Job summary
We are looking for a motivated, dynamic, and innovative individual capable of leading a team and representing pharmacy internally and externally to become our Deputy (to the) Chief Pharmacist for Pharmacy Business and Operational Services.
You must be a registrant with the General Pharmaceutica Council (pharmacist or pharmacy technician) and will need excellent interpersonal and communication skills and the ability to organise and prioritise your work as well as that of others within your team
The successful candidate will be based at either our Southport or Whiston sites and will be expected to participate in seven day working, late duty rotas and an on-call service provision.
Assessment Centre will take place on Wednesday 22nd April, 2026
Main duties of the job
To assist the Chief Pharmacist in their duties including providing input to strategic and operational management of Pharmacy Services including:
-
Managing and developing the Pharmacy Accommodation and its assets (including environmental control (e.g. temperature monitoring)
To deputise for the Chief Pharmacist in their absence at local, regional and national meetings.
About us
Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 9000 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.
We strongly believe that the communities we serve should all have access to Five Star Patient Care.
Our Services:
Acute Care
Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.
Primary Care
Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.
Community Services
Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation, freeing up space for more unwell patients. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.
Specialist Regional Services
We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Assist the Chief Pharmacist in the operational & strategic management of the pharmacy service. The Pharmacy Service is provided by 250 WTE staff and an annual budget of approximately £15M.
Deputise for the Chief Pharmacist to ensure continuity of service during leave/absence.
To be responsible for the efficient and effective day-to-day running of their portfolio which includes:
- Dispensary (including Outpatient Services)
- Stores, procurement and ward supply
- Aseptics
- ePharmacy & related technology systems, including informatics, & automation
- Medicines Optimisation (including Homecare and High- Cost Drugs)
- Managing and developing the Pharmacy Accommodation and its assets (including environmental control (e.g. temperature monitoring)
-
Represent the Chief Pharmacist within and outside the Trust.
To be a member of the Senior Pharmacy Leadership Team.
Be an active member of the Pharmacy Operational Group and function as Chair in the Chief Pharmacists absence.
To assist the Chief Pharmacist in developing pharmacy services in line with ICS, Regional and National Guidance.
To assist in the production of business plans, development & capital bids for the pharmacy service and to support medicines management within the Trust.
To work with Trust Directors and Assistant Directors to ensure that the Pharmacy service contributes to achievement of the Trusts strategic objectives.
To lead major Pharmacy-related informatics projects e.g. automation of dispensing processes.
Provide managerial advice, mentoring and support to the leadership team and to ensure that departmental and Trust objectives are achieved.
To be the pharmacy representative on Divisional and Trust wide groups e.g. CIP Council, Procurement Council, Capital Council.
To be an authorised financial signatory for the Pharmacy Department(up to 50k or in Chief Pharmacists absence £100k).
To lead on the creation of the annual Pharmacy CIP plan and its delivery
To be responsible and accountable for the MWL Pharmacy budget lines developing and managing those budgets alongside the Pharmacy Senior Leadership team to meet the strategic and operational business plans.
To lead on health & safety issues within the Pharmacy Departments and consult with the managers of other service users, e.g. porters, to ensure their safety.
To monitor and review ePACT data providing assurance that FP10 prescribing data is clinically and financially appropriate.
To function as a primary contact for MWL regarding maintenance of Organisation Data Service (ODS).
To participate in Northwest Deputy Chief Pharmacist network and any sub-groups as needed.
To be an active member of the MWL and ICS Place Leads Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention meeting ensuring delivery of shared workplan.
To develop, implement and assess policies and procedures for medicines management relevant to areas of Pharmacy Service within portfolio and as requested by the Chief Pharmacist for other areas. This will include leading on policies which impact across the Trust and Regionally.
Manage the safe & secure handling of medicines within the Trust to ensure that legal standards and the requirements of the CQC are met.
Through managing the Pharmacy Systems Manager ensure that the information needs to support effective medicines management are met
Report and investigate dispensing / drug errors on the incident reporting system emanating from their portfolio
-
Respond to complaints relating to pharmacy services within portfolio.
