Barts Health NHS Trust

Senior Pharmacy Assistant

The closing date is 24 August 2025

Job summary

Although this position is a 12 months fixed-term contract, the actual contract duration will be adjusted to account for the time taken to advertise the post, complete the hiring process, and finalise pre-employment checks. This means the contract will begin when the candidate starts the role and may be slightly shorter than 12 months.

Candidate to join our busy and dynamic pharmacy team at Newham University Hospital in the position of Senior Pharmacy Assistant. You will support the operational and clinical pharmacy team to ensure provision of an efficient, economic, and timely dispensary and distribution service allowing for delivery of quality care to patients at ward and dispensary level.

This post will be rotational throughout various areas on site including inpatient dispensary, stores, and on wards. There will be opportunities to create strong working relationships with members of the pharmacy team as well as working closely with nurses and other healthcare professionals including supporting with maintenance of effective stock control and promoting adherence to safe and secure handling of medicines.

The successful candidate will join a supportive, integrated pharmacy team, committed to delivering high quality patient care. You will have opportunities to gain new skills including good medicines management practice, working within pharmacy stores, inpatient dispensary and rotations through a variety of different clinical specialties.

Main duties of the job

  • To work with the stores, distribution & procurement teams across site to maintain an effective supply chain.

  • To support the department in setting standards through review and updating procedures and auditing against those standards in line with the department's audit programme.

  • Be accredited to dispense and deal with Controlled Drugs, blister packs, in-patient supply and medicines for discharge.

  • Be familiar with using CMM and ePMA and the Oncology prescribing system, iQemo.

  • Complete daily and monthly stock counts for dispensing areas, with appropriate management of discrepancies (including escalation), where necessary.

  • Assist with filing prescriptions, maintaining accurate records for future reference.

  • Participate in temperature monitoring for fridges & freezers ensuring they are in range and report any problems.

  • Ensure medicines are recycled and reused where possible and wasted and expired stock are booked out and logged appropriately.

  • Provide medicines management support for ward areas including returning of stock/patient's own medications, expiry date checks and recording of ambient and fridge temperatures in clinical areas.
  • Partake in delivery of checked medications to the ward in a timely fashion and place in individual patient's bedside lockers/fridge.
  • Participate in the receipt and checking of goods from different suppliers and booking in the deliveries on the pharmacy computer system if necessary

About us

Barts Health is one of the largest NHS trusts in the country, and one of Britain's leading healthcare providers.

The Barts Health group of NHS hospitals is entering an exciting new era on our improvement journey to becoming an outstanding organisation with a world-class clinical reputation. Having lifted ourselves out of special measures, we now have the impetus and breathing space to chart a fresh course in which we are continually striving to improve all our services for patients.

Our vision is to be a high-performing group of NHS hospitals, renowned for excellence and innovation, and providing safe and compassionate care to our patients in east London and beyond. That means being a provider of excellent patient safety, known for delivering consistently high standards of harm-free care and always caring for patients in the right place at the right time. It also means being an outstanding place to work, in which our WeCare values and behaviours are visible to all and guide us in how we work together.

We strive to live by our WeCare values and are committed to promoting inclusion, where every staff member has a sense of belonging. We value our differences and fully advocate, cultivate and support an inclusive working environment.

Details

Date posted

08 August 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 3

Salary

£29,651 to £31,312 a year per annum inc pro rata

Contract

Fixed term

Duration

12 months

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

259-7343011NUH

Job locations

Newham University Hospital

GLEN ROAD

London

E13 8SL


Job description

Job responsibilities

The full job description provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience, and knowledge required. For both documents, please view the attachment/s below.

If you have an interest in becoming a senior pharmacy assistant, we would love to hear from you. Barts Health offers a rewarding career opportunity and allows you to develop and utilise your skills to provide excellent patient care to our patient population.

For an informal discussion about this post, please contact Sukhi Rayat, Site Lead Pharmacy Technician (sukhi.rayat1@nhs.net)

Job description

Job responsibilities

The full job description provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience, and knowledge required. For both documents, please view the attachment/s below.

If you have an interest in becoming a senior pharmacy assistant, we would love to hear from you. Barts Health offers a rewarding career opportunity and allows you to develop and utilise your skills to provide excellent patient care to our patient population.

