Job summary
Principal Pharmacist: Medication Safety and Governance
Department: Pharmacy
Band 8a, £55,690 to £62,682.Per annum, pro rata
Hours: Full time, 37.5 per week plus on-call, all MKUH roles will be considered for flexible working
We are looking for an experienced and passionate Pharmacist to play a key role in Medication Safety and Governance at Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. This senior role is central to ensuring the safe, effective and high-quality use of medicines across the organisation. Working closely with the Medicines Use & Quality Manager, the post-holder will provide expert leadership, influence practice at senior level, and drive continuous improvement in patient safety. This is an excellent opportunity for an advanced pharmacy practitioner who wants to make a tangible impact on patient outcomes and service quality.
'We care We communicate We collaborate We contribute'
Interview date: 24 March 2026
Main duties of the job
The successful post-holder will lead the Trust's medication safety and governance agenda, ensuring robust systems for incident reporting, learning and assurance. The role includes leading investigations into medication-related incidents, supporting compliance with national safety alerts and CQC requirements, and providing expert advice on medicines governance. You will work collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams, influence senior clinicians and managers, and support quality improvement, audit and service development. The post also includes professional leadership, staff development responsibilities and a defined clinical pharmacy commitment 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
NHS Staff Survey: Our staff scored Autonomy and Control at 7.19, well above the national average. Here, youre trusted to lead, innovate, and shape your work.
The Principal Pharmacist for Medication Safety and Governance provides senior professional leadership to ensure the safe, effective and high-quality use of medicines across the Trust. The post holder will lead on medication safety systems, incident reporting, investigation and learning, and support Trust-wide patient safety and governance processes. They will provide expert advice on medicines governance, support compliance with national standards and regulatory requirements, and contribute to Trust committees and quality improvement programmes. The role includes leadership of Controlled Drugs governance, development and assurance of medicines policies, SOPs and guidelines, representation at local, regional and national networks, and an advanced clinical pharmacy commitment including ward-based practice and on-call services.
Please refer to attached Job description for further information.
We believe success lies in the diversity of our employees and are committed to promoting equality, encouragingdiversity,and embracing inclusion. We welcome applications from everyone interested in working for us.
MKUH is committed to equal opportunities and improving the working lives of our staff and as such we offer a range of flexible working practices.
We reserve the right to expire vacancies prior to the advertised closing date onceenoughapplications have been received.
MKUH uses identification scanning technology to confirm the authenticity of documents; all prospective employees of MKUH will have their original documents verified using this technology.
By applying for this role, you accept if successful, that information from your application will be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Record (ESR) system. Your personal data may be transferred from the Trust to another NHS organisation where your employment transfers within the NHS. This isin accordance withthe streamlining programme which aims at saving you time and improving efficiencies within the NHS when your employment transfers.
Uponcommencingemploymentwith theTrust,allemployees (except Medical & Dental Staff on national terms and conditions)aresubjectto aprobationary periodlastingaperiod of sixmonthswithanoptiontoextendfor afurther sixmonths toatotalof 12months.
Job description
Job responsibilities
NHS Staff Survey: Our staff scored Autonomy and Control at 7.19, well above the national average. Here, youre trusted to lead, innovate, and shape your work.
The Principal Pharmacist for Medication Safety and Governance provides senior professional leadership to ensure the safe, effective and high-quality use of medicines across the Trust. The post holder will lead on medication safety systems, incident reporting, investigation and learning, and support Trust-wide patient safety and governance processes. They will provide expert advice on medicines governance, support compliance with national standards and regulatory requirements, and contribute to Trust committees and quality improvement programmes. The role includes leadership of Controlled Drugs governance, development and assurance of medicines policies, SOPs and guidelines, representation at local, regional and national networks, and an advanced clinical pharmacy commitment including ward-based practice and on-call services.
Please refer to attached Job description for further information.
We believe success lies in the diversity of our employees and are committed to promoting equality, encouragingdiversity,and embracing inclusion. We welcome applications from everyone interested in working for us.
MKUH is committed to equal opportunities and improving the working lives of our staff and as such we offer a range of flexible working practices.
We reserve the right to expire vacancies prior to the advertised closing date onceenoughapplications have been received.
MKUH uses identification scanning technology to confirm the authenticity of documents; all prospective employees of MKUH will have their original documents verified using this technology.
By applying for this role, you accept if successful, that information from your application will be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Record (ESR) system. Your personal data may be transferred from the Trust to another NHS organisation where your employment transfers within the NHS. This isin accordance withthe streamlining programme which aims at saving you time and improving efficiencies within the NHS when your employment transfers.
Uponcommencingemploymentwith theTrust,allemployees (except Medical & Dental Staff on national terms and conditions)aresubjectto aprobationary periodlastingaperiod of sixmonthswithanoptiontoextendfor afurther sixmonths toatotalof 12months.
Person Specification
Qualifications and knowledge
Essential
- B.Pharm. / M.Pharm
- Registered with GPhC
- Post-graduate Diploma in Clinical Pharmacy or equivalent experience
- Evidence of on-going CPD (in line with GPhC requirements)
- Evidence of a good understanding of medicines safety.
- Formal teaching or mentoring training
Desirable
- Relevant Post-graduate qualification at Master level or above.
- Independent prescribing qualification
- Member of RPS
Experience
Essential
- Demonstrates a passion for Medication Safety & Governance
- Significant post registration experience in a hospital
- Experience of working as part of a multi-disciplinary team to provide patient care
- Experience of managing drug expenditure and understanding of budgetary mechanism
- Experience of audit work and research
- Evidence of supporting multidisciplinary teams through change in clinical settings
- 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 policy, guidelines, SOPs, PGDs/PSDs/MAPs,
- Experience of writing evaluations or reviews of medicines and critically appraising evidence
- Awareness of tools and techniques to support horizon scanning.
- Experience of providing Medicines Information and Pharmacy Advice Service to patients and HCPs
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
Person Specification
Qualifications and knowledge
Essential
- B.Pharm. / M.Pharm
- Registered with GPhC
- Post-graduate Diploma in Clinical Pharmacy or equivalent experience
- Evidence of on-going CPD (in line with GPhC requirements)
- Evidence of a good understanding of medicines safety.
- Formal teaching or mentoring training
Desirable
- Relevant Post-graduate qualification at Master level or above.
- Independent prescribing qualification
- Member of RPS
Experience
Essential
- Demonstrates a passion for Medication Safety & Governance
- Significant post registration experience in a hospital
- Experience of working as part of a multi-disciplinary team to provide patient care
- Experience of managing drug expenditure and understanding of budgetary mechanism
- Experience of audit work and research
- Evidence of supporting multidisciplinary teams through change in clinical settings
- 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 policy, guidelines, SOPs, PGDs/PSDs/MAPs,
- Experience of writing evaluations or reviews of medicines and critically appraising evidence
- Awareness of tools and techniques to support horizon scanning.
- Experience of providing Medicines Information and Pharmacy Advice Service to patients and HCPs
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
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.
