Senior Rotational Pharmacy Assistant

Royal Marsden; Greater London; Remote; GBP 32,000 - 33,000; Full time

Job summary

The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a Pharmacy Dispenser to support the inpatient dispensary and medical day unit on site at Chelsea. You will dispense, order and distribute medicines, assisting the pharmacy team under supervision to deliver high-quality patient care.

Key duties include accurate dispensing, handling controlled drugs, stock management, and on-site patient and staff support. The role requires flexibility, organisational skills and the ability to work seven days on

Qualifications

• GCSE English and Maths (or Numeracy & Literacy level 2) or equivalent.
• NVQ Level 2 in Pharmacy Services or equivalent to Level 2.
• Experience of working in a Pharmacy environment.
• Experience of preparing & dispensing prescriptions and stock management.

Responsibilities

• Dispense prescriptions accurately following SOPs.
• Supply and dispense controlled drugs as required and in line with regulations.
• Attend dispensary hatch, process prescriptions, requisitions, and deliveries.
• Answer telephone queries promptly and relay information correctly.
• Deliver medicines to patients, including home deliveries when needed.
• Maintain records of emergency medicines, boxes and recalls.

Skills

Dispensing prescriptions

Stock management

Communication

Teamwork

Education

GCSE English & Maths

NVQ Level 2 in Pharmacy Services

Tools

Pharmacy stock system

Job description

Employer The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site The Royal Marsden - Chelsea Town Chelsea Salary £31,554 - £33,270 Pro rata per annum including inner London HCAS Salary period Yearly Closing 20/10/2026 23:59

Job overview

1.1. To support the inpatient dispensary and medical day unit on site with provision of a comprehensive dispensary and distribution service i.e. dispensing, ordering and distribution of stock medicines and assist with other duties when required.
1.2. Take an active role in accurately dispensing medicines to provide an efficient and timely service and to participate with any other related duties other areas of pharmacy.
1.3. Assist the pharmacy team (under the supervision of a registered pharmacy professional) in providing a high -quality service to patients, customers, and pharmacy staff.
1.4. To provide a pharmacy service to the Day Units, Chelsea

Main duties of the job

2.1 To interpret and accurately dispense prescriptions and ward pharmacy requisitions’ ensuring the work is carried out accurately, safely, and efficiently following current standard operating procedures of the department.
2.2 To accurately supply and dispense controlled drugs (on request from clinical areas and for discharge prescriptions) when required, in accordance with departmental procedures and relating legislation regarding record keeping, storage and transportation of controlled drugs.
2.3 To attend to the dispensary hatch as required dealing with patients and members of staff and taking in prescriptions, requisitions, deliveries etc. and processing as per local procedures.

2.4 To ensure the telephone is answered promptly and politely where appropriately throughout the working day:

• Deal with query / information and respond promptly.
• Relay completed and accurate information.
• Recognise self -limitations and refer to an appropriate person.

2.5 To ensure medication requiring delivery is sent to individual patient home using a suitable method e.g. courier when required, considering safe transportation of medication, storage requirements and surgery.

2.6 To ensure that adequate supply of medicines emergency boxes and kits are available in the dispensary and accurate records are maintained daily.

2.7 To issue replacement and recall of used or expired medicines emergency boxes from and to clinical areas and to maintain accurate records.

Working for our organisation

The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust is a world-leading cancer centre. Our role is to offer our patients the best cancer care available anywhere in the world, and to continue to make a global contribution to finding better ways of diagnosing and treating cancer. We employ over 4,500 staff in a diverse range of careers including nursing, medical, science, radiography, pharmacy, occupational therapy, finance and administrative services. We have two hospitals – one in Chelsea, London, and one in Sutton, Surrey – as well as a Medical Daycare Unit in Kingston Hospital.

At The Royal Marsden, we deal with cancer every day, so we understand how valuable life is. When people entrust their lives to us, they have the right to demand the very best. That's why the pursuit of excellence lies at the heart of everything we do.

At the heart of the hospital is our dedicated team. We offer a stimulating and dynamic working environment, a wide range of staff benefits, learning and development opportunities and clear career pathways. There are opportunities to work flexibly across a range of areas and specialities and we welcome flexible working requests from point of hire to support employees work life balance. We are looking for employees who aspire to excellence, share our values and can play a crucial role in our on-going achievements.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

General
2.21 To participate in the induction and training of staff in areas of responsibility.
2.22 To undertake any other duties as may be required within the nature and grade of the post.
2.23 To participate in educational programme offered to staff, as required.
2.24 To attend the induction programme, maintain up to date mandatory training, and attend teaching specific to the pharmacy department.
2.25 To carry out any other reasonable duties as requested by the Deputy Pharmacy Technicians, Stores Manager, Senior Pharmacy Technicians or Senior Pharmacists.
2.26 Required to participate in 7 days service which includes working weekends, late shifts and bank holidays.

Person specification

Education/Qualifications

• GCSE level (Grade A-C in English and Maths) or Numeracy and Literacy functional skills level 2 (or equivalent)
• NVQ Level 2 in Pharmacy Services or Essential Application form relevant GPhC accredited Training Programme equivalent to Level 2.

Experience

• Experience of working in a Pharmacy environment.
• Experience of preparing & dispensing prescriptions.
• Experience of ordering and stock management
• Working with and liaising with other healthcare professionals.

Skills Abilities/knowledge

• Ability to organise workload and work as part of a team.
• Good communication and interpersonal skills (written and verbal).
• Quality-oriented; strives for continuous improvement.
• Be physical fit to be able to undertake lifting to put stock away and for carrying orders to wards / departments.
• Able to work 7 days a week on site as part of pharmacy services

The Royal Marsden values diversity and is committed to the recruitment and retention of underrepresented minority groups. We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates, LGBTQ+ candidates and candidates with disabilities.

As a Disability Confident Employer, we are working to create a workplace that enables all staff to reach their full potential. We are committed to this because we know that greater diversity and inclusion will lead to an even greater positive impact for the people we serve.

Due to the high volumes of applications we receive, we reserve the right to close any adverts before the published closing date once we have received a sufficient number of applications. We advise you to submit your application as early as possible to prevent disappointment. Please ensure your information is accurate to avoid errors with processing your application

All applicants will be contacted by email to the address supplied on your application. Applicants are advised to check their email accounts regularly and to ensure that email filters are set to allow our emails.

Flu Vaccination – What We Expect of our Staff

At The Royal Marsden we have an immune compromised patient population who we must protect as much as we can against the flu virus. Each year, seasonal flu affects thousands of people in the UK. Occurring mainly in winter, it is an infectious respiratory disease capable of producing symptoms ranging from those similar to a common cold, through to very severe or even fatal disease.

The wellbeing of our staff and patients is of the upmost importance to us, and it is the expectation of The Royal Marsden that all patient-facing staff have an annual flu vaccination, provided free of charge by the Trust.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.