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Job summary

Main area
Pharmacy
Grade
NHS AFC: Band 3
Contract
Permanent
Hours
Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Monday to Friday)
Job ref
214-CSTO-8286468
Employer
Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
King's Mill Hospital
Town
Sutton in Ashfield
Salary
£25,760 - £27,476 per annum
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
22/10/2026 23:59

Employer heading

Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust logo

Dispensing Pharmacy Assistant - Aseptic Dispensing Unit

NHS AFC: Band 3

Thank you for your interest in this role, we would be delighted to welcome you to Sherwood Forest Hospitals.

Sherwood is nationally recognised as being an excellent place to work and deliver care. We are rightly proud of the 5,500 colleagues who work here and know that happy colleagues deliver better care.

Our teams work in a supportive, inclusive environment, which nurtures wellbeing and has opportunities for development and progression. We do not just care for our patients, we also care for you.

At Sherwood Forest Hospitals, we are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace. As such, we particularly welcome applications from people who identify as Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic, or Disabled. We believe that a diverse team better represents the communities we serve and brings a wealth of perspectives and experiences to our work.

Job overview

Are you looking for a role where your work directly contributes to safer, better patient care? Join our Pharmacy Production team and play a vital part in ensuring patients receive high‑quality, safe, and appropriately prepared medicines.

This role offers a fantastic opportunity to join a committed and skilled team dedicated to maximising the availability of safe, appropriate medication to support excellent patient care.

Please note, this is NOT a Pharmacy Dispensing role.

You will work across three key areas within Pharmacy Production:

Aseptic Dispensing Unit

Your primary focus will be within our Aseptic Dispensing Unit, where you will assemble and prepare patient‑specific injectable medications for clinics and wards throughout the Trust. You will work within a Pharmacy clean room, wearing specialist clothing and prepare medications inside a pharmaceutical isolator. 

Quality Control Department

You will be trained and validated to support the Quality Control team, carrying out essential checks on unlicensed medicines and products labelled in our Pre‑packing Unit. 

Pre‑packing Unit

You will also be validated to work within the Pre‑packing Unit, labelling bulk quantities of medicines for both internal and external Trust customers, as well as picking and accuracy‑checking orders.

If you are enthusiastic, organised, and committed to supporting excellent patient care, we would be delighted to receive your application and welcome you to our team.

Main duties of the job

To understand the role in more detail, please refer to the attached job description and person specification.

Working for our organisation

We are an award-winning NHS Foundation Trust working alongside health and social care colleagues across the county to provide acute and community healthcare services to more than 420,000 people across Mansfield, Ashfield, Newark and Sherwood, and parts of Derbyshire and Lincolnshire. 

We put the patient at the heart of everything that we do and it is our aim to make sure that every patient is treated as we would want a member of our own family to be treated. At the same time, we expect our staff to be caring, kind and courteous to each other and to look out for each other. We believe that we are truly a clinically-led organisation. 

We are proud that our Trust colleagues have voted us the best acute Trust to work for in the East Midlands for seven years running in the National NHS Staff Survey, while the Care Quality Commission has rated our Trust as ‘outstanding’ for care and our King’s Mill Hospital as the only ‘outstanding’ NHS-run hospital in the East Midlands. 

Not all of our roles are eligible for visa sponsorship. To find out which roles are eligible, please refer to the shortage occupation list found here:

Skilled Worker visa: eligible healthcare and education jobs - GOV.UK

Home Office guidance has changed as of 9th April. Anyone that requires switching visa type may not be eligible for sponsorship even if the role is on the shortage occupation list.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

To understand the role in more detail, please refer to the attached job description and person specification.

Person specification

Knowledge Requirements

Essential criteria
  • In-house training and experience for prescription interpretation, labelling and aseptic dispensing equivalent to NVQ level 3
Desirable criteria
  • To possess knowledge of working in a sterile environment

Qualifications

Essential criteria
  • GCSE Maths and English Grade C or equivalent
  • NVQ Pharmacy level 2 in pharmacy services

Further Training

Essential criteria
  • In house training programmes including labelling, aseptic dispensing, and distribution
  • Regular validation in aseptic technique
  • Training in the use of relevant computer programmes
Desirable criteria
  • Manual handling training
  • Health and Safety Training, including COSHH, Fire and Security

Experience

Essential criteria
  • Experience of following procedures
  • Proven team member and ability to work alone
  • Proven oral and written communication skills
  • IT / Keyboard skills
Desirable criteria
  • Stock control
  • Filing/record keeping
  • Sterile environment
  • Good housekeeping skills

Contractual Requirements

Essential criteria
  • Flexible approach to working hours
  • Regular attendance during the required hours
  • Weekend and bank holiday working
Desirable criteria
  • Ability to travel between hospital sites

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Apprenticeships logoNo smoking policyPathway to excellenceCare quality commission - GoodCarer Friendly Employer 2021Mindful employer.  Being positive about mental health.Disability confident employerCare4NottsTime to changeFair Train Silver StandardStep into healthNational Preceptorship for Nursing Quality MarkArmed Forces Covenant

Documents to download

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Julie Binney
Job title
Production Manager
Email address
[email protected]
Telephone number
01623 622515
Additional information

For further information or to arrange a visit prior to interview, please contact Julie, Laura or Sam on extension 3169

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