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Job summary

Main area
Pharmacy
Grade
NHS AfC: Band 8a
Contract
Permanent
Hours
Full time - 37.5 hours per week
Job ref
287-DTC-157-26
Employer
Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
Royal Liverpool
Town
Liverpool
Salary
£57,528 - £64,750 per annum
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
04/09/2026 23:59

Employer heading

Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust logo

Advanced Clinical Pharmacist - Critical care

NHS AfC: Band 8a

Job overview

You will provide clinical expertise to your respective unit, supporting some of the most complex and high-acuity critically ill patients in the region, while offering clear direction, organisation, and strategic oversight to the wider team.

The RLH site hosts a wide range of highly specialised surgical services, while AUH is a designated Major Trauma Centre for the region, together offering exposure to clinical scenarios and units rarely seen elsewhere.

You will work with a dedicated group of pharmacists and technical staff on your site, ensuring the delivery of a consistent, high-quality, evidence-based pharmacy service, while working collaboratively across both sites.

Working closely with intensivists, anaesthetists, and the wider multidisciplinary team, you will contribute to safe, innovative, and forward-thinking medicines optimisation for critically ill patients.

These roles require substantial hospital pharmacy experience, with essential experience in Critical Care. You will bring advanced clinical knowledge, strong team work ability, and a commitment to driving excellence.

Main duties of the job

  • Deliver specialist pharmaceutical input during consultant-led ward rounds and multidisciplinary meetings.
  • Ensure safe, effective medicines optimisation for critically ill patients, including advanced clinical reviews and prescribing.
  • Work as part of the Critical Care pharmacy team to ensure a responsive, high-quality service.
  • Support, develop, and mentor pharmacists and MMTs within the specialty.
  • Provide pharmacy input into both elective and emergency critical care admissions.
  • Contribute to medicines-related risk reduction, incident investigation, and quality improvement initiatives.
  • Maintain and support adherence to critical care guidelines, protocols, and best practice standards.
  • Monitor medicines expenditure and contribute to financial efficiency plans.
  • Deliver specialist training for pharmacy, medical, nursing, and MDT colleagues.
  • Support the development of trainees within the pharmacy workforce.
  • Contribute to research, audit, and evidence generation within critical care pharmacy practice.

Working for our organisation

NHS University Hospitals of Liverpool Group (UHL Group) was formed on 1 November 2024, born from a shared aim to improve the care we provide our communities.

We are one of the largest employers in region, with over 18,900 colleagues who are dedicated to caring for our communities - from birth and beyond.

For the 630,000 people across Merseyside, we are their local NHS. We provide general and emergency hospital care, alongside highly specialised regional services that extend to more than two million people in the North West.

We operate from five hospital sites: Aintree University Hospital is the single receiving site for adult major trauma patients in Cheshire and Merseyside, and hosts a number of regional services including an award-winning stroke facility. Broadgreen Hospital is home to several elective surgical, diagnostic and treatment services, together with specialist patient rehabilitation. Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital provide specialist services in cardiothoracic surgery, cardiology and respiratory medicine, both in the hospital and out in the community. Liverpool Women’s Hospital specialises in the health of women and babies, delivering over 7,200 babies in the UK’s largest single site maternity hospital each year.  The Royal Liverpool University Hospital is the largest hospital in the country to provide inpatients with 100% single en-suite bedrooms and mainly focuses on complex planned care and specialist services.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

To deliver as part of a team, the provision of a comprehensive, safe and cost effective pharmaceutical service to the Trust and its patients.

  • Contribute and assist in the  development of the Critical Care Pharmacy Service to achieve a high standard of efficiency and effectiveness.
  • Responsible for the provision of highly specialist pharmaceutical service to the Critical Care areas
  • Advise on strategies to ensure cost-effective use of resources
  • Provide pharmaceutical expertise to any multidisciplinary working groups considering protocols, policies and guidelines in the specialist area.
  • Produces protocols, policies and guidelines on designated pharmaceutical practice relating to the Critical Care Service.
  • Deals with high level pharmaceutical queries and provides advice to medical and nursing staff from the Critical care areas including senior medical staff.
  • Provides regular reports for the Directorate on drug expenditure including exception reporting and other agreed performance indicators relating to critical care.
  • Undertake audit annually and risk manage selected areas of practice to promote continuous quality improvement
  • Attend and contribute to directorate meetings
  • Assist in evaluating and appraising evidence for new medicines to be used in a critical care setting for the medicines management group, looking at clinical and financial implications for the hospital trust.
  • Responsible for developing and enforcing guidelines for the use of unlicensed medicines used within critical care
  • Attend regional critical care meetings to decide on regional policies and keep up to date on latest developments
  • Responsible for calculation of nutritional, fluid and electrolyte requirements and appropriate, safe and stable formulation of parenteral nutrition regimens, to be compounded aseptically, for intravenous administration to inpatients and outpatients of the trust when required to do so.
  • Supervise rotational grade pharmacist during the critical care rotation assessing abilities as a clinical pharmacist. Input into time management, organising ward rounds, visits to observe medical procedures, specialist teaching.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria
  • MPharm or equivalent
  • Registered with the GPHC
  • Post graduate clinical qualification
Desirable criteria
  • Non- Medical prescribing Qualification
  • Management qualification
  • MSc

Experience

Essential criteria
  • Demonstrable post registration hospital experience
  • Delivery of clinical pharmacy services to a broad range of specialities
  • Effective working within a multidisciplinary clinical team
  • Evidence of significant, relevant and on-going personal CPD
Desirable criteria
  • Acute Teaching Trust/Tertiary Referral Centre experience
  • Leading medicine-related protocol development
  • Leading and supervising audit or practice research projects

Knowledge

Essential criteria
  • Advanced generalist knowledge of the clinical areas within the Medical and Surgical Division.
  • Knowledge of the law relating to pharmacy and medicines
  • Expert knowledge of the therapeutics and medicines within critical care

Skills

Essential criteria
  • Good verbal and written communication skills
  • Good computer skills including effective use of office applications including analytical software
  • Logical thought processes
  • Appreciation of pharmaco-economics
  • Ability to critique and present complex or contentious clinical information in an impartial and balanced manner
  • Ability to effectively prioritise workload and work under pressure
  • Good organisational skills including ability to meet deadlines
  • Ability to work alone and as part of a team in a changing environment
  • Ability to manage change using appropriate negotiating skills when faced with barriers to change
Desirable criteria
  • Experience of working across the primary/secondary care interface
  • Experience of preparing shared care protocols
  • Experience of preparing patient group directions (PGDs)

Other

Essential criteria
  • Diplomatic, appropriately assertive
  • Innovative thinking
  • Committed and with integrity

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Fair Employment Charter Status - Aspiring LevelNHS Pastoral Care Quality AwardTrust IDVeteran AwareApprenticeships logoNo smoking policyPositive about disabled peopleInvestors in PeopleArmed Forces Covenant Gold AwardMindful employer.  Being positive about mental health.Carer confident logo, the employers for carers confident schemeDisability confident committedStep 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
Siuman Tin
Job title
Lead Divisional Pharmacist - Surgery
Telephone number
0151 706 2000
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