Senior Rotational Pharmacy Assistant
Closing date: 16 April 2026
Principal Technician: Procurement and Distribution
Contract type: Permanent
Hours: 37.5
Location: West Middlesex University Hospital
About the Trust
Our Trust is one of England's top-performing and safest trusts. We operate two main acute hospital sites--Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and West Middlesex University Hospital--along with award-winning clinics across North West London.
Our nearly 7,500 staff care for a diverse population of 1.5m, providing full clinical services including maternity, A&E and children's services, plus specialist HIV and sexual health care. The CQC rates us Good in safety, effectiveness, care and responsiveness, and Outstanding in leadership and resource use.
We continually invest in our facilities, including a £30m expansion of critical care at Chelsea and an £80m Ambulatory Diagnostic Centre at West Mid.
We are delivering sustainable healthcare through our Green Plan. In line with Greener NHS ambitions, we aim for net zero carbon emissions by 2045. Achieving this requires collective effort. We encourage staff to reduce their impact on carbon, waste and pollution wherever possible. Every action counts to create a healthier, more sustainable future.
We are committed to equal opportunities and believe diversity drives innovation and excellence. We welcome applications from the global majority, veterans and underrepresented communities, valuing the perspectives they bring.
If you haven't heard from us within 3 weeks of the closing date, your application was likely unsuccessful. Employment is subject to a six-month probation.
Some roles may require weekend shifts at multiple sites.
Main Duties of the Job
* Manage stock control and act as a super user for the Rowa system.
* Train and support other pharmacy staff, including rotational assistants.
* Participate in dispensing medication in the inpatient dispensary.
* Ensure the efficient running of stores according to workload.
* Complete NVQ2 in pharmacy services (if not already held) within the specified timeframe.
* Print or fill stock requisitions for other pharmacy locations or wings/clinical areas.
* Prioritise, organise and plan the daily workload to meet service requirements.
* Act as team lead to ensure work is completed on the distribution and good reception areas equitably.
* Top up stock drugs to wards and other clinical areas against a predefined stock list.
* Provide feedback to ward pharmacists/MMT staff on ward stock, including areas of overstock or increased need.
* Issue stock items to wards/clinical areas via the pharmacy computer system.
* Perform repetitive lifting of pharmaceutical products and transport boxes according to Health & Safety principles.
* Unpack, check, count, handle, book in and put away deliveries received into the pharmacy store accurately.
* Match deliveries against paperwork and query any discrepancies.
* Assist with stock control, including expiry date checking on a regular basis.
* Complete daily stock checks, investigate discrepancies, carry out stock rotation and returns accurately.
* Empty returned ward boxes and return stock or dispose of unsuitable pharmaceuticals where relevant and according to procedure.
* Ensure all pharmaceutical products are stored securely and meet safecustody requirements.
* Assist in monitoring all aspects of stores, including cold store temperatures.
* File all records appropriately and in accordance with procedure.
* Escalate any medicine shortage issues on the wards or in stores to the appropriate person.
* Maintain major incident box stock, including expiries and changes to contents when instructed.
* Carry out general housekeeping and troubleshooting of the Rowa.
* Perform a physical count and report medical gas cylinders to the purchasing office for the two medical gas cylinder stores on site.
* Ensure dispensary areas are kept clean and tidy, and shelves and other relevant areas are cleaned according to the department schedule.
* Maintain adequate stock of sundries (leaflets, cards, bottles, bags) in the dispensary.
* Filing prescriptions and other paperwork and archiving as required.
* Label and dispense duties according to procedure.
* Perform all necessary logging in of inpatient and discharge prescriptions and record logging out times for relevant parts of the dispensing process using the PatientTracker System.
* Assist in ensuring dispensary workload is managed in order, or according to priority using the Patient Tracker System.
* Hand out and dispense prescriptions where necessary according to procedure.
* Answer the telephone promptly and courteously, referring relevant calls efficiently where necessary.
* Have a working knowledge of all relevant pharmacy systems: JAC, TMS (PatientTracking System) and Cerner.
* Dispense in the inpatient dispensary.
* Carry out monitoring and recording of dispensary fridge and ambient temperatures.
* Stock control management including putting stock away received from stores, rotating stock/checking expiries where relevant and performing stock control counts.
* Sort, count, compile and, where relevant, dispose of unsuitable medication returns.
* Participate in weekend/bank holiday and other department rotas in accordance with the needs of the service.
* Participate in annual appraisals/PDP and performance review initiatives of the Trust.
* Undertake all statutory and mandatory training and relevant updates in accordance with Trust requirements.
* Participate in other training initiatives to meet individual and departmental requirements relevant to the post and the pharmacy service.
* Comply with all other departmental and Trust policies.
* Undertake any other duties required by the section/team leaders, principal pharmacists or the Chief Pharmacist.
Person Specification
* GCSE maths and English, grade 4 (or above).
* Pharmacy experience.
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.
Salary: £30,630 to £32,346 a year per annum incl. HCAS
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