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Job summary

Main area
Pharmacy
Grade
Executives / VSM
Contract
Permanent
Hours
Full time - 37.5 hours per week
Job ref
287-DTC-235-26
Employer
Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
Royal Liverpool Hospital and UHLG sites
Town
Liverpool
Salary
Dependant on Experience
Closing
22/11/2026 23:59
Interview date
04/12/2026

Employer heading

Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust logo

University Hospitals of Liverpool Group Chief Pharmacist

Executives / VSM

Job overview

Liverpool University Hospitals Group and The Walton Centre are seeking an exceptional and forward-thinking pharmacist to join our leadership teams as Chief Pharmacist. As the Group’s most senior lead for medicines use and pharmacy services, you will work with Site Directors of Pharmacy and Hospital Leadership Teams to deliver safe, effective and financially sustainable use of medicines.

Significant investments in Pharmacy Services over the last 3 years are delivering real improvements for the population we serve.

As the Group’s senior professional lead for pharmacy and medicines management, you will be responsible for ensuring the safe, effective and financially sustainable use of medicines across inpatient, outpatient and community services. You will provide strategic leadership for medicines safety, clinical governance, workforce development, service transformation and medicines optimisation, while acting as the principal adviser on pharmaceutical matters.

This influential leadership role offers the opportunity to shape services across the Group and wider health system, delivering improvements in patient outcomes, operational performance and financial sustainability while ensuring the highest standards of quality, safety and regulatory compliance.

Experienced Chief Pharmacists with a desire to collaborate to influence patient outcomes, operational and regulatory performance and financial sustainability will be essential pre-requisites for this exciting opportunity. 

 

Main duties of the job

The post holder will:

  • be the responsible officer for medicines use in the Group Trusts and WCFT
  • Have management accountability for the delivery of Pharmacy Services in accordance with the Trust Strategic Plan and the Medicines and Pharmacy Scheme of delegation.
  • Provide a comprehensive and high-quality pharmaceutical service, involved in all aspects of medicines management.
  • Maintain and strengthen governance and develop the workforce with the right skills, knowledge and experience to ensure safe and effective delivery of medicines management and pharmacy services.
  • Provide specialist expertise and, delegated from the Group Chief Executive, and reporting through the Group Medical Director, have corporate responsibility  across the Group and WCFT for all aspects of Medicine Optimisation.
  • Provide professional leadership for the pharmaceutical services provided to the Trusts and other external customers. This includes performing the duties and responsibilities of the the Superintendent Pharmacist.
  • Provide professional leadership and work in collaboration with senior pharmacists in the Integrated Care System and the appropriate Primary Care Networks
  • Ensure that services provided are progressive, responsive to internal and external demand, are patient focused, safe, efficient and effective.
  • Ensure that the pharmacy workforce is empowered, supported in development and succession planning, trained in quality improvement methodology and the culture values people.

 

Working for our organisation

NHS University Hospitals of Liverpool Group (UHL Group) was formed on 1 November 2024, born from a shared aim to improve the care we provide our communities.

We are one of the largest employers in region, with over 18,900 colleagues who are dedicated to caring for our communities - from birth and beyond.

For the 630,000 people across Merseyside, we are their local NHS. We provide general and emergency hospital care, alongside highly specialised regional services that extend to more than two million people in the North West.

We operate from five hospital sites: Aintree University Hospital is the single receiving site for adult major trauma patients in Cheshire and Merseyside, and hosts a number of regional services including an award-winning stroke facility. Broadgreen Hospital is home to several elective surgical, diagnostic and treatment services, together with specialist patient rehabilitation. Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital provide specialist services in cardiothoracic surgery, cardiology and respiratory medicine, both in the hospital and out in the community. Liverpool Women’s Hospital specialises in the health of women and babies, delivering over 7,200 babies in the UK’s largest single site maternity hospital each year.  The Royal Liverpool University Hospital is the largest hospital in the country to provide inpatients with 100% single en-suite bedrooms and mainly focuses on complex planned care and specialist services.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

For full details, please refer to the attached job description

Provide clinical leadership to transform the way the Trusts handle medicines, in every respect, to optimise their role. 