For an informal discussion about this post, please contact Sukhi Rayat, Site Lead Pharmacy Technician (sukhi.rayat1@nhs.net)

Person Specification

Experience

Essential

  • Labelling and dispensing experience
  • Liaising with suppliers / customers
  • Experience of dealing with telephone enquiries
  • Experience in hospital pharmacy stock control systems including distribution and top-up services
  • Working in a team
  • Experience of working in a customer care environment

Desirable

  • Experience of working in Pharmacy or Healthcare environment
  • Experience of using healthcare computer systems, e.g. CMM & EPMA
  • Experience in hospital pharmacy stock distribution and top-up services
  • Experience in working in a ward environment

Knowledge

Essential

  • Knowledge of Health and Safety regulations
  • Knowledge of COSHH
  • Awareness of Standard Operating Procedures
  • Interested in and have knowledge of the use of medicines.
  • Understand the importance of quality issues and customer care issues
  • Understanding of relevant legislation, for example, Health and Safety GDPR / Data protection, equality and diversity

Skills

Essential

  • Able to plan own work and the supervision of others in a clear and organised way
  • Able to work alone or as part of a team with different grades of staff.
  • Attention to detail and accuracy
  • Able to work to policies and procedures.
  • Able to perform calculations
  • Good time management skills
  • Able to meet deadlines.
  • Able to communicate well with all members of the team (internal and external to Pharmacy) and externally with customers in a confident manner
  • Excellent communication skills both written and verbal, including on the telephone
  • Able to prioritise own work
  • Confident to work unsupervised, takes initiative and uses own judgement in anticipating and dealing with queries and problems
  • To complete tasks to a consistently high standard
  • Able to work calmly under pressure and to deadlines
  • Able to move heavy loads

Desirable

  • Manual handling skills
  • Experience of training others
  • IT skills; able to use Excel and Word proficiently

Other

Essential

  • Sufficient to perform the duties of the post with any aids and adaptations
  • Shows enthusiasm and commitment towards learning new skills and self-development
  • Friendly and approachable
  • Able to work in a busy environment
  • Able to meet deadlines
  • Able to be flexible and participate in late duty and weekend working
  • Specific interest in working within pharmacy

Qualifications

Essential

  • GCSE grades A-C or 4-9
  • English Language
  • Maths
  • Double Science
  • NVQ QCF level 2 in pharmacy services

Desirable

  • HEE Medicines Optimisation programme or equivalent i.e., competent to assess PODS and transcribe and order from drug charts
Person Specification

Experience

Essential

  • Labelling and dispensing experience
  • Liaising with suppliers / customers
  • Experience of dealing with telephone enquiries
  • Experience in hospital pharmacy stock control systems including distribution and top-up services
  • Working in a team
  • Experience of working in a customer care environment

Desirable

  • Experience of working in Pharmacy or Healthcare environment
  • Experience of using healthcare computer systems, e.g. CMM & EPMA
  • Experience in hospital pharmacy stock distribution and top-up services
  • Experience in working in a ward environment

Knowledge

Essential

  • Knowledge of Health and Safety regulations
  • Knowledge of COSHH
  • Awareness of Standard Operating Procedures
  • Interested in and have knowledge of the use of medicines.
  • Understand the importance of quality issues and customer care issues
  • Understanding of relevant legislation, for example, Health and Safety GDPR / Data protection, equality and diversity

Skills

Essential

  • Able to plan own work and the supervision of others in a clear and organised way
  • Able to work alone or as part of a team with different grades of staff.
  • Attention to detail and accuracy
  • Able to work to policies and procedures.
  • Able to perform calculations
  • Good time management skills
  • Able to meet deadlines.
  • Able to communicate well with all members of the team (internal and external to Pharmacy) and externally with customers in a confident manner
  • Excellent communication skills both written and verbal, including on the telephone
  • Able to prioritise own work
  • Confident to work unsupervised, takes initiative and uses own judgement in anticipating and dealing with queries and problems
  • To complete tasks to a consistently high standard
  • Able to work calmly under pressure and to deadlines
  • Able to move heavy loads

Desirable

  • Manual handling skills
  • Experience of training others
  • IT skills; able to use Excel and Word proficiently

Other

Essential

  • Sufficient to perform the duties of the post with any aids and adaptations
  • Shows enthusiasm and commitment towards learning new skills and self-development
  • Friendly and approachable
  • Able to work in a busy environment
  • Able to meet deadlines
  • Able to be flexible and participate in late duty and weekend working
  • Specific interest in working within pharmacy

Qualifications

Essential

  • GCSE grades A-C or 4-9
  • English Language
  • Maths
  • Double Science
  • NVQ QCF level 2 in pharmacy services

Desirable

  • HEE Medicines Optimisation programme or equivalent i.e., competent to assess PODS and transcribe and order from drug charts

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).

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).

Employer details

Employer name

Barts Health NHS Trust

Address

Newham University Hospital

GLEN ROAD

London

E13 8SL


Employer's website

https://www.bartshealth.nhs.uk (Opens in a new tab)


Employer details

Employer name

Barts Health NHS Trust

Address

Newham University Hospital

GLEN ROAD

London

E13 8SL


Employer's website

https://www.bartshealth.nhs.uk (Opens in a new tab)


Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Dispensary Manager

Murali Krishna Dangeti

murali.dangeti@nhs.net

02073638900

Details

Date posted

08 August 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 3

Salary

£29,651 to £31,312 a year per annum inc pro rata

Contract

Fixed term

Duration

12 months

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

259-7343011NUH

Job locations

Newham University Hospital

GLEN ROAD

London

E13 8SL


Supporting documents

Privacy notice

Barts Health NHS Trust's privacy notice (opens in a new tab)