STEP Pharmacist

Main area Pharmacy Grade NHS AfC: Band 6 Contract Permanent Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week (including on-call residency and weekend working) Job ref 213-Division-A-8225257

Employer King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Town London Salary £47,951 - £56,863 per annum, including high cost allowance Salary period Yearly Closing 10/09/2026 23:59

King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is one of the UK’s largest and busiest teaching Trusts with a turnover of c£2.1 billion, 1.5 million patient contacts a year and more than 14,000 staff based across 5 main sites in South East London. The Trust provides a full range of local hospital services across its different sites, and specialist services from King’s College Hospital (KCH) sites at Denmark Hill in Camberwell and at the Princess Royal University Hospital (PRUH) site in the London Borough of Bromley.

We encourage all our staff to have a healthy work/life balance. In doing so, you can apply for flexible working from the beginning of your employment. We offer a range of options which are designed to suit different circumstances and priorities in line with service requirements.

A structured post-foundation workplace-based training programme in a hospital setting, fully integrated with a post-graduate pharmacy practice qualification.

Successful candidates will be qualified pharmacists already registered with the GPhC. We are looking for pharmacists capable of adapting quickly to the demands of our rotational clinical commitments, 7-day working, residency on-call service and other operational duties including patient services and aseptics.

STEP pharmacists are currently enrolled onto the UCL JPB PG Diploma in General Pharmacy Practice and can rotate to other acute trusts in South East London including Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust and Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. The programme has been successfully running for over twenty years.

Main duties of the job

King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is one of the UK's largest and busiest teaching Trusts with a turnover of £1 billion, 1.5 million patient contacts a year and around 14,000 staff based across 5 main sites in South East London. The Trust provides a full range of local hospital services across its different sites, and specialist services from King's College Hospital (KCH) sites at Denmark Hill in Camberwell and at the Princess Royal University Hospital (PRUH) site in Bromley.

King's is committed to delivering Sustainable Healthcare for All via our Green Plan. In line with national Greener NHS ambitions, we have set net zero carbon targets of 2040 for our NHS Carbon Footprint and 2045 for our NHS Carbon Footprint Plus. Everyone's contribution is required in order to meet the goals set out in our Green Plan and we encourage all staff to work responsibly, minimising their contributions to the Trust's carbon emissions, waste and pollution wherever possible.

Working for our organisation

The Trust provides a full range of local and specialist services across its five sites. The trust-wide strategy of Strong Roots, Global Reach is our Vision to be BOLD, Brilliant people, Outstanding care, Leaders in Research, Innovation and Education, Diversity, Equality and Inclusion at the heart of everything we do. By being person-centred, digitally-enabled, and focused on sustainability, we aim to take Team King’s to another level.

We are at a pivotal point in our history and we require individuals who are ready to join a highly professional team and make a real, lasting difference to our patients and our people.

