Job summary
Medication Safety Officer
Department: Pharmacy
Band 8a: £55,690 - £62,682 Per annum
Full-Time 37.5 per week, all MKUH roles will be considered for flexible working
To support this next step, the Pharmacy Department is currently looking for an outstanding Pharmacist to join our team as our Medication Safety Office.
Applicants to the position must be passionate about providing high quality patient care, medication safety and ensuring safe processes through robust governance across the Trust.
We are looking for someone willing to show their commitment to delivering excellence and working with us to develop our Pharmacy service even further, for all staff in our wider team and the organisation. A can-do approach and commitment to self and service development is essential to enable the person appointed to be able to train and develop others in partnership with other pharmacy staff members.
Weekend work to supply immediately needed medication, including TTOs, is required of all pharmacy staff. The post holder will also participate in the on-call rota.
'We care We communicate We collaborate We contribute'
Interview date: 04 November2025
Main duties of the job
- To act as the MSO & be responsible for the development, implementation & evaluation of medicines safety initiatives across the organisation in line with relevant guidance.
- To be responsible for the development, implementation & evaluation of a programme to promote learning from medication incidents within pharmacy & across the organisation.
- Ensuring comprehensive reporting on medication incidents to the relevant committee meetings & be responsible for driving actions to improve patient safety across the organisation.
- To lead on the governance of Controlled Drugs working with the Clinical Director of Pharmacy & the Controlled Drug Accountable Officer.
- To support the Medicine Use and Quality Manager to develop, deliver & evaluate the service they are responsible for in accordance with relevant standards and guidance.
- To facilitate the continuing professional development of all direct & indirect reports in the domains of medication safety.
- To support the Medicine Use & Quality Manager to develop & deliver the medicines governance agenda including the preparation & maintenance of pharmacy-wide policies and procedures relating to the safe, effective & affordable use of medicines.
- To represent the Trust in meetings with local, regional & national MSO networks in primary & secondary care.
- To support patient centered medicines optimisation as an advanced pharmacy practitioner & where service need require, to practice as a non-medical prescriber within an agreed scope of practice.
About us
Milton Keynes University Hospital, in proud partnership with the University of Buckingham, is a University Teaching Hospital committed to advancing patient care through cutting-edge research and education. With a "Good" rating from the CQC and significant investment underway, this is an exciting time to join our team and grow your career.
As a medium sized general hospital, we provide a full range of general medical and surgical services, including a busy Emergency Department, Maternity, and Paediatrics. As the population of our city and surrounding areas continues to grow rapidly, we are expanding and enhancing our facilities to meet rising demand and improve access to care for all our communities.
We are also proud to offer a growing portfolio of specialist services. In January 2025 we opened our state-of-the-art Radiotherapy Centre, bringing advanced cancer treatment closer to home. Our services also include neonatology, specialist surgical care, and a wide range of diagnostics, supported by the new Community Diagnostic Centre at Whitehouse Health Centre.
Further investment is underway, including the construction of Oak Wards - a new ward block featuring two 24-bed wards - and the recently approved Women and Children's Centre, set to open by 2030.
Visit our website to explore the latest news and opportunities at MKUH - News - Milton Keynes University Hospital -
For further information about Milton Keynes please visit - Visit Milton Keynes
Job description
Job responsibilities
Medication safety organisation & management role:
- To represent pharmacy and Medication Safety at organisational Operational, Safety and Governance meetings.
Expert practice:
- To act as the nominated MSO for the Trust, ensuring compliance with national guidance for the role.
Research, evaluation & service development:
- To create and present reports and data on medication incidents within the organisation at relevant prescribing governance committees and clinical improvement groups.
Professional leadership:
- To contribute to the direction of local, regional and national groups pertaining to Medication Safety.
Clinical practice role:
- To practice in compliance with the General Pharmaceutical Council code of professional conduct within scope of practice, being responsible and accountable for own decisions, actions, and omissions.
Education and training responsibilities:
- To provide a comprehensive induction programme for all new members of staff coming into the Medication Safety Team.
Professional role:
- To ensure confidentiality is maintained at all times
Please refer to the Job Description for further details.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Medication safety organisation & management role:
- To represent pharmacy and Medication Safety at organisational Operational, Safety and Governance meetings.
Expert practice:
- To act as the nominated MSO for the Trust, ensuring compliance with national guidance for the role.
Research, evaluation & service development:
- To create and present reports and data on medication incidents within the organisation at relevant prescribing governance committees and clinical improvement groups.
Professional leadership:
- To contribute to the direction of local, regional and national groups pertaining to Medication Safety.
Clinical practice role:
- To practice in compliance with the General Pharmaceutical Council code of professional conduct within scope of practice, being responsible and accountable for own decisions, actions, and omissions.
Education and training responsibilities:
- To provide a comprehensive induction programme for all new members of staff coming into the Medication Safety Team.
Professional role:
- To ensure confidentiality is maintained at all times
Please refer to the Job Description for further details.
