Job summary
- Main area
- Pharmacy
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 8a
- Contract
- Fixed term: 12 months (weekends, bank holidays and lates)
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week (late shifts , weekends , bank holidays pro rata)
- Job ref
- 193-8360735NCG
- Employer
- Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Royal Berkshire Hospital
- Town
- Reading
- Salary
- £57,528 - £64,750 per annum
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 17/11/2026 23:59
Employer heading
Senior Lead for Pharmacy Homecare Services - Maternity Cover
NHS AfC: Band 8a
At the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust we put our patients at the heart of every element of health and care that we provide. The Trust works together as a community to deliver its vision which is “Working together to provide outstanding care for our community.”
Royal Berkshire Hospital are pleased to announce that following our CQC inspection we have been rated ‘Good’ with inspectors reporting that we have made significant improvements. The Trust’s overall rating has also improved to ‘good’.
We are Compassionate in our thoughts, words and actions
We are Aspirational and have a true desire to be dynamic and to innovate
We are Resourceful and responsible in the way we work and live
We are Excellent in our development, fairness and sharing best practice
At the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, we value candidates who bring their unique personalities, skills, and experiences to the Trust. When completing your application, we encourage you to highlight your individual achievements and strengths, showing us how they align with the requirements outlined in the job description and person specification. While we recognise that some applicants may use AI tools during the process, please be mindful that AI-generated responses can often lack the personal detail and relevance needed to demonstrate your suitability for the role. AI generated content is discouraged by the Trust and may diminish the candidates chances of success.
Amazing things happen at the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust; delivered by amazing people so why don’t you come and join us. We offer a range of learning and development for all employees may you be clinical or non-clinical.
Please note: all vacancies automatically close when 50 applications have been received.
Job overview
PLEASE NOTE: INTERNAL APPLICANTS ONLY
Band 8A Senior Lead Pharmacy Homecare Services
We are looking for an experienced pharmacy leader-pharmacist or pharmacy technician, to join our team as Senior Lead Pharmacy Homecare Services.
Main duties of the job
- The post holder provides senior leadership for the Pharmacy homecare medicines services, ensuring safe, timely, appropriate, and cost-effective provision of homecare medicines for Trust patients in accordance with National Homecare Medicines Committee (NHMC) and RPS standards and Trust governance frameworks.
- The role holds accountability for service performance, clinical governance, risk management, and continuous improvement across end-to-end homecare medicines pathways, with delegated responsibility for workforce management, clinical pathway oversight, and defined financial controls.
- The post holder provides integrated oversight across homecare prescription management, clinical validation processes, contract administration, clinical governance, and supplier performance, ensuring consistent standards, clear escalation routes, and effective controls for patient safety, clinical appropriateness, contract compliance, commissioning alignment, medicines recalls, provider performance monitoring, and homecare service quality standards.
- The post holder works closely with senior pharmacy leaders, clinical teams, medical consultants, specialist nurses, commissioning colleagues, and corporate teams to maintain service resilience, provide clinical governance leadership for complex homecare pathways, deliver assurance to Trust governance structures, and optimize homecare medicines pathways for patients and the organization.
Working for our organisation
Reading sits on the river Thames and is served by great road and rail links to London, Oxford and Southampton. With excellent leisure and shopping facilities, and a thriving cultural scene, Reading is a wonderful place to live, work and play and provides excellent facilities for families, including some of the best state and private schools in the UK.
The CQC rated the care provided by the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust as Good.
Our "CARE" values: Compassionate, Aspirational, Resourceful, Excellent, reflect the type of Trust we aspire to be and you can join our dedicated and talented staff to make this happen.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please refer to the attached Job Description and Person Specification for further details of the job role.
Person specification
Education/Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Current registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) (Pharmacist or Technician) (A)
- Master degree in pharmacy/ NVQ level 3, BTEC, or recognised equivalent qualification
- Post graduate qualifications as per PS
Desirable criteria
- Further post-graduate qualification in Management or Leadership (A)
- Practice Supervisor, Educational Supervisor, assessor qualification, or equivalent experience supporting the development of pharmacy staff.
- Membership of national professional body (e.g. RPS, APTUK)
- IP qualification/ Homecare validation cerificate
Knowledge and Experience
Essential criteria
- Significant experience as a Lead Pharmacy staff member within a hospital environment (Band 7 or above)
- Experience in leading and managing a team in a complex healthcare environment.
- Experience in audit, KPI monitoring, performance reporting (A/I)
- Significant experience working within and leading pharmacy homecare services in an acute NHS setting
- Extensive experience using medicine stock control and hospital pharmacy systems
- Proven track record of managing diverse teams to high performance levels and through change
- Previous experience managing HR processes i.e. sickness management, performance management, recruitment and selection
- Experience of delivering cost savings in NHS
- Experience in governance processes, policy/SOP maintenance, or audit (A/I)
Desirable criteria
- Experience in all aspects of hospital pharmacy
- Experience of using the CMM homecare module
- Experience in developing Pharmacy services
- Experience in using continuous quality improvement techniques (A)
- Experience of working with external homecare providers (A/I)
- Budget management experience
- Experience of contract management
Skills
Essential criteria
- Excellent leadership skills
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to tailor messages to patients, clinical staff, and senior colleagues
- Ability to work autonomously and manage a complex workload, prioritising effectively to meet deadlines
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
- Excellent and effective communication, negotiation, and judgement skills
- Attention to detail, accuracy, and commitment to high standards of record keeping
Desirable criteria
- Familiarity with clinical information systems (e.g. EPMA, electronic health records)
- Advanced data visualisation or dashboard development skills (Power BI, Qlik)
- Understanding of commissioning arrangements and financial implications of high-cost drugs
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
- Bilyana Doncheva
- Job title
- Associate Chief Pharmacist
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 0118 322 6970
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