Job summary
- Main area
- 317 RVI Pharmacy - RVI
- Grade
- Band 7
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 317-2025-22-027
- Employer
- The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Royal Victoria Infirmary
- Town
- 317 02 Royal Victoria Infirmary
- Salary
- £46,148 - £52,809 per annum
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 02/07/2025 23:59
- Interview date
- 14/07/2025
Employer heading
Specialist Lead Technician
Band 7
Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the busiest and largest NHS foundation trusts in the country, with around 15,000 staff and an annual budget of £1.6 billion.
We have a long history of providing high quality care, clinical excellence, and innovation in medical research regionally, nationally and internationally.
We’re in the top five providers of specialised health services in the country, supporting people with a range of rare and complex medical, surgical and neurological conditions, cancers and genetic orders.
Our staff oversee around 6,500 patient contacts each day, delivering high standards of healthcare.
We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and recognise the benefit in providing an inclusive environment. We value and respect the diversity of our employees and aim to recruit a workforce which reflects the communities we serve, and is equipped to deliver the best service to our patients. We welcome all applications irrespective of people’s race, disability, sex, sexual orientation, religion or belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity and in particular those from under- represented groups.
Newcastle Hospitals are proud to be one of the exemplar organisations across the NHS on sustainability, with a long history of delivering Sustainable Healthcare in Newcastle (Shine) and the first healthcare organisation in the world to declare a climate emergency. Our strategy includes commitments to being Net Zero by 2030, for our direct carbon footprint, and Net Zero by 2040 for our footprint plus. Delivering these ambitions will not be possible without the help, support and action of every single member of our team.
Job overview
Are you passionate about education, development, and making a difference across pharmacy services?
We're looking for an enthusiastic & experienced Pharmacy Technician to lead our education & training team and the training of our technical staff across multiple services.
The post holder will lead on apprenticeships across the department and on the initial education and training (IET) for Pharmacy Technicians and Pharmacy Assistants, including the Level 3 Diploma in Principles and Practice for Pharmacy Technicians & Level 2 qualifications for Pharmacy Assistants. They will also oversee the training given to undergraduate trainee pharmacists that attend training placements within the Freeman and RVI.
It’s expected that the successful candidate will have a wealth of clinical pharmacy knowledge & hands-on training experience. This will be in both a pharmacy operational & clinical environment, as a significant amount of time will be spent working clinically (at ward level) with trainees.
The Trust has provided significant investment into pharmacy and views us as integral for the future. This post will be key to ensuring that pharmacy is able to grow & develop its staff to meet the demands of the service and deliver excellent patient care.
- Interview Date Monday 14 July 2025
- 37 Hours 30 Minutes/Week
- You will be redirected to Trac to apply for the vacancy. Please expand the job details section and read all of the information before applying for the vacancy
NO AGENCIES PLEASE
Main duties of the job
- Act as the trust wide lead for a defined service (technical staff education & training) and work alongside other Specialist Lead Technicians, Senior Lead Clinical Pharmacists and the Integrated Care Clinical Pharmacy Team to maximise efficiency, maintain professional standards, minimise waste and ensure a patient focused service is delivered.
- Identifies training requirements for pharmacy staff working in clinical areas and works with other senior managers in regard to human resources, and education & training issues relating to technical staff and their performance.
- Lead on change management, clinical audits and Quality Improvement (QI) initiates when requested, including projects involving service modifications, reconfiguration and expansion of services.
- Provides leadership and direction to pharmacy staff working in clinical areas thus ensuring medicines are used on wards safely, efficiently and cost effectively.
- Contributes to the long-term strategic planning of the Trust wide Pharmacy service.
- Promote a culture that encourages the development of new practices aimed at improving patient care e.g. electronic ward medicine storage cabinets (Omnicell).
