University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust

Band 8a Specialist Clinical Pharmacist - Antimicrobials

The closing date is 21 December 2025

Job summary

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a proactive and forward-thinking pharmacist to join our Pharmacy Antimicrobial Stewardship team at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, UHB. We are seeking an individual with a passion for driving change and improving patient care through the safe and effective use of antimicrobials.

In this pivotal role, you will lead and coordinate the development, delivery, and evaluation of antimicrobial stewardship initiatives, ensuring outcomes are communicated effectively both within the Trust and to external partners.

You will work closely with fellow Lead Pharmacists and the on-site pharmacy operational team to support the day-to-day delivery of clinical pharmacy services across general wards. As part of the leadership team, you may also be required to contribute to cross-site activities alongside colleagues in the wider antimicrobial stewardship network.

The Trust has strong academic partnerships with local universities, and you will play an active role in undergraduate pharmacy teaching. In addition, you will contribute to the delivery of formal and informal education programmes, including the Clinical Pharmacy Diploma and our rotational training scheme for Band 6 and 7 clinical pharmacists.

This role requires a collaborative team player who can also work independently, with excellent communication, influencing, and negotiation skills to engage stakeholders and drive meaningful improvements in antimicrobial stewardship.

Main duties of the job

*To take a lead on clinical antimicrobial (antibiotic, antifungal and antiviral) stewardship activities at the Queen Elixabeth site, UHB

*To screen prescriptions and identify anomalies such as interactions, contraindications, inappropriate doses, failures to respond to pathology results. To influence prescribers to change their drug choice or rectify an error. To clarify prescription ambiguities so that staff dispensing the medication and staff administering the dose will not be misled. These activities will take place daily on allocated wards and (on rotation) in the clinical checking centre in the dispensary. In some cases similar duties are carried out on visits to external units

*To record clinical interventions so that areas for concern can be highlighted and addressed. To participate in any changes in practice which are needed in order to reduce a risk which has been identified.

*Through a counseling approach, to identify the medication needs of individual patients and design and deliver pharmaceutical care to them. This will generally involve checking that the prescribed medication regime suits their lifestyle, and negotiating with the patient and/or carer for the medication to be taken as intended, and giving them the information and understanding that they need in order to self-medicate safely. High risk patients may be targeted.

About us

University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust strives to have an inclusive culture where everyone feels like they belong, can thrive, knows that they add value and feels valued. We do this by developing compassionate and culturally competent leaders, being values driven in all that we do and by creating a welcoming and inclusive workplace that thrives on the diversity of our people. As such we want to attract and recruit talented individuals from all backgrounds, and for each of you to feel supported for the diversity you bring, to achieve your full potential. For those staff with a disability, including physical disability, long term health condition, mental health or neurodiverse condition, this also means being committed to making reasonable adjustments needed for you to carry out your role.

Details

Date posted

08 December 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 8a

Salary

£55,690 to £62,682 a year

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time, Flexible working

Reference number

304-1097949

Job locations

Queen Elizabeth Hospital

Mindelsohn Way

Birmingham

West Midlands

B15 2TH


Job description

Job responsibilities

*Please Note : For a detailed job description for this vacancy, please see attached Job Description*

Job description

Job responsibilities

*Please Note : For a detailed job description for this vacancy, please see attached Job Description*

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • *MPharm degree or equivalent
  • *Clinical diploma (or equivalent) or higher Pharmacy degree
  • *Qualified as an independent non-medical prescribed or a willingness to undertake the programme
  • *GPhC registration

Desirable

  • *Membership of the RPS

Experience

Essential

  • *Substantial experience as a band 7 pharmacist (or above) within hospital pharmacy.
  • *Experience in a range of clinical specialties.
  • *Previous participation in multi-disciplinary team
  • *Experience in supervising and managing pharmacists & pharmacy technicians and performing appraisals.
  • *Experience of audit work
  • *Excellent knowledge of general clinical pharmacy and drug use
  • *Networking: being able to work within and without the Trust with credibility
  • *Knowledge of current national standards, guidelines and service delivery issues relevant to education & training
  • *In-depth knowledge of Continuing Professional Development process and of Plan & Record system
  • *Experience of supervision, developing and appraising staff as well as giving feedback

Desirable

  • *Experience of tutoring pharmacists studying for postgraduate qualification
  • *Previous experience of teaching other healthcare professionals
  • *Experience of short listing and interviewing
  • *Experience of managing drug expenditure for a specialty and understanding of budgetary mechanism
  • *Experience in service development
  • *Experience of working at a strategic level with senior clinicians and managers and experience of working in an integrated directorate
  • *Experience as a trainer
  • *Experience of research, audit and quality improvement projects

Additional Criteria

Essential

  • *Good communication skills, written and verbal, with ability to demonstrate fluency, clarity and effectiveness at all levels.
  • *Good teaching and presentation skills (variety of methods, individual and small & large groups)
  • *IT and presentation skills and report writing
  • *Time management skills
  • *Organisational skills
  • *Negotiating skills
  • *Co-ordination of duties of staff
  • *Can prioritise local and own workload and that of others
  • *Can meet deadlines
  • *Can remain composed and effective in demanding situations (students in difficulties, delivering unfavourable feedback, as advocate for students in negotiating with senior staff, staff and patients in department, on wards and on-call)
  • *Can reflect and critically analyse own performance
  • *Can critically and objectively analyse performance of others
  • *Able to identify, prioritise and solve problems
  • *Identifies and manages risk
  • *Numerate and literate
  • *Able to work effectively with all members of the multidisciplinary team
  • *Committed to developing and extending pharmacy services
  • *Able to critically evaluate evidence.
  • *Able to implement change
  • *Professional manner
  • *Well motivated and reliable
  • *Able to work with all grades of staff
  • *Capacity to work calmly under pressure
  • *Ability to deal with frequent interruptions.
  • *Proven ability to work to deadlines and time management without supervision.
  • *Willingness to travel across all sites as required by the job role.

