County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust

Clinical Pharmacist

The closing date is 28 January 2026

Job summary

We have an opportunity for Specialist Clinical Pharmacists to join our pharmacy team. We pride ourselves in working at the leading edge of clinical pharmacy practice and medicines optimisation, with our teams winning national recognition for innovative, high-quality patient care. The posts will be based at either Darlington Memorial Hospital or University Hospital of North Durham however the successful applicant may be required to work on any of the Trust hospital sites.

You will belong to a team that is committed to supporting staff health and well-being as well as professional development in order to help you to achieve your full potential.

Main duties of the job

We pride ourselves on the quality of the pharmaceutical care we provide for patients. The successful candidate will be expected to deliver a high standard of near-patient specialist pharmaceutical care to our patients. In addition, they will support the pharmacy team to deliver governance, education, training and service improvement to their specialist area. They will help shape the strategic direction of pharmacy by supporting the development of innovative new services. To achieve this we will support the successful candidate with mentoring and development opportunities including independent prescribing, RPS portfolio development and other further education opportunities. Applicants need to be able to work autonomously, be a team player whilst motivating others. We look forward to receiving applications from forward thinking, motivated pharmacists who share the values of County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust.

Applicants currently undertaking a postgraduate Clinical Diploma may be eligible for financial support to continue this with us. Pharmacists that have already completed a diploma will be supported to undertake an Independent Prescribing qualification.

About us

If you are being interviewed you must accept an interview slot in the system to continue, even if you have arranged with the manager.

You must be able to produce ALL certificates stated essential in the person specification or you will not be able to complete pre-employment checks.

We provide hospital services from two acute sites - Darlington Memorial Hospital and University Hospital of North Durham. We have a centre for planned care in Bishop Auckland and provide care from community hospitals in Chester-le-Street, Shotley Bridge, Barnard Castle, Sedgefield and Weardale as well as over 80 other community based settings and providing care in patients' homes.

We particularly welcome applications from disabled and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates as BAME and disabled people are currently under-represented.

Full Job Descriptions can be found in the adverts supporting documents.

Over reliance on AI-generated content is discouraged and may diminish the applicant's chances of success.

For the most up-to-date information on visa requirements and eligibility, please check online to determine whether you can apply.

From April 9th 2025 - Healthcare assistants - You must have been employed for a minimum of two years of as a HCA within the NHS for the Trust to consider sponsorship (we will only consider sponsorship if you meet this criteria and have a current visa expiring within 3 months).

Details

Date posted

14 January 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 7

Salary

£47,810 to £54,710 a year per annum, pro rata

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

C9439-2526-1361

Job locations

Darlington Memorial Hospital NHS Trust

Hollyhurst Road

Darlington

County Durham

DL3 6HX


University Hospital Of North Durham

North Road

Durham

DH1 5TW


Job description

Job responsibilities

Deputising for the Pharmacist Advanced for their area and in so doing will be required to supervise a team of clinical pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and pharmacy support workers, ensuring the delivery of safe, effective and efficient clinical pharmacy and medicines management services to an agreed standard and to a designated group of patient and service users

Providing medicines management, medicines optimisation and medicines reconciliation services to help achieve department priorities and targets on a designated ward or group of wards, day case units or clinics as decided by the Lead Pharmacist

Helping to develop and implement local policies and guidelines on good prescribing practice.

Influencing local practice to ensure safe medication use, and to ensure that their own practice and the practice of others effectively acknowledges good prescribing practice, patient safety and risk minimisation.

Being a point of contact for nursing and clinical staff regarding medicine management issues.

Providing medicines information to healthcare professionals and new drug reviews as appropriate utilising the range of information resources available, including the library and the internet, and to make an informed decision on the appropriate response required.

Being involved in providing clinical pharmacy service to designated multidisciplinary team structures e.g. out patient clinics, pre assessment.

Providing high quality patient education on medicines use in both in-patient and outpatient settings.

Engaging in activities relating to clinical effectiveness including: drug use review, clinical audit and clinical self-audit and to contribute to ongoing measures of service evaluation.

Supporting the planning and implementation of service changes and new treatments, as agreed within the pharmacy service.

Acting as a professional checker in the dispensary and/or chemotherapy service

Job description

Job responsibilities

Deputising for the Pharmacist Advanced for their area and in so doing will be required to supervise a team of clinical pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and pharmacy support workers, ensuring the delivery of safe, effective and efficient clinical pharmacy and medicines management services to an agreed standard and to a designated group of patient and service users

Providing medicines management, medicines optimisation and medicines reconciliation services to help achieve department priorities and targets on a designated ward or group of wards, day case units or clinics as decided by the Lead Pharmacist

Helping to develop and implement local policies and guidelines on good prescribing practice.

Influencing local practice to ensure safe medication use, and to ensure that their own practice and the practice of others effectively acknowledges good prescribing practice, patient safety and risk minimisation.

Being a point of contact for nursing and clinical staff regarding medicine management issues.

Providing medicines information to healthcare professionals and new drug reviews as appropriate utilising the range of information resources available, including the library and the internet, and to make an informed decision on the appropriate response required.

