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Job summary

Main area
Pharmacy
Grade
NHS AfC: Band 8a
Contract
Permanent
Hours
  • Full time
  • Compressed hours
37.5 hours per week (As per 7 day working service (late shifts or on-call and weekends))
Job ref
418-DTO4874-KA-F
Employer
Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
Luton & Dunstable Hospital
Town
Luton
Salary
£55,690 - £62,682 per annum
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
10/09/2025 23:59

Employer heading

Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust logo

Advanced Specialist Pharmacist Virtual Wards, Hospital @ Home + OPAT

NHS AfC: Band 8a

Job overview

Join a dynamic, innovative team driving excellence in virtual healthcare!

Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is looking for an enthusiastic and experienced pharmacist to lead and support the Virtual Ward and Hospital @ Home services across both sites of the organisation. Are you a Clinical Pharmacist passionate about transforming patient care through Virtual Wards, Hospital at Home (H@H), and OPAT? Ready for a role that challenges, inspires, and rewards you? This could be your perfect opportunity!

You will work closely with the consultant microbiologists and consultant antimicrobial pharmacist, acute physicians, specialist nurses and the wider multidisciplinary team to ensure safe, effective, and patient-centred therapy.

You will oversee and coordinate the pharmacy clinical service for Virtual wards and hospital@home, investigating medicines-related safety incidents, monitoring financial and clinical governance, and leading on evidence-based prescribing. You will also be responsible for developing guidelines on prescribing, administration, and storage of IV antimicrobials, ensuring seamless care across primary and secondary settings.

You will be a GPhC-registered pharmacist with strong clinical experience, excellent communication skills, and a passion for clinical pharmacy. Prior experience in antimicrobial pharmacy is desirable but not essential—you just need the drive to develop in this area.

 

Main duties of the job

To lead and develop an advanced specialist clinical pharmacy service for Bedfordshire Hospitals Virtual Ward (inc virtual ward (VW) step-up, VW step down, hospital at home (H@H) and Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy (OPAT) services, which is consistent with the priorities and needs of the relevant Clinical Service Line. This should also be in line with local, regional and national policies and best practice including compliance with Medicines legislation. This will ensure the safe, clinical and cost effective use of medicines and staff resources.

To be responsible for delivering the defined service Key Performance Indicators and include close working with other Lead or Specialist Pharmacists.

To be responsible for the cross site provision of Hospitals Virtual Ward (inc virtual ward (VW) step-up, VW step down, hospital at home (H@H) and Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy (OPAT) services.

Clinically validate prescriptions medication according to Trust protocols and locally agreed standards and guidelines.

Responsible for the local development and adaptation of prescription templates for Hospitals Virtual Ward (inc virtual ward (VW) step-up, VW step down, hospital at home (H@H) and Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy (OPAT) services.

 

Working for our organisation

Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust provides hospital services to a growing population of around 700,000 people living across Bedfordshire and the surrounding areas across two busy hospital sites in Bedford and Luton.  Both hospital sites offer key services such as A&E, Obstetrics-led Maternity and Paediatrics. You will be joining a friendly, high performing Trust committed to ensuring the health and wellbeing of staff. As one of the largest NHS Trusts in our region you will have access to a programme of high quality training and development to help you grow your career. The Trust continues to be committed to delivering the best patient care using the best clinical knowledge and technology available.

Our values

We not only recruit based on qualifications and experience - we recruit individuals who demonstrate the behaviours which underpin our Trusts core values. We achieve this by using values based recruitment. We are dedicated to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone, we are committed to promoting equality and diversity and creating a culture that values differences.

Please note that vacancies may close prior to the advertised closing date when sufficient number of applications have been received. All new staff will be subject to a probationary period covering first 6 months in post. Travel between hospital sites may be required. Please review all documents attached to ensure you familiarize yourself with all requirements of the job.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please refer to the the attached job description to learn more about the roles and responsibilities of the job.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria
  • Bachelor/Master of Pharmacy degree
  • GPhC registration
  • Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Pharmacy or equivalent
Desirable criteria
  • Independent non-medical prescriber or working towards
  • Accredited Trainee pharmacist/ Diploma Tutor
  • Member of the RPS
  • Appropriate management courses
  • Quality Improvement Training
  • Train the trainer qualification

Experience

Essential criteria
  • Extensive post registration hospital pharmacy experience at band 7 or 8a level
  • Experience of influencing members of the multidisciplinary team in delivering patient care
  • Experience of managing and delivering a project
  • Experience of clinically supervising and training staff
  • Experience of policy and service development
  • Relevant continued professional development
Desirable criteria
  • Experience of working as a specialist pharmacist
  • Experience working within virtual wards, OPAT and Hospital at home services
  • Risk Management and patient safety processes
  • Presentation to trust wide meetings
  • Demonstrable evidence of undertaking research and audit and using the results to improve patient care
  • Experience of staff line management
  • Experience of delivering education and training to undergraduates and postgraduates of various healthcare professions

Personal Skills

Essential criteria
  • Organised and able to devise, plan and manage and prioritise work programmes
  • Critical review/analysis and interpretation of clinical literature and medicines legislation
  • Appropriate IT skills are required to utilise clinical information systems, pharmacy computer systems, databases and other software to improve patient care
  • Demonstrable advanced level of clinical reasoning and judgement. Ability to apply logical and analytical skills to manage clinical risk during the use of medicines
  • Adheres to Trust Values
Desirable criteria
  • Ability to formulate, lead and implement directorate service strategies
  • Ability to integrate research into practice

Knowledge

Essential criteria
  • Strong clinical knowledge of drugs and therapeutic management within acute care
  • Knowledge of delivering pharmacy services across the interface between primary and secondary care
  • Understanding the need of confidentiality awareness at all times
  • Knowledge and awareness of implications of current developments in pharmacy practice and NHS strategies
  • Ability to assess patient medication suitability and monitor therapy effectively
Desirable criteria
  • Knowledge of NHS digital systems relevant to virtual wards and remote monitoring
  • Awareness of the current commissioning arrangements in the NHS
  • Recognised as a specialist within the defined speciality
  • Advanced level of clinical reasoning and judgement. Ability to apply logical and analytical skills to manage clinical risk during the use of medicines

Other

Essential criteria
  • Enthusiastic about development of pharmacy services
  • Able to thrive on development/change
  • Good interpersonal skills
  • Self-motivated and flexible
  • Accurate and precise
  • Confidence to deal with medical consultants/ senior manager level and wider healthcare professionals
  • Honest and Trustworthy

Employer certification / accreditation badges

NHS Pastoral Care Quality AwardApprenticeships logoNo smoking policyPositive about disabled peopleAge positiveArmed Forces Covenant (Silver Award)Care quality commission - GoodDisability confident employerNational Preceptorship for Nursing Quality Mark 2024Employer with Heart

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

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Shilpa Jethwa
Job title
Consultant Pharmacist - Antimicrobials
Email address
[email protected]
Telephone number
07386698087
Additional information

Please feel free to contact me if you would like to discuss further details about the post or arrange an informal visit.

If you have problems applying, contact

Address
Luton & Dunstable Hospital NHS Trust
Lewsey Road
Luton
Bedfordshire
LU4 0DZ
Telephone
01582 497325
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