Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust

Pharmacy Assistant (Progression Post)

The closing date is 08 July 2025

Job summary

TEWV pharmacy team are recruiting a dispensing assistant to join our pharmacy at West Park Hospital, Darlington. This new post will allow the successful candidate to progress from a band 2 to a band 3 senior pharmacy assistant after completing the relevant criteria required. The successful applicant will be an exceptional team player with good communication and interpersonal skills who are enthusiastic and committed to join our team. Ideally applicants will have previous experience in working within a pharmacy as a dispensing assistant but this is not essential. Applicants own transport is desirable but not essential. This is an exciting time to join a supportive team with development opportunities in a growing NHS pharmacy team.

Main duties of the job

  • To work under pharmacy SOPs to provide a medicines top up and stock management for wards, with supervision available from pharmacy technicians
  • To dispense medication against prescriptions and requisitions, calculating appropriate doses and doses for both inpatient and outpatients following SOPs, ensuring prescriptions and requisitions are legal and safe.
  • To receive medication supplies from wholesalers and electronically record this.
  • To remove unwanted medication from the wards to determine what is suitable for return or destruction as per policies.
  • To dispense controlled drugs for ward stock and named patients following all legal requirements.
  • To dispense orders for emergency drugs.
  • To maintain cost effective holding on the wards.
  • To ensure good stock control, ensuring stock checks and expiry date checks are completed in a timely manner.
  • Maintain up to date knowledge and competency in the skills required to perform safely and effectively in the role and to undertake relevant statutory and mandatory training and to be responsible for personal development agreed with line manager.

About us

The pharmacy team in TEWV has over 100 team members including drivers, pharmacy assistants, administration, nurses, pharmacy technicians and pharmacists. Individual team members are spread across multiple sites, with a dispensary in each of our 3 localities. The locality teams work independently, but come together to agree standards and best practice, learning from each other and trying to improve.

We developed a 5-year Medicines Optimisation and Pharmacy framework which was created with the teams to produce a shared set of themes and priorities. This is 'Our Journey to Change'

Our values are Respect, Compassion and responsibility. If you are a kind, supporting, honest, ambitious team member who thrives on being inclusive and working in partnership - our organisation may be a fit for you.

Details

Date posted

26 June 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 2

Salary

£24,169 to £25,674 a year per annum

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time, Part-time

Reference number

346-PH-009-25-A

Job locations

West Park Hospital

Edward Pease Way

Darlington

DL2 2TS


Job description

Job responsibilities

Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for further detailed information to ensure that you meet the role criteria before applying.

You must have the Right to Work in the UK in order to be successfully appointed to this role. Please note, this role does not meet the required eligibility criteria for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker visa and therefore the Trust is unable to offer sponsorship for this particular role.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for further detailed information to ensure that you meet the role criteria before applying.

You must have the Right to Work in the UK in order to be successfully appointed to this role. Please note, this role does not meet the required eligibility criteria for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker visa and therefore the Trust is unable to offer sponsorship for this particular role.

Person Specification

Experience

Essential

  • Experience of stock management
  • Telephone, email and internet experience
  • Experience of working supportively within a team

Desirable

  • Experience of working in pharmacy
  • Experience with the use of appropriate software packages including Excel and Word

Skills

Essential

  • Good communication skills - both oral and written including good telephone manner
  • Good organisational skills
  • Ability to work under supervision, and independently as appropriate
  • Customer care
  • Accuracy and attention to detail

Desirable

  • Able to demonstrate good organisational and time management skills
  • Manual dexterity - medication handling
  • An ability to receive, interpret, analyse and deliver information

Qualifications

Essential

  • Basic general education, GCSE grade D or above in English and Maths

Desirable

  • NVQ or equivalent level 2 pharmacy
Person Specification

Experience

Essential

  • Experience of stock management
  • Telephone, email and internet experience
  • Experience of working supportively within a team

Desirable

  • Experience of working in pharmacy
  • Experience with the use of appropriate software packages including Excel and Word

Skills

Essential

  • Good communication skills - both oral and written including good telephone manner
  • Good organisational skills
  • Ability to work under supervision, and independently as appropriate
  • Customer care
  • Accuracy and attention to detail

Desirable

  • Able to demonstrate good organisational and time management skills
  • Manual dexterity - medication handling
  • An ability to receive, interpret, analyse and deliver information

Qualifications

Essential

  • Basic general education, GCSE grade D or above in English and Maths

Desirable

  • NVQ or equivalent level 2 pharmacy

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

Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust

Address

West Park Hospital

Edward Pease Way

Darlington

DL2 2TS


Employer's website

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

Employer details

Employer name

Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust

Address

West Park Hospital

Edward Pease Way

Darlington

DL2 2TS


Employer's website

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

Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Lead Pharmacy Technician

JaneHeslehurst

jane.heslehurst@nhs.net

07531852941

Details

Date posted

26 June 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 2

Salary

£24,169 to £25,674 a year per annum

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time, Part-time

Reference number

346-PH-009-25-A

Job locations

West Park Hospital

Edward Pease Way

Darlington

DL2 2TS


Supporting documents

Privacy notice

Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust's privacy notice (opens in a new tab)