Overview
Permanent or long-term secondment. University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust is seeking an experienced Chief Pharmacist to lead pharmacy services across a large acute hospital Trust with four main sites and several satellite campuses: Royal Sussex County Hospital (Brighton), Princess Royal Hospital (Haywards Heath), Worthing Hospital (Worthing), and St Richards Hospital (Chichester).
The role offers an opportunity to join a Trust committed to improvement and strengthening pharmacy services in alignment with clinical divisions. The Trust is already using robotics at three sites and continues to embrace technology and innovation as a key part of the role.
Interviews are scheduled in person on 30 September 2025 and stakeholder presentation is scheduled via Teams on 25 September 2025.
Main duties
* Act as the Trusts most senior expert in Medicines Optimisation, with delegated corporate responsibility from the Chief Executive, including all statutory duties.
* Fulfil the duties of Superintendent Pharmacist as required by the General Pharmaceutical Council.
* Provide strategic and professional leadership for all pharmacy and medicines optimisation services across the Trust and to external customers.
* Ensure pharmacy services are patient-centred, safe, progressive, cost-effective, and delivered within agreed budgets by competent staff.
* Lead business planning, including budget setting, developing cases of need, and resource procurement based on evaluation and evidence.
* Drive continuous improvement and innovation in pharmacy services, embedding quality improvement and research & innovation principles.
* Provide professional leadership and development support to all pharmacy staff.
* Maintain accountability for audit, research, and service evaluation activities related to medicines optimisation.
* Lead and manage strategic project planning for pharmacy services, assessing resource requirements and potential impact across the Trust.
* Oversee pharmaceutical education delivery, ensuring alignment with educational contracts and standards.
* Positively influence stakeholders to achieve high standards in medicines optimisation across the organisation.
* Lead on business planning, formulating cases of need and submitting bids for procurement of additional resources based on evaluation, research, quotations and established contracts.
* Lead on the strategic planning of pharmacy department projects, identifying potential impacts on the Trust and wider organisations, resource requirements and contingency planning.
* Appraise and evaluate service delivery and role development.
Person Specification
Experience & Qualifications - Essential
* Masters level degree in Pharmacy or equivalent.
* General Pharmaceutical Council membership.
* Evidence of recent and relevant continuous professional development.
* Clinical leadership and extensive senior level pharmacy leadership and managerial experience within an acute NHS Trust (or similarly large, complex organisation).
* Significant experience in organising and managing clinical, technical and patient pharmacy services.
* Significant experience delivering advanced level clinical pharmacy services to a specialist area.
* Evidence of undertaking clinical audit and contributing to research programmes / quality improvement.
* Understanding of Medicine Guidance Notes, MHRA Alerts, NHS Improvement, PSIRF investigations, and related guidance.
* Understanding of EU Clinical Trial Directive, Good Manufacturing Practice and related guidance.
* Understanding of clinical / risk management guidance as applied to Medicines Optimisation, including legal / coroners' context.
Experience & Qualifications - Desirable
* Research Methodology Training; NHS leadership or management qualification at Diploma or Masters level.
* Post-graduate qualification relevant to hospital pharmacy practice.
* Significant and recent senior experience (within the last 5 years) as either a Chief Pharmacist in a teaching hospital or a District General Hospital, or as a Deputy Chief Pharmacist in a teaching hospital.
Other information
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1975 and requires disclosure via the Disclosure and Barring Service. Applicants must have current UK professional registration. See the job posting for further details, including sponsorship information where applicable.
Employer details
Employer: University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust (279)
Locations: Worthing, Chichester, Brighton & Haywards Heath; Lyndhurst Road, Worthing, BN11 2DH
Employers website: https://www.uhsussex.nhs.uk/
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