Being involved in providing clinical pharmacy service to designated multidisciplinary team structures e.g. out patient clinics, pre assessment.

Providing high quality patient education on medicines use in both in-patient and outpatient settings.

Engaging in activities relating to clinical effectiveness including: drug use review, clinical audit and clinical self-audit and to contribute to ongoing measures of service evaluation.

Supporting the planning and implementation of service changes and new treatments, as agreed within the pharmacy service.

Acting as a professional checker in the dispensary and/or chemotherapy service

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • Masters Degree in Pharmacy or equivalent
  • Post graduate clinical qualification or working towards (to at least diploma level) or portfolio evidence of attainment to the same standard.
  • Evidence of CPD.
  • Pharmacist prescriber or able to undertake the training within 12 months of commencing employment.

Desirable

  • Evidence of an up to date portfolio of personal professional activity

Special Skills & Knowledge

Essential

  • Good understanding of medicines reconciliation and how it fits into the larger function of clinical pharmacy practice.
  • Able to apply evidence-based clinical knowledge to make suitable recommendations or take appropriate actions.
  • Aware of where to seek appropriate information to solve problems and make decisions.
  • Able to assimilate and communicate complex medicines information to patients and healthcare professionals across the multidisciplinary team using appropriate language and different mediums.
  • Aware of and able to inform others about, the clinical, legal and governance aspects of medicines.
  • Able to work as an autonomous practitioner in all areas of pharmacy practice.
  • An understanding of current pharmacy and NHS issues.

Desirable

  • Awareness and understanding of the pharmacy teams role in governance processes

Statutory Registration

Essential

  • Registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).

Desirable

  • Membership of a pharmacy professional body e.g. RPS, UKCPA, BOPA, NPPG.

Experience

Essential

  • Experience of working as a qualified pharmacist in a clinical setting.
  • Experience of day-to-day registered pharmacy staff supervision

Desirable

  • Experience of delivering education and training sessions.
  • Hospital pharmacy trainee or qualified pharmacist experience.
  • Experience of providing clinical supervision to trainee pharmacists

Special Requirements

Essential

  • Good oral and written communication skills.
  • Able to build strong relationships across the multidisciplinary team; working in partnership to promote positive outcomes.
  • Motivated to develop personally and professionally through self-audit, reflection and learning.
  • Able to prioritise own workload in a busy and changing environment.
  • Able to travel independently across Trust sites to meet the requirements of the post.
Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • Masters Degree in Pharmacy or equivalent
  • Post graduate clinical qualification or working towards (to at least diploma level) or portfolio evidence of attainment to the same standard.
  • Evidence of CPD.
  • Pharmacist prescriber or able to undertake the training within 12 months of commencing employment.

Desirable

  • Evidence of an up to date portfolio of personal professional activity

Special Skills & Knowledge

Essential

  • Good understanding of medicines reconciliation and how it fits into the larger function of clinical pharmacy practice.
  • Able to apply evidence-based clinical knowledge to make suitable recommendations or take appropriate actions.
  • Aware of where to seek appropriate information to solve problems and make decisions.
  • Able to assimilate and communicate complex medicines information to patients and healthcare professionals across the multidisciplinary team using appropriate language and different mediums.
  • Aware of and able to inform others about, the clinical, legal and governance aspects of medicines.
  • Able to work as an autonomous practitioner in all areas of pharmacy practice.
  • An understanding of current pharmacy and NHS issues.

Desirable

  • Awareness and understanding of the pharmacy teams role in governance processes

Statutory Registration

Essential

  • Registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).

Desirable

  • Membership of a pharmacy professional body e.g. RPS, UKCPA, BOPA, NPPG.

Experience

Essential

  • Experience of working as a qualified pharmacist in a clinical setting.
  • Experience of day-to-day registered pharmacy staff supervision

Desirable

  • Experience of delivering education and training sessions.
  • Hospital pharmacy trainee or qualified pharmacist experience.
  • Experience of providing clinical supervision to trainee pharmacists

Special Requirements

Essential

  • Good oral and written communication skills.
  • Able to build strong relationships across the multidisciplinary team; working in partnership to promote positive outcomes.
  • Motivated to develop personally and professionally through self-audit, reflection and learning.
  • Able to prioritise own workload in a busy and changing environment.
  • Able to travel independently across Trust sites to meet the requirements of the post.

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).

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.

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).

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details

Employer name

County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Darlington Memorial Hospital NHS Trust

Hollyhurst Road

Darlington

County Durham

DL3 6HX


Employer's website

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


Employer details

Employer name

County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Darlington Memorial Hospital NHS Trust

Hollyhurst Road

Darlington

County Durham

DL3 6HX


Employer's website

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


Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Lead Pharmacist

Erin Page

erin.page@nhs.net

01325743634

Details

Date posted

14 January 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 7

Salary

£47,810 to £54,710 a year per annum, pro rata

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

C9439-2526-1361

Job locations

Darlington Memorial Hospital NHS Trust

Hollyhurst Road

Darlington

County Durham

DL3 6HX


University Hospital Of North Durham

North Road

Durham

DH1 5TW


Supporting documents

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