Job summary
- Main area
- 317 RVI Pharmacy
- Grade
- Band 8c
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 317-2025-27-014
- Employer
- The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Royal Victoria Infirmary
- Town
- 317 02 Royal Victoria Infirmary
- Salary
- £76,965 - £88,682 pro rata
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 11/09/2025 23:59
- Interview date
- 23/09/2025
Employer heading
Assistant Director of Pharmacy - Clinical Services
Band 8c
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
Assistant Director of Pharmacy - Clinical Services
The Trust is embarking on an exciting transformation of its pharmacy services, led by the recent appointment of a new Director of Pharmacy and the creation of several new clinical pharmacy roles.
As part of this strategic change, we are seeking an experienced hospital pharmacist with strong leadership and management credentials to shape and implement our clinical pharmacy strategy. This role involves leading the clinical pharmacy team and working collaboratively across disciplines - including medical, nursing, IT, and finance - to drive measurable improvements in patient care and safety.
We are looking for a visionary and dynamic leader who can inspire and influence a wide range of healthcare professionals. Proven experience in delivering service improvements within defined timeframes is essential.
As Assistant Director of Pharmacy - Clinical Services, you will be a key member of the senior pharmacy leadership team, contributing to directorate-wide discussions and decision-making.
The successful candidate will be supported to develop leadership, management, and professional skills through tailored training and mentorship.
If you are passionate about making a large-scale impact on patient safety and ready to take on a high-profile leadership role, we encourage you to apply.
- Interview Date Tuesday 23 September 2025
- 37 Hours 30 Minutes/Week (≥ 30 hours per week)
NO AGENCIES PLEASE
Main duties of the job
Key Responsibilities
- Provide strategic leadership to the clinical pharmacy team.
- Manage a group of Band 8b lead clinical pharmacists, ensuring their teams deliver high-quality outcomes across the Trust.
- Use Power BI dashboards to demonstrate improvements in key clinical pharmacy metrics, such as medicines reconciliation within 24 hours, clinical interventions, DMS referrals and delivery of cost improvement programmes (CIP).
- Present outcome reports to the Trust Medicines Management Oversight Group every six months, highlighting achievements to executives and areas requiring attention.
- Network with regional and national clinical pharmacy service leads to share best practices and support innovative change within Newcastle.
- Actively contribute to the senior pharmacy leadership team, participating in strategic discussions and decisions across all directorate areas in pharmacy.
- Lead and support clinical research initiatives (with University support if required) and ensure regular audit activity within the clinical pharmacy team.
- Work closely with the lead medicines management nurse to help resolve identified issues at ward level.
- Deliver teaching sessions to medical, nursing, and pharmacy staff to support multidisciplinary learning.
- Work as a clinical pharmacist, focusing on patients with the greatest need for clinical review.
As a flexible working employer, Pharmacists wishing to work slightly reduced hours (≥ 30 hours per week) would be welcomed to apply.
Working for our organisation
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.
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
- Responsible for the provision, management and leadership of the Trust inpatient clinical pharmacy service
- Ensure the inpatient clinical pharmacy service works closely with the GP practice / PCN pharmacy team to deliver safe transfer of care for patients
- Responsible for the strategic development of the inpatient clinical pharmacy service in line with local, regional and national priorities
- Develop strategies and plans to enable the effective recruitment, retention, development and training of staff
- Contribute at the highest level to the strategic development of the Trust wide Pharmacy service by attendance at Senior Pharmacy Management Team meetings
- Responsible for ensuring the inpatient clinical pharmacy team contribute to maintaining good standards of ward medicines management governance, including undertaking regular MDT audits
- Responsible for presenting the impact of the inpatient clinical pharmacy service at monthly KPI meetings (e.g. rates of medicines reconciliation within 24 hours), taking remedial action to address and improve any performance issues
- Responsible for maintaining inpatient clinical pharmacy staff costs in line with budget
- Responsible for ensuring the inpatient clinical pharmacy team identify and deliver medicines related CIP
- Overall responsibility for Trust Non-Medical Prescribing and PGD approvals
- Overall responsibility for inpatient pharmacy clinical education & training
- Drive improvements in quality & safety, innovation, and levels of stakeholder satisfaction
- Work with the pharmacy medication safety team to investigate ward-based medicine-related errors/incidents
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
Person specification
Qualifications & Education
Essential criteria
- BPharm / MPharm/ BSc (Pharmacy) or equivalent
- Registered Pharmacist with General Pharmaceutical Council
- Specialist higher degree or portfolio of experience at senior managerial level
- Postgraduate qualification in business or management or equivalent experience
Desirable criteria
- Clinical Masters
Knowledge & Experience
Essential criteria
- Extensive knowledge of relevant regulations and legislation relating to medicines
- Knowledge of the requirements of national organisations involved in pharmacy e.g. DoH, RPS
- Extensive experience of working at a senior level within a pharmacy department in an NHS Trust
- Knowledge of financial reporting and budget statements
- Knowledge of Pharmacy computer systems eg CMM/Ascribe etc.
- Have experience of disciplinary matters and be able to impart results from them to staff in an appropriate and considered manner
- Demonstrate emotional maturity and resilience when dealing with complex issues
- Experience of working with senior healthcare professionals outside of Pharmacy
- Experience of managing large number of staff
- Experience of managing teams
- Significant experience of performing and supervising projects
Desirable criteria
- Evidence of a range of publications (papers or posters) relevant to stage of career
Skills & Abilities
Essential criteria
- Leadership and organisational skills
- Ability to manage change
- Be able to concentrate on highly complex matters despite frequent interruptions
- High degree of self-motivation
- Organise and prioritise own work and develop ideas into practice
- Pragmatic, methodical, systematic and resilient
- Strong ability to multi-task, prioritise, plan and organise
Desirable criteria
- Ability to empathise
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
- Steven Brice
- Job title
- Deputy Director of Pharmacy
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 0191 2825025
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