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Job summary

Main area
Pharmacy
Grade
NHS AfC: Band 6
Contract
Permanent
Hours
Full time - 37.5 hours per week
Job ref
249-7851612
Employer
Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
Great Western Hospital
Town
Swindon
Salary
£39,959 - £48,117 per annum pro rata
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
09/04/2026 23:59

Employer heading

Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust logo

Medicines Safety Specialist Pharmacy Technician

NHS AfC: Band 6

Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is a unique organisation, serving as the sole integrated provider in the Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon, and Wiltshire system. Our scope extends beyond boundaries as we oversee adult community services in Swindon and provide acute care from the Great Western Hospital. 

Our 5,500 staff have 1.2m patient contacts a year, with 13,000 operations carried out in our Theatres, around 4,000 babies born, and our emergency attendances are now well over 100,000 per year. Those numbers only tell part of our story about what an exciting time it is to join Great Western Hospitals.

We are cultivating a culture that fosters our ambitions, prioritising equality, diversion, inclusion, wellbeing, and leadership. We aim to create an environment where every member of our team can truly thrive.

Applications for this role should be written by the applicant. If artificial intelligence (AI) programmes are used, then the application may be rejected due to this document being an important part of the assessment process. This does not prevent applicants seeking appropriate support with applications should they need to for the purposes of any declared disability.

If we receive a high volume of applications, we may close adverts prior to the published closing date. Therefore, we advise you to complete and submit your application as soon as possible.

Job overview

We are looking for a motivated and enthusiastic pharmacy technician to join our team as our new specialist medicines safety technician.

The successful applicant will be part of the team responsible for delivering  a comprehensive, safe and high quality patient centered pharmaceutical service to GWH patients. This will include supporting the Multi-disciplinary Team, providing an advanced medicines optimisation service including clinical prioritisation, training and development for staff, liaising with and wide range of health and social care professionals to support patients to manage their medication.

The post holder will work closely with the Medication Safety Officer and Medicines Safety Specialist to lead medicines related investigations and to embed a culture of safety across GWH. The post holder will lead and support quality improvement projects, audits and other medicines safety initiatives.

Main duties of the job

 To provide professional leadership and management on medicines management within the Pharmacy team. Ensuring that working practices meet requirements of medicines legislation, professional, local and national guidelines and that medicines are available in the appropriate quantities, places and times to meet the clinical needs of all patients.

Support the Medicines Safety Officer and Medicine Safety Specialist to provide pharmacy input to incidents, this will include Patient safety incident investigation.

Oversee quality improvement projects throughout the Trust. This requires engagement with nursing, medical and pharmacy staff to contribute to change in practice and improve safe medicines use.

Providing clinical prioritisation and advanced medicines optimisation service to inpatient wards.

Providing basic medication reviews, counselling of patients about their medication and assessing requirements for additional support around adherence.

Working for our organisation

We are proud to be part of BSW Hospitals Group – a formal partnership between Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust and Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust. With a combined workforce of over 17, 600 colleagues, and budget of 1.6 billion the Group is united by a common purpose to deliver the best possible care to over 1 million people.

We are creating a health and care system that works with the people we care for, reducing the differences people currently face in access, experience and outcomes, improving the experience of our colleagues and tackling shared challenges like sustainability and finances. Every improvement we make across our Group will be guided by what creates the greatest benefit for our colleagues, our patients, our communities and our partners.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see full JD attached.

This job description is not intended to be exhaustive and it is likely that duties may be altered from time to time in the light of changing circumstances, in discussion with the post holder. This role profile is intended to provide a broad outline of the main responsibilities only.  The post holder will need to be flexible in developing the role with initial and on-going discussions with the designated manager.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria
  • Registered as a Pharmacy Technician with the General Pharmaceutical Council
  • NVQ / QCF Level 3 in Pharmacy Services or equivalent plus accredited underpinning knowledge (BTEC in Pharmaceutical Science or equivalent)
  • Accredited Checking Technician qualification
  • Accredited Medicines Management qualification
  • Accredited Clinical Prioritisation qualification or be eligible and willing to work towards accreditation which will be completed within 12 months
Desirable criteria
  • Management qualification / equivalent knowledge built with experience to post graduate diploma or equivalent leve
  • Previous Health and Safety Training or Qualifications or be willing to complete within 12 months

Experience

Essential criteria
  • Significant broad experience in a hospital pharmacy
  • Managing own workload to meet the needs of a service
  • Working within a role involving multi-disciplinary communication
  • Staff appraisal and objective setting
  • Developing and training staff
  • Previous experience in QIP/Demonstrable experience of clinical audit and practice research
  • Experience in patient safety and clinical governance
  • Successful project or change management
  • Good knowledge of the legal requirements (Law and Ethics) for dispensing and supplying medicines, including CDs
  • Aware of risk and Health and Safety issues and their implications for staff
  • Knowledge of statutory regulations, including Medicines Act and the Misuse of Drugs Act and Regulations
  • Recruitment and selection
  • Managing meetings
  • Policy and procedure development
  • Managing change
Desirable criteria
  • Experience in risk management
  • Previous experience in conducting and/or leading on incident investigations
  • Understanding of Human Factors

Employer certification / accreditation badges

NHS Pastoral Care Quality AwardVeteran AwareApprenticeships logoNo smoking policyPositive about disabled peopleAge positiveDisability confident leaderInvestors in People: GoldCare Leaver CovenantStonewall equality policy. Equality and justice for lesbians, gay men, bisexual and trans people.Step into healthArmed Forces Covenant

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

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Susanne Pidduck
Job title
Medicines Safety Specialist
Email address
[email protected]
Telephone number
01793 605987
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