Job summary
- Main area
- Cancer Pharmacy Team
- Grade
- Band 3
- Contract
- Permanent: Permanant
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 321-CSS-7043008-B3
- Employer
- Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Churchill Hospital
- Town
- Oxford
- Salary
- £24,071 - £25,674 per annum pro rata
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 22/05/2025 23:59
Employer heading

Pharmacy Assistant
Band 3
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest NHS teaching trusts in the country. It provides a wide range of general and specialist clinical services and is a base for medical education, training and research.
The Trust comprises of four hospitals - the John Radcliffe Hospital, Churchill Hospital and Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Headington and the Horton General Hospital in Banbury.
Our values, standards and behaviours define the quality of clinical care we offer and the professional relationships we make with our patients, colleagues and the wider community. We call this Delivering Compassionate Excellence and its focus is on our values of compassion, respect, learning, delivery, improvement and excellence. These values put patients at the heart of what we do and underpin the quality healthcare we would like for ourselves or a member of our family. Watch how we set out to deliver compassionate excellence via the OUH YouTube channel.
Many of our recruitment programmes use Value Based Interviewing to identify those who have the skills we seek, who share our values and who are able to deliver compassionate excellence from the outset. We know that this makes a significant difference to your job satisfaction and above all the outcomes and experience of our patients and their families. For more information about our Values and Value Based Interviewing please visit www.ouh.nhs.uk/about/vision-and-values
Job overview
An exciting opportunity has arisen for an enthusiastic, highly motivated and proactive pharmacy assistant with excellent communication, organisational and interpersonal skills to join the John Radcliffe pharmacy team.
This post would suit somebody with either a hospital pharmacy background, or with community pharmacy experience wishing to make a change into the hospital environment, for which appropriate training will be provided. You must have successfully achieved the relevant units of pharmacy services skills NVQ level 2 (QCF) or an equivalent GPhC accredited training programme. Applications for part-time/flexible working considered..
Main duties of the job
Key roles include:
- Work in reception area taking in prescriptions
- Delivery of high-quality pharmacy services for out-patients and day treatment patients
- Labelling and dispensing prescriptions
- Provide Support to the Clinical Pharmacy Team
- To be aware of and be involved in customer service
- Patient counselling
- Working as part of a team
About you:
- You will respond to enquiries and requests from staff, patients and carers and ensure appropriate and accurate information is readily available, and to escalate questions and problems to other members of the pharmacy team when needed. You will be expected to form good working relationships with staff from all the different groups within the Cancer Services and work together as part of a team.
- You should ideally have experience of working as a qualified Pharmacy Dispensing Assistant, using computer systems for dispensing and stock control and have good communication, be well organised and able to use your own initiative.
Working for our organisation
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest NHS teaching trusts in the country. It provides a wide range of general and specialist clinical services and is a base for medical education, training and research. Find out more here www.ouh.nhs.uk
The Trust comprises of four hospitals - the John Radcliffe Hospital, Churchill Hospital and Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Headington and the Horton General Hospital in Banbury.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Dispensary
- To provide daily support to the dispensary workforce.
- To use the pharmacy computer system to produce dispensing labels and to make stock issues, receipt, and transfers.
- To dispense inpatient, outpatient clinical trial and controlled drug prescriptions according to dispensary procedures.
- To assist the Stock Management Team with unpacking deliveries and filling the automated dispensing system.
- To participate in conducting of regular Controlled Drug stock checks alongside a Registered Technician.
- To be responsible for putting away dispensing stock including part packs and maintaining tidy storage areas.
- Maintaining equipment used in the dispensing process.
- To participate in the training and induction of pre-registration students and ATO’s.
- To participate in the audit and development of the dispensary service.
- To provide reception cover as per the Dispensary rota, and to answer the telephone and direct queries as appropriate.
- To Complete Pharmacy returns.
General role
- To provide training, including induction, to pharmacy support staff as required
- To undertake in-house and/or external training appropriate for the role
- To complete reports and audits as requested
- To participate in a programme of work-based training, development, and appraisal.
- To ensure confidentiality is always maintained.
- To maintain a tidy and clean working environment.
- To participate in early and late duties, evening, weekend, and bank holiday working according to the departmental rotas.
- Any other duties as requested by the Lead Pharmacist, Ward Based Technician Manager or Clinical Director of Pharmacy and Medicines Management.
Person specification
Qualities
Essential criteria
- NVQ2 in pharmaceutical sciences
- Experienced dispenser
- Experience of stock management
- Able to work as part of a team and independently
- Proven time management skills
- Able to use own initiative appropriately
- Good verbal communication skills
- Willing to travel between sites
- Enthusiastic and responsible attitude
- Ability to work well under pressure
- Adaptable to change
- Respectful towards colleagues and patients
- Willing to work in clinical areas with infectious diseases patients
Desirable criteria
- Previous NHS experience
- Experience of using the local pharmacy computer system
- Experience of hospital pharmacy
- Well organised
- A good working knowledge of Microsoft Office programs
- Experience of a changing work environment
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
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Rebecca Somerville
- Job title
- Senior Pharmacy Technician
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Additional information
For further details / informal visits contact:
Rebecca Somerville: [email protected]
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