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Job summary

Main area
Pharmacy
Grade
Band 8b
Contract
Permanent
Hours
  • Full time
  • Flexible working
37.5 hours per week (Weekend, bank holiday and late night rota support)
Job ref
275-2511LCP-G&F
Employer
Medway NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
Medway NHS Foundation Trust
Town
Gillingham, Kent
Salary
£64,455 - £74,896 per annum/pro rata
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
30/11/2025 23:59
Interview date
16/12/2025

Employer heading

Medway NHS Foundation Trust logo

Lead Clinical Pharmacist - Governance and Formulary

Band 8b

Do you have the ambition and vision to deliver the Best of Care by the Best People?

Here at Medway, we pride ourselves on working together as one to ensure that our shared vision of Better, Best, Brilliant is achieved

Our Trust is a great choice for people who want to develop their career in an ambitious and dynamic environment; our employees are able to choose the coverage and supplemental benefits that best fit their needs and those of their families. This includes the promotion of flexible working opportunities across the Trust, we are able to give our employees flexibility on where, when and the hours they work.

Our culture and values are what drives Medway NHS Foundation Trust and is the heartbeat of who we are as an organisation. It is important that you understand and to refer to our values when you are completing your application and always reflect our values throughout your employment with the Trust.

Job overview

Lead Pharmacist - Governance and Formulary 

Division: Cancer & Core Clinical Services 

Care Group: Diagnostics and Therapies

Band: 8b

Salary: £64,455 - £74,896 per annum/pro rata

Interview Date: 16th December 2025

We are recruiting for a Lead Pharmacist who shares our ambition and vision to deliver the Best of Care by the Best People and has the drive to take us forward, by ensuring that the Trust continues to be the first choice for patients and our staff.

Main duties of the job

The lead pharmacist will provide highly specialist and advanced clinical and professional pharmaceutical services and  guidance for the formulary and governance workstreams at Medway Maritime Hospital NHS Foundation Trust to promote the optimised, safe and cost-effective use of medicines.

You will be a core member of the Trust’s pharmacy department, providing professional pharmaceutical governance, medicines safety, medicines information, medicines finance, education and training and medicines optimisation support to the team.

You will build relationships and work with internal stakeholders and external partners to support the delivery of high quality pharmaceutical care to patients.

Our values are Bold, Every Person Counts, Sharing and Open and Together. It is important that you understand and to refer to our values when completing your application and always reflect our values throughout your employment with the Trust.

We are committed to endorsing diversity, multiculturalism, and inclusion; our policies / procedures ensure that all applicants are treated fairly at every stage of the recruitment process.

To contribute to our exciting future and become part of our team, apply today. 

Working for our organisation

Do you have the ambition and vision to deliver our mission of the Best of Care by the Best of People providing excellent care, every time?

Here at Medway, we pride ourselves on working together as one to ensure that our shared vision is achieved for our patients.

As a key partner in the healthcare of our local population, we are keen to deliver this as an outcome of our Trust-wide strategy – Patient First. Using an Operational Excellence approach to align our priorities and operational management structures, we are just over a year and half into our Patient First deployment. We are looking for creative, skilled people to join our Transformation Team and further support us on this journey.

Our culture and values define us here at Medway NHS Foundation Trust and are the heartbeat of who we are as an organisation.

Our BEST values underpin Patient First and are at the core of the care we give to our patients, the support we offer to our staff and our overall leadership approach:

B – Bold

E – Every person counts

S – Sharing and open

T - Together

Our Trust is a great choice for people who want to develop their career in an ambitious and dynamic environment; our employees are able to choose the coverage and supplemental benefits that best fit their needs and those of their families. This includes the promotion of flexible working opportunities across the Trust.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

This role provides strategic leadership for formulary management, medicines governance, optimisation, and clinical pharmacy practice across the Trust.

Key responsibilities include maintaining the Trust formulary, overseeing non-formulary and Individual Funding Request processes, and ensuring safe, effective and cost-efficient medicine use. The post-holder represents the organisation at multiple regional groups, collaborates on national and regional medicines optimisation initiatives, and leads the Medicines Management Group. They provide senior clinical advice, negotiate on complex or contentious medicines issues, and deliver training on formulary processes.

Governance duties involve leading the Pharmacy Governance Group, supervising relevant pharmacy governance staff, ensuring compliance with national policies, and overseeing procedures such as IVIG, Patient Group Directions, unlicensed medicines, and controlled drugs. The role drives the audit programme, manages responses to drug shortages and recalls, supports the development of Trust-wide medicines policies, and ensures adherence to SOPs, mandatory training, and CQUIN requirements.

Within medicines optimisation, the post-holder supports and deputises for the Lead Pharmacist, provides complex financial and horizon-scanning advice, contributes to efficiency programmes, and forecasts drug budget impacts. They also lead and participate in research, quality improvement projects, and share findings through publication and presentation.

General duties include providing visible leadership, maintaining a positive and inclusive culture, producing business cases, promoting the pharmacy service, ensuring professional standards, and complying with all governance, legal and safety requirements. The post includes clinical responsibilities such as independent prescribing, providing specialist clinical pharmacy services, supervising trainees and staff, supporting operational services, participating in rotas, and maintaining active professional development.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria
  • Masters degree in pharmacy or equivalent
  • Higher degree/Diploma in clinical pharmacy
  • Registration with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).
Desirable criteria
  • Independent prescribing qualification

Knowledge

Essential criteria
  • Knowledge of and ability to apply all aspects of regulatory legislation and guidelines
  • Specialist clinical knowledge and skills relevant to the area of practice, or demonstration of an ability to develop a highly specialist knowledge in a therapeutic area
  • Expert clinical knowledge and skills relevant to area of practice, or demonstrated ability to do so

Experience

Essential criteria
  • Previous relevant specialist clinical experience
  • Experience of working with senior healthcare professions outside of pharmacy at a senior level
  • Experience of monitoring drug use and expenditure

Skills

Essential criteria
  • Advanced IT skills – including word, excel, email and PowerPoint
  • Able to solve difficult and ambiguous problems by advanced reasoning and sound technical judgment
  • Demonstrable empowering and collaborative leadership skills

Values Based Question

Essential criteria
  • Give an example of a time when you have gone the extra mile to help someone

Employer certification / accreditation badges

No smoking policyPositive about disabled peopleAge positiveDefence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) - BronzeDefence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) - SilverDisability confident employerNHS Rainbow badgeStep into health

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
Niksha Patel
Job title
Lead Pharmacist - Clinical Services
Email address
[email protected]
Telephone number
01634 976 614
Additional information

Simon Matthews

Deputy Chief Pharmacist

[email protected]

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