Job summary
- Main area
- Mental Health
- Grade
- NHS AFC: Band 8a
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time
- Flexible working
- Compressed hours
- Job ref
- 354-CO-21874
- Employer
- Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Langley Green Hospital
- Town
- Crawley
- Salary
- £57,528 - £64,750 per annum
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 23/04/2026 08:00
Employer heading
Lead Pharmacist - Northwest Sussex
NHS AFC: Band 8a
Come and join us
We’re looking for people who share our values of compassion, accountability and optimism to help us provide high quality care for the patients, carers, families and communities we serve. We specialise in NHS mental health and learning disability services and we’re proud to make a difference every day.
At SPFT we put people first. We’ll do everything possible to help you feel respected, valued and included. You’ll have opportunities to learn, grow and gain new experiences to support your career, with access to lifelong learning and professional development.
We actively promote flexible working and understand how important work life balance is, especially in healthcare. Whether it’s part time hours, hybrid working or flexible start and finish times, we’ll explore what works for you and the role.
We recognise that AI is becoming part of daily life and you may choose to use it to help prepare your application. We welcome innovation but ask that anything you submit reflects your own abilities, experience and voice. AI can support how you describe your skills and experience, but it should never replace your own words as we want to get to know you.
We’re shaping a workplace where ideas are encouraged, technology supports you and everyone has a voice in how we improve. If that sounds like the kind of organisation you want to be part of, we’d love to hear from you.
Job overview
If you are enthusiastic and passionate about improving the lives of patients in need of mental healthcare treatment, then role as a Lead Pharmacist in our Mental Health and Learning Disabilities Trust could be right for you. We have an exciting opportunity for an innovative, skilled clinical pharmacist to lead the inpatient team across the Northwest Sussex locality.
You should have an interest for working within a specialist mental health service, an understanding of the medicines used and an awareness of the people we support and care for. The role will primarily be based at Langley Green Hospital.
The post holder will be supported to undertake further accreditations as appropriate, and there are opportunities to develop the role and service to the inpatient wards and urgent care, allowing your vision for clinical care to grow with the service in a collaborative, holistic and accessible therapeutic environment.
You will be joining a friendly, supportive Pharmacy team which is highly regarded in the Trust and is rapidly expanding due to recent significant investments. This role is a great opportunity to start or continue a career in mental health and can lead to a future senior role.
This post is subject to an enhanced check with adults barred list Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Check.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will lead a clinical pharmacy and medicines optimisation service to ensure patients get the best from their medicines, as well as a strong commitment to medicines education and training so that patients, pharmacy staff and other healthcare professionals are well informed and able to manage their use of medicines correctly, safely and cost effectively.
The role requires an excellent clinical communicator with an interest in patient facing and multidisciplinary team working. In addition, the appraisal of clinical evidence and generation of high quality pharmacotherapeutic advice to support colleagues will feature as a core part of working.
We are excited to be bringing a new medicines supply service in-house later in 2026 - an important step that creates fresh opportunities for innovation, skill development, and career progression across our team. This Pharmacy Hub will be situated at our Swandean site in Worthing. This change will also strengthen how we support our trainee pharmacy professionals on their career journeys. As we grow our dispensary function, all staff will play a key role in supporting the implementation and delivery of this service while we recruit into new dispensary roles, helping to shape a dynamic and collaborative working environment.
On call is for advice only and is currently more than 1 in 30 weeks.
Working for our organisation
We are a friendly and committed pharmacy team, who are keen to support the wellbeing of our patients and each other. Sussex Partnership Foundation Trust is one of the largest mental health and learning disability trusts in the UK. As a mental health trust SPFT places a huge focus on the wellbeing of our staff, as well as ensuring our reward packages reflect the immensely important work they do.
You can expect:
• Access to full psychological support, the wellbeing team
• Excellent supervision programmes.
• Flexible working opportunities
• Access to a host of discount schemes (including gyms, shopping, restaurants and cars)
• A position within a trust rated as Outstanding for caring and Good overall by the CQC
• Generous holiday entitlement (starting at 27 days + 8 bank holidays) pro rata
• Excellent NHS Pension Scheme
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
A unique aspect of this role is the provision of care to patients in the local acute Trusts to promote parity of esteem and meet the mental health needs of those admitted both for unplanned or routine treatment. The physical health of our mental health and learning disability patients is important to us, with the life expectancy of patients suffering serious mental health illness being reduced by 15 to 20 years, often through avoidable causes. The trust is committed to reducing this risk and the pharmacy team plays a leading role.
The role also encompasses line management, medicines management and education. The successful candidate will have experience of leadership or will be looking to develop their leadership skills through training, education and workplace exposure in line with the principles of the NHS Healthcare Leadership Model. Education and training are central to the aims of the pharmacy department and we actively seek to promote opportunities as such. We also recognise the importance in realising the potential of our team by providing training and expertise to patients and colleagues.
Please see the attached job outline and person specification for more details about this role. For an informal discussion about the role, please refer to the contact details accompanying this advert to arrange this.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Degree in Pharmacy
- Post graduate clinical pharmacy qualification
Desirable criteria
- Further post-graduate qualification (management and/or clinical)
Knowledge & Experience
Essential criteria
- Experience of working with a range of healthcare professionals and managers
- Mental Health Clinical Pharmacy Experience
- Provision of Medicines Information
Desirable criteria
- Experience of supporting Medicines Optimisation Committee or Groups
Communication Skills
Essential criteria
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- Demonstrate ability to work well as a team
Analytical & judgemental skills
Essential criteria
- Able to make judgements involving complex facts or situations
Planning and organisational skills
Essential criteria
- Able to be effective in organisation and time management skills
Information resources and technology
Essential criteria
- Demonstrates IT competency including use of pharmacy computer system
Research and development skills
Desirable criteria
- Experience of research and development including audit
Values and Behaviours
Essential criteria
- Demonstrates enthusiasm, good interpersonal skills, reliability, flexibility and able to motivate others
Employer certification / accreditation badges
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
- Emma Williams
- Job title
- Associate Divisional Director Pharmacy Services
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 07471217354
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