To provide guidance to senior clinicians (medical, nursing, pharmacy) on issues relating to medicines management.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Assist the Chief Pharmacist in the operational & strategic management of the pharmacy service. The Pharmacy Service is provided by 250 WTE staff and an annual budget of approximately £15M.
Deputise for the Chief Pharmacist to ensure continuity of service during leave/absence.
To be responsible for the efficient and effective day-to-day running of their portfolio which includes:
- Dispensary (including Outpatient Services)
- Stores, procurement and ward supply
- Aseptics
- ePharmacy & related technology systems, including informatics, & automation
- Medicines Optimisation (including Homecare and High- Cost Drugs)
- Managing and developing the Pharmacy Accommodation and its assets (including environmental control (e.g. temperature monitoring)
-
Represent the Chief Pharmacist within and outside the Trust.
To be a member of the Senior Pharmacy Leadership Team.
Be an active member of the Pharmacy Operational Group and function as Chair in the Chief Pharmacists absence.
To assist the Chief Pharmacist in developing pharmacy services in line with ICS, Regional and National Guidance.
To assist in the production of business plans, development & capital bids for the pharmacy service and to support medicines management within the Trust.
To work with Trust Directors and Assistant Directors to ensure that the Pharmacy service contributes to achievement of the Trusts strategic objectives.
To lead major Pharmacy-related informatics projects e.g. automation of dispensing processes.
Provide managerial advice, mentoring and support to the leadership team and to ensure that departmental and Trust objectives are achieved.
To be the pharmacy representative on Divisional and Trust wide groups e.g. CIP Council, Procurement Council, Capital Council.
To be an authorised financial signatory for the Pharmacy Department(up to 50k or in Chief Pharmacists absence £100k).
To lead on the creation of the annual Pharmacy CIP plan and its delivery
To be responsible and accountable for the MWL Pharmacy budget lines developing and managing those budgets alongside the Pharmacy Senior Leadership team to meet the strategic and operational business plans.
To lead on health & safety issues within the Pharmacy Departments and consult with the managers of other service users, e.g. porters, to ensure their safety.
To monitor and review ePACT data providing assurance that FP10 prescribing data is clinically and financially appropriate.
To function as a primary contact for MWL regarding maintenance of Organisation Data Service (ODS).
To participate in Northwest Deputy Chief Pharmacist network and any sub-groups as needed.
To be an active member of the MWL and ICS Place Leads Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention meeting ensuring delivery of shared workplan.
To develop, implement and assess policies and procedures for medicines management relevant to areas of Pharmacy Service within portfolio and as requested by the Chief Pharmacist for other areas. This will include leading on policies which impact across the Trust and Regionally.
Manage the safe & secure handling of medicines within the Trust to ensure that legal standards and the requirements of the CQC are met.
Through managing the Pharmacy Systems Manager ensure that the information needs to support effective medicines management are met
Report and investigate dispensing / drug errors on the incident reporting system emanating from their portfolio
-
Respond to complaints relating to pharmacy services within portfolio.
To provide guidance to senior clinicians (medical, nursing, pharmacy) on issues relating to medicines management.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Masters degree in Pharmacy or relevant healthcare leadership
- Registered with General Pharmaceutical Council(GPhC) as a Pharmacist or Pharmacy Technician
- Postgraduate Leadership/Management qualification or equivalent experience (such as MSc or MBA)
- Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Pharmacy or equivalent acquisition and use of higher levels of specialist knowledge
- Evidence of continuing professional developmentto comply with GPhC requirements
Desirable
- Membership of Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain / Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK
Knowledge and Experience
Essential
- Substantial leadership and operational management experience in a hospital pharmacy setting
- Extensive experience of managing operational pharmacy services e.g. aseptic, dispensary, homecare, procurement services
- Experience of and ability to manage highly complex operational situations that involve staff from all levels within the organisation and across a range of professional and organisational boundaries
- Experience of leading and managing substantial service change and redesign in a complex environment.
- Understanding of current NHS National Policies and their impact on provision of health care across primary, secondary and tertiary care.
- Knowledge and experience of drug funding within the NHS.