Provide clinical leadership for all aspects of Medicines Optimisation within the Group Trusts and WCFT, within the Primary Care Networks in Cheshire and Merseyside across the Integrated Care System and beyond to other local health communities.

Continue to develop the Medicines Optimisation strategic plan to align MU&PS services to meet Group Trust-wide needs to drive both quality improvement and productivity gains.

Lead and implement the consequent transformational change.

Work with commercial partners to deliver operational efficiencies.

Enable excellent partnerships with national and local commissioners while also building relationships with primary care providers such as GPs and Community Pharmacists as new clinical leadership structures emerge.

Work with the ICB and specialist commissioners to deliver on commissioning intention requirements in respect of high-cost medicines and associated quality and performance targets.

Undertake the statutory roles and responsibilities of the Superintendent Pharmacist as required by all applicable legislation

Act as Controlled Drug Accountable Officer for the Trusts and be the licence holder for the Home Office Controlled Drug Licences.

Be the licence holder for MHRA Wholesale Dealer's Authority, Aseptic Specials Licences for Aintree, Royal ASU and Radiopharmacy.

Provide professional leadership to MU&PS Teams at Group and Sites to meet current statutory obligations.

Deliver, through the Pharmacy Senior Leadership Team, the active management of all aspects of pharmacy service, making optimal use of resources available.

Work with the Group and WCFT executive teams and site HLTs to address issues relating to pharmacy service provision of the wider Medicines Optimisation agenda.

 

 

 

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria
  • Masters Qualification in Pharmacy (4 years)
  • Registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council
  • Post-graduate qualification relevant to hospital pharmacy practice
  • Management qualification relevant to the NHS or equivalent experience
  • Membership of the Royal College of Pharmacy

Experience

Essential criteria
  • Recent practice in a leadership role within hospital pharmacy as a Chief Pharmacist
  • Recent experience in leading transformational quality improvement project work
  • Experience of managing multi-stranded situations where there may be conflicts of opinions involving a wide range of stakeholders

Knowledge

Essential criteria
  • Sound knowledge and understanding of financial management systems relevant to NHS, including understanding of Standing Orders, Standing Financial Instructions and Capital and Corporate Planning procedures
  • Evidence of commitment to Continuing Professional Development
  • Comprehensive knowledge and practical understanding of financial and commissioning frameworks
  • Specialist knowledge and experience with management and response to Medicine Guidance Notes, MHRA Alerts, Care Quality Commission inspections, NHS Improvement, Internal and external auditing, Serious incident investigation and management of untoward events
  • Have sound knowledge and understanding of GDP, GMP, Clinical Trials Directives plus national strategies relevant to the delivery of pharmacy services

Skills and Qualities

Essential criteria
  • Evidence of successful operational management in a senior position
  • Strong, inclusive leadership style
  • Ability to work under significant pressure and to demanding timescales
  • Positive working relationships with senior colleagues
  • Ability to monitor, maintain and improve service delivery and to lead service re-design
  • Strong understanding of corporate and clinical governance and ability to improve performance across a range of competing programmes of work
  • Commitment to own personal and professional development and the development of others
  • Professional image and positive approach to problem solving showing tolerance, understanding, tact and diplomacy
  • Able to interpret highly complex data and present highly complex information in an informative manner to a wide range of individuals
  • Ability to travel independently

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Fair Employment Charter Status - Aspiring LevelNHS Pastoral Care Quality AwardTrust IDVeteran AwareApprenticeships logoNo smoking policyPositive about disabled peopleInvestors in PeopleArmed Forces Covenant Gold AwardMindful employer.  Being positive about mental health.Carer confident logo, the employers for carers confident schemeDisability confident committedStep into health

Applicant requirements

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

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Ruth Gaunt
Job title
Senior Executive to Hospital Chief Executive
Email address
[email protected]
Telephone number
0151 600 1249

If you have problems applying, contact

Address
L9 7AL
Telephone
0151 706 4666
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