Desirable

  • *Experience of tutoring pharmacists studying for postgraduate qualification
  • *Previous experience of teaching other healthcare professionals
  • *Experience of short listing and interviewing
  • *Experience of managing drug expenditure for a specialty and understanding of budgetary mechanism
  • *Experience in service development
  • *Experience of working at a strategic level with senior clinicians and managers and experience of working in an integrated directorate
  • *Experience as a trainer
  • *Experience of research, audit and quality improvement projects
  • *Understanding of Excel and other data manipulations tools
  • *Good understanding of PICS or other electronic prescribing systems
Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • *MPharm degree or equivalent
  • *Clinical diploma (or equivalent) or higher Pharmacy degree
  • *Qualified as an independent non-medical prescribed or a willingness to undertake the programme
  • *GPhC registration

Desirable

  • *Membership of the RPS

Experience

Essential

  • *Substantial experience as a band 7 pharmacist (or above) within hospital pharmacy.
  • *Experience in a range of clinical specialties.
  • *Previous participation in multi-disciplinary team
  • *Experience in supervising and managing pharmacists & pharmacy technicians and performing appraisals.
  • *Experience of audit work
  • *Excellent knowledge of general clinical pharmacy and drug use
  • *Networking: being able to work within and without the Trust with credibility
  • *Knowledge of current national standards, guidelines and service delivery issues relevant to education & training
  • *In-depth knowledge of Continuing Professional Development process and of Plan & Record system
  • *Experience of supervision, developing and appraising staff as well as giving feedback

Desirable

  • *Experience of tutoring pharmacists studying for postgraduate qualification
  • *Previous experience of teaching other healthcare professionals
  • *Experience of short listing and interviewing
  • *Experience of managing drug expenditure for a specialty and understanding of budgetary mechanism
  • *Experience in service development
  • *Experience of working at a strategic level with senior clinicians and managers and experience of working in an integrated directorate
  • *Experience as a trainer
  • *Experience of research, audit and quality improvement projects

Additional Criteria

Essential

  • *Good communication skills, written and verbal, with ability to demonstrate fluency, clarity and effectiveness at all levels.
  • *Good teaching and presentation skills (variety of methods, individual and small & large groups)
  • *IT and presentation skills and report writing
  • *Time management skills
  • *Organisational skills
  • *Negotiating skills
  • *Co-ordination of duties of staff
  • *Can prioritise local and own workload and that of others
  • *Can meet deadlines
  • *Can remain composed and effective in demanding situations (students in difficulties, delivering unfavourable feedback, as advocate for students in negotiating with senior staff, staff and patients in department, on wards and on-call)
  • *Can reflect and critically analyse own performance
  • *Can critically and objectively analyse performance of others
  • *Able to identify, prioritise and solve problems
  • *Identifies and manages risk
  • *Numerate and literate
  • *Able to work effectively with all members of the multidisciplinary team
  • *Committed to developing and extending pharmacy services
  • *Able to critically evaluate evidence.
  • *Able to implement change
  • *Professional manner
  • *Well motivated and reliable
  • *Able to work with all grades of staff
  • *Capacity to work calmly under pressure
  • *Ability to deal with frequent interruptions.
  • *Proven ability to work to deadlines and time management without supervision.
  • *Willingness to travel across all sites as required by the job role.

Desirable

  • *Experience of tutoring pharmacists studying for postgraduate qualification
  • *Previous experience of teaching other healthcare professionals
  • *Experience of short listing and interviewing
  • *Experience of managing drug expenditure for a specialty and understanding of budgetary mechanism
  • *Experience in service development
  • *Experience of working at a strategic level with senior clinicians and managers and experience of working in an integrated directorate
  • *Experience as a trainer
  • *Experience of research, audit and quality improvement projects
  • *Understanding of Excel and other data manipulations tools
  • *Good understanding of PICS or other electronic prescribing systems

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Additional information

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details

Employer name

University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Queen Elizabeth Hospital

Mindelsohn Way

Birmingham

West Midlands

B15 2TH


Employer's website

https://www.uhb.nhs.uk/jobs.htm (Opens in a new tab)


Employer details

Employer name

University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Queen Elizabeth Hospital

Mindelsohn Way

Birmingham

West Midlands

B15 2TH


Employer's website

https://www.uhb.nhs.uk/jobs.htm (Opens in a new tab)


Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Hiring Manager

Abi Jenkins

abigail.jenkins@uhb.nhs.uk

01213713477

Details

Date posted

08 December 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 8a

Salary

£55,690 to £62,682 a year

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time, Flexible working

Reference number

304-1097949

Job locations

Queen Elizabeth Hospital

Mindelsohn Way

Birmingham

West Midlands

B15 2TH


Supporting documents

Privacy notice

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