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Job summary

Main area
Pharmacy
Grade
Band 8a
Contract
Permanent
Hours
  • Full time
  • Flexible working
37.5 hours per week
Job ref
438-PB3314
Employer
Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
Royal Preston Hospital
Town
Preston
Salary
£55,690 - £62,682 per annum, pro rata
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
25/08/2025 23:59
Interview date
03/09/2025

Employer heading

Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust logo

Highly Specialist Pharmacist - Ophthalmology

Band 8a

Job overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join the pharmacy team at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals as a Highly Specialist Pharmacist for Ophthalmology. This newly created post presents a unique opportunity to develop the service supporting excellent patient centred care. Our purpose built modern ophthalmology unit provides state of the art facilities to patients across Lancashire and South Cumbria. This post will provide the chance for a dynamic individual to utilise their leadership and service development skills.

This is an exciting time for clinical services in the pharmacy department, as we implement enhanced roles in the established patient-facing clinical pharmacy team. Our highly specialist pharmacists have dedicated SPA time in education and training, workforce, research, governance and finance, providing valuable experience and opportunity to develop leadership skills.

The use of pharmacist non-medical prescribers is well-established in the department and instrumental in achieving our key performance indicators, so the successful candidate will hold, or be willing to work towards gaining their independent prescribing qualification.

The pharmacy department at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Trust is an innovative and welcoming place to work, with a strong commitment to continuous improvement. We also recognise the importance of the health and well being of our workforce, and we are fully committed to providing flexible working opportunities within our team.

Main duties of the job

You will provide a clinical pharmacy services to the ophthalmology directorate, leading the pharmacy team across the speciality to ensure safe, effective and cost effective service delivery.  You will work alongside an established team of consultants, specialist nurses and orthoptists to develop a pathway for the provision of treatments in line with local and national prescribing guidelines. You will support the directorate with the biosimilar switch programme in the clinical speciality. In this clinical area of increasing clinical complexity, you will work within the multidisciplinary team to steer safe and effective prescribing and medicines management agenda. You will ensure key performance indicators are achieved and work with the directorate and governance teams to review and manage themes in the safe management of medicines.

You will be integral to the delivery of clinical pharmacy services to our patients, forging relationships within the multidisciplinary team. You will support the delivery of training and education both within, and outside of the pharmacy department. You will be a strong leader and have the ability to motivate, develop and manage others in a positive and supportive working environment within a team that believes this is a great place to work.  

Working for our organisation

We have 10000 fantastic people working hard to deliver quality services to our patients.  Whatever your role, you help look after 370,000 people in our local area & give specialist care to 1.5 million people across Lancashire & Cumbria.

Working with us gives you the knowledge and sense of pride that every activity you do genuinely does make a difference to support our patients & staff, ensuring we keep thriving & delivering outstanding healthcare right across our local towns.

You’ll make an impact, be challenged to think differently, be bold & help innovate to keep improving things. Everything we do centres around patient care and enhancing their experience which means your role is pivotal and something really to be proud of.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The pharmacy department at Lancashire teaching hospital employs over 200 staff. A licensed manufacturing unit, stores and distribution with wholesale dealer's license, growing clinical trials activity and a proactive medicines management team supporting medical education make it an exciting and diverse department. The clinical pharmacy team provide the service to the wards including tertiary specialties: renal medicine, oncology, plastics, vascular, major trauma, neurology and neurosurgery. Electronic prescribing is live in over 90% of the hospital. Outpatient services are delivered by a wholly independent subsidiary.

Duties include but are not limited to:

•    Undertake all independent prescribing duties in line with the Trust Non-Medical Prescribing Policy
•    Work within the ophthalmology service to develop a pathway for safe, effective and cost effective prescribing of high cost medicines in the clinical field. 
•    Work with the Pharmacist Team to develop Key Performance Indicators relating to the Pharmacist independent prescribing and clinical verification of medicines, and devise and implement a system to monitor and improve performance.
•    Work closely with medical, nursing and pharmacy staff promote adherence to the trust/ICB and national prescribing formulary and funding processes, particularly around the management of high-cost medicines.

•    Work with the Prescribing Pharmacist Team to identify opportunities to expand the role of the independent prescribing pharmacist to enhance the patient experience and develop business cases to support this.  Provide an advanced level clinical pharmacy service to a designated specialty in accordance with professional, departmental and Trust policies.  
•    Provide advanced level pharmaceutical information to staff and patients in the Trust.
•    Monitor monthly drug expenditure in a clinical directorate, identify and implement actions to support adherence to budget. This will include promoting adherence to the Trust prescribing formulary, guidelines, and policies to ensure cost effective prescribing, and horizon scanning to identify new pressures or opportunities.
•    Investigate medicines related incident reports or complaints in the named speciality and input in to Root Cause Analysis investigations, identifying and implementing measures to minimise future risk.

 

*Please note that the interview date is subject to change*

Person specification

Qualifications and Education

Essential criteria
  • MPharm or equivalent
  • Registration with the GPhC
  • Post graduate clinical qualification
  • Qualified Prescribing Pharmacist
Desirable criteria
  • MRPharmS

Knowledge and Experience

Essential criteria
  • Substantial post registration hospital experience with experience in a senior clinical pharmacist role
  • Delivery of clinical pharmacy services to a broad range of specialities
  • Evidence of significant, relevant and on-going CPD
  • Service / personnel management / supervision
  • Experience of training others
  • Formulary management
  • Evidence of service development
Desirable criteria
  • Acute Trust/tertiary referral centre experience
  • Experience of project management
  • Experience of audit and research

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Veteran AwareApprenticeships logoNo smoking policyWorkplace Wellbeing Charter LogoDisability Employment CharterArmed Forces Covenant Gold AwardDisability confident employerInclusive Top 50 LogoStep into healthHappy to Talk Flexible Working

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
Jenny Whatton
Job title
Lead Divisional Pharmacist for Surgery
Email address
[email protected]
Telephone number
01772 522220
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