educated to Masters degree (MPharmS) or equivalent level of education, training or experience.
GPhC registration.
Post graduate qualification.

Responsibilities

Lead a team of pharmacy staff across the Surgical Divisions and directorates; deliver all Pharmacy Services to these areas.
Integrate division plans into overall pharmacy service provision, development and strategy.
Provide expert medicines use advice and governance support to meet objectives.
Specialist pharmacist in a specific area of surgery and deliver highly specialised clinical pharmacy services.

Skills

Leadership qualities

Analytical problem solving

Decision making

Staff and team management

Education

Masters degree (MPharmS) or equivalent

GPhC registration

Post graduate qualification

Job description

Job summary

This is a secondment post to cover maternity leave for the post of Principal Pharmacist for Surgery.

The Principal Pharmacist (Surgery) is a senior clinical and strategic leader responsible for delivering high-quality, patient-centred pharmacy services across the surgical division. The postholder provides both operational and strategic leadership to a team of pharmacy staff, ensuring safe, effective, and efficient medicines management and optimisation within the directorate.

Working closely with multidisciplinary teams, the Principal Pharmacist integrates fully within the surgical division, aligning pharmacy services with directorate priorities, clinical pathways, and organisational objectives. They play a key role in shaping and implementing pharmacy strategy, ensuring that service development is responsive to evolving clinical needs and national guidance.

As part of the Pharmacy Management Team, the postholder contributes to the wider leadership and governance of pharmacy services and deputises for the Associate Chief Pharmacist, Clinical Services when required. This includes providing expert, timely, and evidence-based advice on all aspects of medicines use to support the Trust in achieving its clinical, operational, and strategic goals.

Main duties of the job

To operationally and strategically lead a team of pharmacy staff providing services the Surgical Divisions and directorates and be responsible for the delivery of all Pharmacy Services to these areas.
To personally integrate into the division so that directorate plans and issues are incorporated into overall pharmacy service provision, development and strategy.
To be part of the Pharmacy Management arrangements and deputise for the Associate Chief Pharmacist, Clinical Services to help ensure that the Trust receives accurate, timely and contemporary information and advice on all aspects of pharmacy and medicines to meet it's objectives.
To be a specialist pharmacist in a specific area of surgery and to provide personal, highly specialised clinical pharmacy services.

About us

University Hospitals of Northamptonshire (UHN) was formed through the grouping of Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust. As one group, we are on a journey to improve services for our communities by working collaboratively, modernising the way we deliver care and continually striving for excellence.

Working together allows us to share expertise, strengthen services and create greater opportunities . There may be a requirement to work across our hospital sites depending on service needs.

Our Excellence Values: Compassion, Accountability, Respect, Integrity and Courage.

UHN welcomes applications from people from all protected groups and is committed to creating an inclusive working environment. We are proud signatories of the Armed Forces Covenant and have achieved the Gold Award under the Armed Forces Employer Recognition Scheme. Our active staff networks support colleagues from all backgrounds and help ensure everyone feels valued here at UHN

Details

Date posted: 01 October 2026

Pay scheme: Agenda for change

Band: Band 8b

Salary: £66,582 to £77,368 a year per annum / pro rata

Contract: Secondment

Working pattern: Part-time

Reference number: 265-8275334-CSS

Job locations: University Hospitals of Northamptonshire, Northamptonshire, Northampton, NN1 5BD, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities

Clinical Responsibilities

To provide highly specialised advice and guidance on the safe, effective and economical use of medicines to specific directorate[s] patients and healthcare staff and the organisation whilst undertaking clinical pharmacy duties.
To optimise medicines through prescribing role operating within areas of competence (where appropriately qualified and authorised via the Trust NMP register).
To ensure that you maintain competence in all relevant areas of practice and to ensure that you continually develop to fulfil registration with the GPhC.

Policy and service development

To be responsible for the provision of directorate[s] clinical pharmacy advice/care to patients and healthcare staff; this includes out-of-hours arrangements, on-call & weekend services.
To be responsible for developing, implementing and monitoring pharmacy and medicines policy, practice and standards.
To be responsible for developing and prioritising all clinical pharmacy services to directorate[s]; to develop service specifications if necessary.
To be responsible for relevant pharmacy development plans, including an annual Service Plan and contributing to the overall annual Pharmacy Plan.
To be responsible for the implementation of relevant national legislation and policy/guidance into pharmacy clinical practice

