Overview
Senior Lead Pharmacist - Biologics & Medicines Value. Join us to shape the future of biologics at RBFT, ensuring every patient gets the right treatment at the right time for the best value. This is a leadership role with a direct impact on patient care while ensuring every pound spent delivers the greatest value for patients and the NHS. We are seeking an experienced and motivated pharmacist to take on the role of Senior Lead Pharmacist for Biologics and Medicines Value. In this role, you will combine senior leadership with direct clinical practice, including patient-facing prescribing responsibilities. You will work closely with patients and clinical teams to optimise treatment, ensuring safe initiation, monitoring and review of biologic and other high-cost medicines. This balance of strategic leadership and hands-on prescribing practice means you will have both direct impact on patient care and influence on system-wide medicines value. The post offers the chance to shape and deliver quality improvement projects across specialities such as rheumatology and gastroenterology. You will work collaboratively with clinicians, commissioners, and patients to identify opportunities for improvement, support service design, and embed sustainable practice within this new service. As a senior leader within the pharmacy team, you will also play a key role in mentoring and developing colleagues, contributing to the wider medicines value agenda at Trust and system level.
Responsibilities
* Provide senior leadership within the Pharmacy Service and combine clinical practice with strategic oversight of biologics and high-cost medicines.
* Optimise treatment through safe initiation, monitoring and review in collaboration with clinical teams and patients.
* Lead quality improvement projects across specialties (e.g., rheumatology, gastroenterology) and support service design and implementation.
* Mentor and develop colleagues and contribute to the medicines value agenda at Trust and system level.
Main duties of the job
The Pharmacy Service at the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust is committed to supporting patients, carers and staff in achieving safe, effective and person-centred use of medicines. Our focus is on ensuring that medicines are used optimally to deliver the best outcomes for patients while making the most effective use of NHS resources. We do this by:
* Providing clear, evidence-based information and education about medicines to healthcare professionals, patients and carers.
* Delivering clinical pharmacy services that enable safe prescribing, administration and monitoring of medicines across inpatient and community settings.
* Working in partnership with clinical teams and system partners to ensure medicines are used in a clinically effective and financially sustainable way.
About us
Royal Berkshire Hospital has been rated Good by the CQC following improvements. The Trust’s overall rating has also improved to Good. We are committed to joining clinical and non-clinical teams to create a positive, motivating environment and to deliver excellence in care. The Trust works to provide outstanding care for the community.
We value compassion, inspiration, resourcefulness, and excellence, and are committed to learning and development for all employees.
Details
Date posted: 11 September 2025
Pay scheme: Agenda for Change
Band: Band 8b
Salary: £64,455 to £74,896 per annum
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Full-time, Flexible working
Reference number: 193-7436056NCG
Job locations: Royal Berkshire Hospital, London Road, Reading, RG1 5AN
Job description
For further information on the job role, please refer to the job description and Person specification attached.
This job description is not exhaustive and will be subject to periodic review in association with the post holder.
Qualifications
Essential
* Current registered practising Member of GPhC
* Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Pharmacy
* Independent Pharmacist Prescriber
Desirable
* Advance Clinical Practitioner
* Faculty Membership of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society
* Postgraduate diploma/degree in Leadership & Management or MBA
* Formal change management qualification
Experience
Essential
* Senior clinical pharmacy experience (Band 8a+) with patient facing, specialist or ward/clinic role
* Able to provide specialised clinical pharmacy services within own area of expertise, including prescription prescribing, review, dispensing and supply, and to give highly specialised advice to clinicians and patients on the safe and effective use of medicines
* Experience within a pharmacist led clinic
* Track record of large-scale service improvement and cost-saving initiatives
* Experience of delivering presentations at local, regional, national level
* Experience of managing teams
* Ability to foster an inclusive, innovative culture in a diverse workforce
* Provision of medicine usage and expenditure reports and use of financial reports to influence business cases and clinical practice
Desirable
* Experience in producing horizon scans or commissioning plans for high-cost medicines
* Broad knowledge of wider NHS policy and guidance
* Experience coaching or mentoring via formal programmes
* Contribution to peer-reviewed research or publication in clinical pharmacy
Other information
Disclosure and Barring Service Check: This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and requires a DBS disclosure.
Certificate of Sponsorship: Applications from job seekers who require Skilled Worker sponsorship will be considered. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website. Guidance on overseas criminal records checks is available in the guidance linked in the original posting.
UK Registration: Applicants must have current UK professional registration.
Employer details
Employer: Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust
Address: Royal Berkshire Hospital, London Road, Reading, RG1 5AN
Employer's website: royalberkshire.nhs.uk
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