Job summary
- Main area
- Pharamcy
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 8b
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Late duty and weekends)
- Job ref
- 391-RFL-7126037
- Employer
- Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Royal Free Hospital
- Town
- London
- Salary
- £70,387 - £80,465 per annum inclusive of HCAS
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 13/05/2025 23:59
Employer heading

Band 8b Principal Pharmacist - Clinical Services
NHS AfC: Band 8b
The North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust is a medium-sized acute and community trust with over 525 beds and over 600 community staff, serving more than 600,000 people living across Enfield and Haringey and the surrounding areas, including Barnet and Waltham Forest.
The hospital has been on its present site for over 100 years and was established as an NHS trust by statute in December 1990. The Trust’s services are provided on the North Middlesex University Hospital site as well as a range of community sites across the London Borough of Enfield, including at partner hospitals. They provide services in collaboration with a range of partners, including local GPs, acute, mental health and other community health service providers across North Central London.
In the year ending 31 March 2022, the Trust reported a turnover of £419.7m and employed almost 4,000 staff. Following the transfer of Enfield Community Services on 1st April 2023, this has increased as we have welcomed over 600 new staff including District Nurses, Community Matrons, Community Physiotherapists, Psychologists and many more across a wide range of adult and children’s community services in Enfield. It is an exciting time to join North Mid as we continue our journey to become an integrated care organisation to deliver high quality, seamless care in our local communities, with a focus on tackling health inequalities.
Job overview
The Principal Pharmacist – Clinical Services assists the Clinical Site Lead in managing, co-ordinating and developing the Trust’s clinical pharmacy services at the Royal Free Hospital. This includes the responsibility of the management of the specialist clinical pharmacists, overseeing the delivery of pharmacy services to the wards and clinical pharmacy education and training. The post-holder is a key member of the pharmacy management team and works closely with other senior staff to ensure the delivery of an integrated pharmacy service, assisting with the implementation of the pharmacy strategy across all sites/sections including medicines optimisation and medicines safety. The postholder will take part in medicine related clinical audit, research and development, development and implementation of trust-wide guidelines and deputises for the Clinical Site Lead. They will also work closely with senior nursing and medical colleagues to provide pharmaceutical input and advice on medicines management issues.
Main duties of the job
We are looking for an exceptional pharmacist to join the team as clinical services pharmacist.
Key Responsibilities:
To lead the provision of a high quality clinical pharmacy service as part of the multidisciplinary team to all trust patients, to ensure maximum efficacy, safety and economic drug use and to demonstrate professional accountability to enhance patient care.
Assisting in the planning, delivery, development and monitoring the clinical pharmacy service delivered across all sites of the Trust
To assist in identifying and managing changes necessary to maintain a high quality clinical pharmacy service responsive to patients needs and to consider the implications of changes for other areas/personnel
To assist the clinical site lead in developing and implementing long term strategic plans to further develop the clinical pharmacy services including the development of clinical pharmacists in out-patient clinics
To have overall responsibility and support the development of the clinical pharmacists
To deputise for the clinical site lead as necessary, including attendance at divisional, Trust or external meetings and committees
Working collaboratively with the Pharmacy Education and Training team
Working for our organisation
Our trust has around 10,000 staff serving 1.6 million patients. It comprises Barnet Hospital, Chase Farm Hospital, the Royal Free Hospital, the North Middlesex Hospital and more than 30 services in the community. This large scale organisation provides an unprecedented opportunity for us to continue our pioneering work, particularly in finding ways to deliver even better care to our patients. With many specialities including renal, liver, oncology, infectious disease, haemophilia and scleroderma which are underpinned by a strong research agenda, the Royal Free is renowned for providing excellent patient care.
Everyone is welcome at Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. We're proud of our diversity and continue to undertake new initiatives to advance equality for all.
The Pharmacy department of the Royal Free London NHS Trust is a friendly, progressive, and expanding unit dedicated to providing the highest standards of pharmaceutical care and service in this large, internationally renowned teaching hospital. Quality improvement and cost-effective, safe use of medicines is at the forefront of everything we do. We have over 300 staff working across the 3 sites in all areas of pharmacy. Pharmacy staff work across areas such as dispensary, stores, wards, outpatient clinics, satellite pharmacies, technical services, clinical trials, medicines advice service and QC.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please see attached job description for more information about this role and working at Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust.
Person specification
Royal Free World Class Values
Essential criteria
- Demonstrable ability to meet the Trust Values
Education & professional Qualifications
Essential criteria
- MPharm or equivalent
- Registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC)
- Post graduate diploma in pharmacy practice or equivalent
Desirable criteria
- Formal Management qualification
- Registered supplementary or independent prescriber (or working towards)
- RPS faculty member
Experience
Essential criteria
- Extensive experience working as a hospital pharmacist and at considerable experience providing a clinical pharmacy service within a specialist area or in an operational management role
- Experience of managing & leading staff and projects
- Experience of developing standards and key performance indicators
- Experience of managing change and leading service developments
- Experience of managing and analysing drug expenditure
- Experience of writing / implementing clinical guidelines and government directives
- Multidisciplinary working
- Evidence of clinical audit/drug evaluation/practice research and the promotion of evidence based practice
- Experience of appraising staff and giving feedback
- Experience in delivering education and training
- Experience as a clinical pharmacy tutor
- Experience of clinical risk and clinical governance
Desirable criteria
- Experience of writing business cases
Skills and aptitudes
Essential criteria
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- Excellent interpersonal skills
- Good presentation skills
- Excellent teaching and training skills
- Ability to carry out day to day responsibilities and deal effectively with unpredictable/acute demands
- Ability to justify and reason any advice given should this be challenged
- Ability to communicate with patients/carers and staff of all levels
- Good negotiation skills and the ability to influence senior pharmacy and medical staff, and the multidisciplinary team
- Ability to prioritise and organise own and others workload
- Ability to work alone and a part of a team
- Ability to work accurately under pressure
- Ability to integrate in a multidisciplinary forum
- Ability to manage difficult and ambiguous situations
- Demonstrates innovation and strategic thinking
- Ability to motivate and act as a role model
- Demonstrates initiative particularly in relation to problem solving
- Ability to identify and implement best practice
- Ability to identify and manage risk
- Demonstrates expert clinical knowledge and pharmaceutical care skills
- Ability to dispense and check accurately
- Undertakes own research
- Critical appraisal skills
- Expert level of clinical reasoning and judgement
- Ability to take full responsibility for and be accountable for own actions
- Ability to contribute to business plans, policies and clinical protocols
- Understanding of clinical risk and clinical governance
- Understanding of current national standards, guidelines and service delivery issues relevant to clinical pharmacy
- Participation in the development of national standards, guidelines and service delivery issues relevant to clinical pharmacy
- Understanding of NHS national and local priorities
- Understanding of processes and commissioning of high cost drugs
- Computer literate (including word processing, email & use of internet. Preferably knowledge of spreadsheet and database packages)
Personal Qualities & attributes
Essential criteria
- Enthusiastic, well motivated, hardworking
- Identifies own training needs actively seeks training opportunities and maintains a portfolio of practice
- Flexibility to work weekends, bank holidays, late nights and on call
- Reliable with good attendance record
Applicant requirements
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
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.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Gurpal Grewal
- Job title
- Deputy Chief Pharmacist
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 0207 794 0500
- Additional information
Extension 33115
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