Job overview
Are you a dynamic leader with a passion for driving excellence in pharmacy services? We’re looking for an inspiring individual with exceptional leadership skills to join our team and take a pivotal role in managing and developing dispensary services at the Luton and Dunstable Hospital site.
This is a unique opportunity to work collaboratively across sites, partnering with the Dispensary and Outpatient Services Manager, the Head of Pharmacy, and leads at Bedford Hospital. You’ll play a central role in shaping service delivery, motivating teams, and ensuring high standards of care and efficiency.
As a key member of the senior pharmacy team at Luton and Dunstable, you’ll contribute to strategic decision-making and represent the site in cross-site meetings, including Pharmacy Operations and Clinical Governance. If you’re ready to lead with vision, inspire change, and make a lasting impact, we’d love to hear from you.
Main duties of the job
1. To manage and co-ordinate the Dispensary and any associated satellite dispensaries using continuous improvement methodology to develop the services and meet the immediate and longer terms needs of the trust ensuring alignment cross-site.
2. To apply highly specialist knowledge to provide the service
3. To lead a reactive and efficient Dispensary service undertaking supervision of all accountable staff and be responsible for resolving staffing and service related problems on a day to day basis
4. To manage and review processes for the induction of new staff, training and development of technical staff and trainees and service-related education for other healthcare professionals
5. To contribute to strategic management and business planning alongside the Head of Pharmacy, Principal Pharmacists and Lead Technicians and contribute to the Pharmacy Senior Leadership Team
6. To line manage staff including Senior Pharmacy Technicians, rotational Pharmacy Technicians, Senior Pharmacy Assistants and Pharmacy Receptionists in Dispensary
7. To act as an Accredited Checking Pharmacy Technician and to facilitate other Technicians in becoming accredited to check
8. To act as professional role model for junior Pharmacy Technicians, Pre-registration Trainee Pharmacy Technicians and Pharmacy Assistants, actively demonstrating integrity, ownership and leadership in all aspects of the role
Working for our organisation
Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust provides hospital services to a growing population of around 700,000 people living across Bedfordshire and the surrounding areas across two busy hospital sites in Bedford and Luton. Both hospital sites offer key services such as A&E, Obstetrics-led Maternity and Paediatrics. You will be joining a friendly, high performing Trust committed to ensuring the health and wellbeing of staff. As one of the largest NHS Trusts in our region you will have access to a programme of high quality training and development to help you grow your career. The Trust continues to be committed to delivering the best patient care using the best clinical knowledge and technology available.
Our values
We not only recruit based on qualifications and experience - we recruit individuals who demonstrate the behaviours which underpin our Trusts core values. We achieve this by using values based recruitment. We are dedicated to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone, we are committed to promoting equality and diversity and creating a culture that values differences.
Please note that vacancies may close prior to the advertised closing date when sufficient number of applications have been received. All new staff will be subject to a probationary period covering first 6 months in post. Travel between hospital sites may be required. Please review all documents attached to ensure you familiarize yourself with all requirements of the job.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The full job description provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience and knowledge required.
For both overviews, please view the Job Description attachment with the job advert.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
9. BTEC + NVQ Level 3 in Pharmaceutical Services or equivalent
10. Registration with the GPhC as a Pharmacy Technician
11. Accredited Checking Technician (ACPT)
12. NVQ 3 or above in Leadership and Management or equivalent experience
13. Educational supervisor for ACPT or willing to undertake
Desirable criteria
14. Membership of APTUK
15. Project management qualification or equivalent experience
Experience
Essential criteria
16. Experience of working to deadlines and managing own workload to meet the needs of a service
17. Experience of formulating standard operating procedures
18. Experience of supervising and training staff
19. Extensive experience of pharmacy IT systems
20. Ability to appropriately prioritise tasks of your own and others using suitable delegation skills
21. Staff management including, performance, appraisal, sickness and HR procedures
Desirable criteria
22. Experience of supporting project management and delivery
23. Use of JAC-Wellsky to issue and manage pharmaceutical products
Knowledge
Essential criteria
24. Knowledge of the NHS
25. Understanding of the need of confidentiality awareness at all times
26. Understanding of issues involved in stock control and how to resolve them
27. Knowledge of trusts standing financial instruction
28. Up to date knowledge of current legislation and accepted standards of practice, pharmaceutical guidance and Medicines Optimisation
29. Good IT literacy skills to be able to use computers in all aspects of the job including a working knowledge of Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Teams and other commonly used applications
30. An understanding of incident reporting and risk management systems
Skills
Essential criteria
31. Problem-solving skills
32. Ability to work to deadlines and to achieve objectives in an organised manner
33. Leadership skills
34. Incident resolution
35. Project management
36. Mentoring skills
Desirable criteria
37. Policy development
Applicant requirements
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.
If you have problems applying, contact
Address Luton & Dunstable Hospital NHS Trust
Lewsey Road
Luton
Bedfordshire
LU4 0DZ
Telephone 01582 497325