- Experience of developing and delivering on CIP and QIPP projects
- Experience of budgetary management alongside drug reporting and financial management to divisions and directorates
- Demonstrable experience of audit and practice research
- Demonstrable experience in producing guidelines, policies, protocols
- Extensive experience in supervising and managing pharmacists & pharmacy technicians and performing appraisals.
- Experience of interviewing and staff selection.
Desirable
Skills
Essential
- Ability to express written information concisely and accurately
- Able to motivate self and others
- Ability to work alone and as part of a team in a challenging environment
- Completer/finisher
- Able to work in a multi-disciplinary setting
- Able to prioritise and delegate
- Ability to achieve demanding tasks and objectives against deadlines
- Able to take difficult decisions and manage the consequences
- Ability to express written information concisely and accurately
- Able to motivate self and others
- Ability to work alone and as part of a team in a challenging environment
Ability
Essential
- To be able to travel across sites
- Influential and able to work across professional boundaries
- Flexibility
- Manage complex and competing issues staying calm under pressure
- Lead through empowerment
- Able to cope with and diffuse stressful situations
- Inspire others
- Able to command respect of multi-disciplinary teams
- Able to evaluate and benchmark quality care
- Tenacious with good attention to detail
Professional and Ethical Practice
Essential
- Ability to manage own on-going personal and professional development
- Track record of delivering high standards of care
- Patient centred approach to care
- Demonstrate personal & professional pride in pharmacy and the NHS
- Resilient - able to deal effectively with stressful working environment without affecting performance.
Our Values
Essential
- We are Kind
- We are Open
- We are Inclusive
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Masters degree in Pharmacy or relevant healthcare leadership
- Registered with General Pharmaceutical Council(GPhC) as a Pharmacist or Pharmacy Technician
- Postgraduate Leadership/Management qualification or equivalent experience (such as MSc or MBA)
- Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Pharmacy or equivalent acquisition and use of higher levels of specialist knowledge
- Evidence of continuing professional developmentto comply with GPhC requirements
Desirable
- Membership of Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain / Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK
Knowledge and Experience
Essential
- Substantial leadership and operational management experience in a hospital pharmacy setting
- Extensive experience of managing operational pharmacy services e.g. aseptic, dispensary, homecare, procurement services
- Experience of and ability to manage highly complex operational situations that involve staff from all levels within the organisation and across a range of professional and organisational boundaries
- Experience of leading and managing substantial service change and redesign in a complex environment.
- Understanding of current NHS National Policies and their impact on provision of health care across primary, secondary and tertiary care.
- Knowledge and experience of drug funding within the NHS.
- Experience of developing and delivering on CIP and QIPP projects
- Experience of budgetary management alongside drug reporting and financial management to divisions and directorates
- Demonstrable experience of audit and practice research
- Demonstrable experience in producing guidelines, policies, protocols
- Extensive experience in supervising and managing pharmacists & pharmacy technicians and performing appraisals.
- Experience of interviewing and staff selection.
Desirable
Skills
Essential
- Ability to express written information concisely and accurately
- Able to motivate self and others
- Ability to work alone and as part of a team in a challenging environment
- Completer/finisher
- Able to work in a multi-disciplinary setting
- Able to prioritise and delegate
- Ability to achieve demanding tasks and objectives against deadlines
- Able to take difficult decisions and manage the consequences
- Ability to express written information concisely and accurately
- Able to motivate self and others
- Ability to work alone and as part of a team in a challenging environment
Ability
Essential
- To be able to travel across sites
- Influential and able to work across professional boundaries
- Flexibility
- Manage complex and competing issues staying calm under pressure
- Lead through empowerment
- Able to cope with and diffuse stressful situations
- Inspire others
- Able to command respect of multi-disciplinary teams
- Able to evaluate and benchmark quality care
- Tenacious with good attention to detail
Professional and Ethical Practice
Essential
- Ability to manage own on-going personal and professional development
- Track record of delivering high standards of care
- Patient centred approach to care
- Demonstrate personal & professional pride in pharmacy and the NHS
- Resilient - able to deal effectively with stressful working environment without affecting performance.
Our Values
Essential
- We are Kind
- We are Open
- We are Inclusive
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.
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.
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).