Working for our organisation
Our staff oversee over 6,500 patient contacts every day, delivering high standards of healthcare from the following sites:
• Freeman Hospital
• Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI)
• Health Innovation Neighbourhood (on the former Newcastle General Hospital and Centre for Ageing and Vitality site)
• Newcastle Dental Hospital
• Newcastle Fertility Centre
• Northern Centre for Cancer Care, North Cumbria
• Northern Genetics Service
• Cramlington Manor Walks
These include a range of flagship services which deliver cutting-edge care (supported by state-of-the-art diagnostic services in both radiology and pathology) and are a catalyst for innovation to support pioneering clinical practice in the NHS.
We also have offices at Regent Point in Gosforth and community sites.
Please see attached information on what Staff Benefits we have to offer at our Trust under ‘Documents to download’ or ‘Supporting documents’.
For further information on The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust please visit: Careers | Newcastle Hospitals | NHS | Newcastle Hospitals and Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
- Act as the trust wide lead for a defined service.
- Work closely with the Pharmacy Patient Services Operations Manager, Specialist Lead Technicians, Senior Lead Clinical Pharmacists and the Integrated Care Clinical Pharmacy Team to maximise efficiency, maintain professional standards, minimise waste and ensure a patient focused service is delivered.
- Lead on change management, clinical audits and Quality Improvement (QI) initiates when requested, including projects involving service modifications, reconfiguration and expansion of services.
- With patient safety in mind, work alongside the medication safety team to develop innovative ways to target high risk patients that require clinical pharmacy input.
- Support and if appropriate lead the implementation of new innovative technologies.
- Work with the Clinical Pharmacist Lead and the Medication Safety Officer to make adaptions where necessary to electronic pharmacy tools (e.g. medicines acuity tool, ICNET, patient contact forms) with the aim of optimising the impact of the clinical pharmacy team.
- Oversee the deployment of technicians and assistants, ensuring that clinical areas are adequately staffed, and cover is organised due to sickness, annual leave etc.
- Undertake key pre-in-process and final accuracy checks on specified prepared medicinal products in response to prescriptions and signed orders in accordance with legislation and standard operating procedures.
- Undertake the professional role of a registered Technician, including giving advice, supervision and co-operation with colleagues.
- Ensure compliance with GPhC requirements.
As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement. If it works for the service, we will do our best to make it work for you.
Person specification
Qualifications & Education
Essential criteria
- Level 3 in Pharmacy Services and approved underpinning knowledge e.g. BTEC in Pharmaceutical Science or equivalent recognised pharmacy technician qualification (post graduate level equivalent)
- Registered with GPhC
- Accredited medicines management technician (or working towards accreditation), or BTEC Level 4 Clinical Diploma
- Recognised accredited checking technician qualification
Desirable criteria
- NVQ Assessor qualification
- Management qualification e.g. NVQ level 4
Knowledge & Experience
Essential criteria
- Registered hospital technician with significant post registration experience
- Recent experience of managing staff and a section of a hospital pharmacy department
- Specialist knowledge and understanding of all technical aspects of pharmacy patient services, supported by practical experience and completion of an approved training programme
- Proven in depth understanding of medicines management in a range of settings
- Evidence of successfully managing change in a hospital pharmacy environment
- Understanding of the changing roles of Pharmacy Technicians
- Evidence of professional CPD
Desirable criteria
- Experience across a wide range of pharmaceutical services
- Awareness of NHS strategic documents affecting pharmacy e.g. NICE Medicines Optimisation, RPS Pharmacy Standards
Skills & Abilities
Essential criteria
- Evidence of managerial skills e.g. decision making, influencing, negotiating
- Demonstrable leadership ability as well as a motivational and inspirational leadership style
- Excellent organisational skills
- Excellent oral & written communication
- Ability to provide and receive complex information
- Ability to analyse reports/audits/statements etc and recommend courses of action
- Proven ability to deliver work to short deadlines and to a high standard
- Ability to devise and implement clear written standard operating procedures
- Able to independently manage own workload
- General computer skills (e.g. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, email)
- Methodical and accurate with attention to detail
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
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.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Stephen Ashton
- Job title
- Assistant Director of Pharmacy Operations
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 0191 2825025
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