Person Specification
Qualifications and knowledge
Essential
- B.Sc. / B.Pharm. / M.Pharm
- Registered with GPhC
- Post-graduate degree / Diploma in Clinical Pharmacy (Level 8) or equivalent experience
- Evidence of on-going CPD (in line with GPhC requirements)
- Evidence of a good understanding of medicines value and commissioning pathways and arrangements.
Desirable
- Independent prescribing qualification
- Member of RPS
- Formal teaching or mentoring training
Experience
Essential
- Demonstrates a passion for Medication Safety
- Significant post registration experience in a hospital
- Experience of working as part of a multi-disciplinary team to provide patient care
- Experience of audit work and research
- Evidence of supporting multidisciplinary teams through change in clinical setting
- Experience of service development or change management
- An awareness of current national standards, guidelines and delivery issues relevant to patient and medication safety
- Experience of supervising, developing and appraising staff as well as giving feedback
Desirable
- Experience of writing evaluations or reviews of medicines and critically appraising evidence
- Experience of managing drug expenditure and understanding of budgetary mechanism
- Awareness of tools and techniques to support horizon scanning
- Experience of business case synthesis, financial planning and reporting
Skills
Essential
- IT, Presentation skills and report writing
- Meets targets and identifies a vision for the delivery of pharmacy and medicine services to patients
- Good inter-personal skills, with the ability to liaise and influence senior managers and consultants
- Meets expected levels of practice as identified by others and identifies new areas of practice
- Understands local and national priorities in care and has the ability to reconcile these with local realities
- Demonstrable ability to manage time, people and resources to deliver outcomes
- Integrates research evidence and audit results into practice; documented experience of own research & audit
- Identifies and manages risk
- Demonstrates awareness of and commitment to governance and medicines safety agendas
- Demonstrates clinical knowledge, clinical reasoning and judgement; manages difficult and ambiguous problems
- Identifies own training needs, actively seeks training opportunities and maintains a portfolio of practice
- Works autonomously and can delegate authority appropriately
- Evaluates the quality of own work and can evaluate service quality
- An ability to prioritise a complex workload and work accurately under pressure
Personal and people development
Essential
- Experience as a trainer
- Experience of supervising, developing and appraising staff as well as giving feedback
Communication
Essential
- Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to influence others
- Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written
- Evidence of team working
- Evidence of effective and timely project delivery
Specific requirements
Essential
- Able to perform the duties of the post with reasonable aids and adaptations
- Flexible, polite and courteous
- Dedicated professional attitude
- Able to take the initiative
- Common sense
- Ability and willingness to take responsibility for own actions and lead, when required, including when on call
Person Specification
Qualifications and knowledge
Essential
- B.Sc. / B.Pharm. / M.Pharm
- Registered with GPhC
- Post-graduate degree / Diploma in Clinical Pharmacy (Level 8) or equivalent experience
- Evidence of on-going CPD (in line with GPhC requirements)
- Evidence of a good understanding of medicines value and commissioning pathways and arrangements.
Desirable
- Independent prescribing qualification
- Member of RPS
- Formal teaching or mentoring training
Experience
Essential
- Demonstrates a passion for Medication Safety
- Significant post registration experience in a hospital
- Experience of working as part of a multi-disciplinary team to provide patient care
- Experience of audit work and research
- Evidence of supporting multidisciplinary teams through change in clinical setting
- Experience of service development or change management
- An awareness of current national standards, guidelines and delivery issues relevant to patient and medication safety
- Experience of supervising, developing and appraising staff as well as giving feedback
Desirable
- Experience of writing evaluations or reviews of medicines and critically appraising evidence
- Experience of managing drug expenditure and understanding of budgetary mechanism
- Awareness of tools and techniques to support horizon scanning
- Experience of business case synthesis, financial planning and reporting
Skills
Essential
- IT, Presentation skills and report writing
- Meets targets and identifies a vision for the delivery of pharmacy and medicine services to patients
- Good inter-personal skills, with the ability to liaise and influence senior managers and consultants
- Meets expected levels of practice as identified by others and identifies new areas of practice
- Understands local and national priorities in care and has the ability to reconcile these with local realities
- Demonstrable ability to manage time, people and resources to deliver outcomes
- Integrates research evidence and audit results into practice; documented experience of own research & audit
- Identifies and manages risk
- Demonstrates awareness of and commitment to governance and medicines safety agendas
- Demonstrates clinical knowledge, clinical reasoning and judgement; manages difficult and ambiguous problems
- Identifies own training needs, actively seeks training opportunities and maintains a portfolio of practice
- Works autonomously and can delegate authority appropriately
- Evaluates the quality of own work and can evaluate service quality
- An ability to prioritise a complex workload and work accurately under pressure
Personal and people development
Essential
- Experience as a trainer
- Experience of supervising, developing and appraising staff as well as giving feedback
Communication
Essential
- Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to influence others
- Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written
- Evidence of team working
- Evidence of effective and timely project delivery
Specific requirements
Essential
- Able to perform the duties of the post with reasonable aids and adaptations
- Flexible, polite and courteous
- Dedicated professional attitude
- Able to take the initiative
- Common sense
- Ability and willingness to take responsibility for own actions and lead, when required, including when on call
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).