For the Division

To be responsible for developing the long-term Pharmacy and Medicines Optimisation Strategy for the division and to provide them with contemporary advice to formulate practical policy and guidance. This will include service delivery options eg. non-medical prescribing, patient group directions, pre-operative assessment, use of physicians associates etc
To prepare guidance [including treatment guidelines, medicines policy, patient group directions etc], for the use of medicines within the Division in partnership with medical, nursing and management staff and to ensure safe implementation within the Directorate[s].
To ensure appropriate consultation and governance of guidance involving medicines by being a part of guideline ratification process and/ or being a member of the Directorate[s] ratification group[s].
To ensure that projects, changes and developments that involve medicines or pharmacy services within the directorate[s] are planned & managed to ensure that success can be adequately measured.
To ensure pharmacy contribution to medicines projects/initiatives on behalf of the Division
To be responsible for recording, monitoring and reporting clinical pharmacy activity to the Division.
To manage the introduction of new medicines on behalf of the Directorate[s] and to ensure the Trusts Formulary procedures are followed, and to ensure a link between decision making and pharmacy practice.
To manage the implementation of national medicines optimisation initiatives within the Division, Pharmacy and Trust. This will include contributing to task & finish groups & other forums eg. Thrombosis Committee.
To work with external organisations to promote the optimisation of medicines across the county/region.

Governance and Risk Management

To provide information for the Trusts system of assurance to evidence compliance with CQC and other medicines-related standards for the Directorate[s]
To manage all pharmacy & medicines-related governance issues for the Division including incident reports and complaints. To undertake root cause analysis where required and ensure action planning to improve/avoid future issues.
To identify medicine-related risk within the Division and Pharmacy and to ensure management via Directorate and Pharmacy risk registers.
To attend or facilitate pharmacy representation on the Division and Directorate[s] governance forum to advise senior clinicians/managers.

Responsibility for training and development

To be responsible for the organisation and supervision of trainee and post-registration training and development arrangements within the Directorate pharmacy team
To plan and deliver medicines optimisation training and competence assessment for healthcare staff including doctors and nursing staff across the division.
To ensure your staff maintain competence in all relevant areas of practice and to ensure that they fulfil registration with the GPhC.

Responsibility for leading and managing

To lead, manage and develop a team of Pharmacists, Technicians & others. In particular, to integrate pharmacy staff into the Directorate teams.
To be responsible for the Pharmacy service workforce and training plan for Directorates[s].
To ensure staff comply with pharmacy and Trust policies, procedures and governance arrangements and consider professional and best practice guidance.
To recruit, appoint and induct pharmacy staff into the team, to formally appraise them and identify training and development needs.
To ensure staff engagement and supervision within the Pharmacy Service.
To be responsible for the organisation and supervision of trainee and post-registration training and development arrangements within the Directorate pharmacy team.
To optimise the time for clinical work by ensuring appropriate skill mix, technical/clinical mix, qualified/unqualified mix, and optimising the use of technology etc.

Financial management and reporting

To be accountable for the clinical pharmacy budget within the Division.
To be responsible for the co-ordinated advice to the Directorate[s] to effectively manage expenditure on medicines, including tariff medicines, excluded medicines, prior approvals, individual funding requests etc
To manage the Divisions annual submission for the funding of tariff excluded medicines by horizon scanning and engaging specialists and Directorate managers; to ensure this is co-ordinated within the Trust and to discuss with commissioners as required.
To produce appropriate reports documenting the provision of Pharmacy Services, achievements, governance and medicines expenditure for the Directorate[s] to support their needs.
To identify and manage medicine/pharmacy quality improvement schemes, including Cost Improvement Programme [CIP] schemes within the Division; to ensure this is co-ordinated within the Pharmacy &Trust.
To be an authorised signatory for Pharmacy

Research and Development

To undertake and facilitate audit and practice research within Pharmacy.
To develop an audit plan for medicines/Pharmacy services within the Directorate[s].
To manage the audit plan, document activities, and ensure that audit is reported and appropriate action is taken on the results.
To contribute to the Directorate[s] R&D activities involving the pharmacy Clinical Trials staff, as required.
To promote the publication of pharmacy practice research

Person Specification

Education, Training and Qualification

Essential

Educated to Masters degree (MPharmS) or equivalent level of education, training or experience
GPhC registration
Post graduate qualification

Desirable

RPS membership
Independent Prescriber

Knowledge and Experience

Essential

Significant experience in hospital pharmacy
Experience of supporting divisional pharmacist or equivalent, to include expenditure reporting, formulary application, guideline writing
Staff and team management

Skills and personal qualities

Essential

Demonstrates leadership qualities
Passionate and committed to bring our Dedicated to Excellence values to life
Analytical problem solving and decision making

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details

Employer name: Northampton General Hospital
Address: University Hospitals of Northamptonshire, Northamptonshire, Northampton, NN1 5BD, United Kingdom
Employer's website: Apply through our website

Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact: Associate Chief Pharmacist, Clinical Services, Rachel Westwood, rachel.westwood@nhs.net, 07525387620

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