King’s is committed to delivering Sustainable Healthcare for All via our Green Plan. In line with national Greener NHS ambitions, we have set net zero carbon targets of 2040 for our NHS Carbon Footprint and 2045 for our NHS Carbon Footprint Plus. Everyone’s contribution is required in order to meet the goals set out in our Green Plan and we encourage all staff to work responsibly, minimising their contributions to the Trust’s carbon emissions, waste and pollution wherever possible.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Dispensary services (where applicable)
• To follow procedures relating to good dispensing practice, and to maintain high standards and orderly methods of working.
• To be the Responsible Pharmacist.
• To comply with the formulary and dispensary policies.
• To dispense and check outpatients and inpatients scripts, including clinical trials and chemotherapy.
• To effectively clinically screen prescriptions and professionally resolve any problems or refer when appropriate.
• To effectively and efficiently counsel patients on the needs relating to their medicines.
• To deal with requests from members of staff and patients in a professional manner.
• To be aware of the overall dispensary workload, and by liaising with dispensary leads, to prioritise and effectively manage the workflow.
• To participate in dispensary audits and contribute to quality service assurance initiatives.
• To update dispensary protocols and standard operating procedures as required.
• Technical services (where applicable)
• To assist in the provision of a comprehensive preparative service to the Trust and external customers. This can include aseptic dispensing and manufacturing, TPN, CIVAS, clinical trial preparation, non-sterile and sterile manufacturing and QC / QA activities, according to the service at the base hospital. The post holder may work in the following areas on a rotational basis depending on base hospital working arrangements and rotas: aseptic services; the oncology suites or satellites; general manufacturing services (sterile and non-sterile production); quality assurance and control departments.
• To ensure that activities undertaken within the units meet current legislation such as GMP/GDP, GCP, Health and Safety, COSHH, and that all work is documented according to these procedures.
• To undertake when required preparation of all products following adequate training.
• To be aware of and follow standard operating procedures at all times.
• To be aware of and follow all quality assurance procedures and make the section manager aware of any deficiencies.
• To undertake, where relevant, clinical screening of prescriptions and to provide pharmaceutical advice on the use of medicines prepared during the rotation.
• To undertake the final check of dispensed and batch prepared products after appropriate training.
• Ward based pharmacy services
• To participate in the medicines management programme / clinical pharmacy services involving any of the following: ensuring accurate drug histories are taken and documented, patients own drug are reconciled, dispensing for discharge is facilitated, dispensing of medicines on the ward for patients to take home and communicate effectively with patients to improve adherence.
• To identify patients with complex pharmaceutical problems, propose solutions and refer these to more senior staff.
• To identify drug interactions, prioritise and take appropriate action (which may include referral to a more senior member of staff) to ensure the safe and effective use of medicines.
• To monitor patients’ responses to drug treatments for efficacy and toxicity, prioritise these and take appropriate action (which may include referral to a more senior member of staff) to ensure patient safety.
• To identify errors on clerking including medication histories and allergies documentation, TTOs or on prescriptions initiated during the patient’s admission. Appropriately prioritise these and take best course of action (which may include referral to a more senior member of staff) to ensure patient safety.
• To identify deviations from guidelines, prioritise these and take appropriate action (which may include referral to a more senior member of staff).
• To complete all documentation according to Trust and departmental policies.
• To work effectively as part of a team in a multi-disciplinary and pharmacy environment, and maintain rapport with medical and other colleagues.
• To undertake clinical audit and drug use evaluations in the clinical areas assigned.
• To undertake peer review and workplace-based assessments to evaluate communication and decision-making skills, obtain feedback and amend practice where necessary.
• Out of hours pharmacy services
• To participate in the residency on-call pharmacists’ rota.
• To provide an out of hours pharmacy service to the base hospital(s), in accordance with local out of hours guidelines and policies.
• To participate in the 7-day service weekend and Bank holiday rotas of the base hospital.
• To undertake dispensing duties as required and to the appropriate standard.
• To answer medicines information and other queries as required. (This may include technical services if provided out of hours at the base site).
• To work within the limitations of one's own competence, referring more complex queries to appropriate pharmacists as required.
• To complete all documentation in line with department policy.
• Placements
• Each rotation will have specific criteria which will be available to the post holder when selecting the rotation.
• The post holder should consider these as part of their job description during the period of the placement.

Person specification

Qualifcation

• Masters degree MPharm (or equivalent to allow GPhC registration)
• Will be registered with the GPhC as a pharmacist by August 2026
• Willingness to be or already enrolled on the UCL Postgraduate Diploma in General Pharmacy Practice (or equivalent)
• Successful completion of a Postgraduate Certificate in General Pharmacy Practice (or equivalent and comparable experience)

Knowledge and Experience

• Experience of working in a dispensary / patient services environment
• Experience in providing clinical pharmacy services
• Experience of mentoring and supervising students, Trainee Pharmacists and / or Pharmacy Technicians
• Experience working within Medicines Information or Technical Services
• Contributes to the involvement of pharmacy services e.g audit, QI or service improvement
• Experience in hospital pharmacy practice
• Experience of working in a ward-based clinical environment

Skills and Abilities

• Demonstrable skills and ability to safely clinically screen a prescription request for the supply of a medicine
• Able to work independently, when required
• Able to manage their own workload effectively and elevate for support, when required
• Able to work under pressure
• Experience of working with Electronic Patient Records and digital prescribing systems

Personal Qualities

• Appreciate the importance of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
• Able to support the department’s out of hours services
• Committed to continuous professional development

IMPORTANT

• Check your email account regularly as this is how we will communicate with you
• If you delete the job from any of your accounts, you may be prevented from accessing further communications
• To enquire about your application or inform us of any changes in your circumstances, please contact the named person on this advert
• Please provide email addresses for referees where possible
• Please review the documentation on our recruitment microsite, particularly the Trust’s criminal records checking policy
• All staff have a responsibility for safeguarding children and vulnerable adults and for ensuring they are aware of the specific duties relating to their role.
• Please note that the closing date is given as a guide. On occasion, we might close a vacancy early due to a high number of applications being received. You are advised to submit your application as early as possible to avoid disappointment.

AI tools like chatbots and virtual assistants can support you as you complete your application. For example, they can check for spelling or grammar errors, or help you to decide what to include. They shouldn’t however replace your own responses or be used to write the application for you.

Relying too much on AI can negatively impact your chances of success because automatically generated answers:

• might not be specific or relevant enough to address the criteria in the recruitment profile
• often seem generic and not personalised enough – an AI response won’t show your unique voice and perspective
• could misrepresent information about you, such as your qualifications, skills and experience

We monitor applications for any behaviour that could create an unfair advantage, and we check all references carefully. You are likely to be tested on your experience at interview, so be honest and make sure all the information in your application is correct.

King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Annual Reports and Other Corporate Publications

King's Health Partners Academic Health Science Centre Website

King's College Hospital is part of King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre (AHSC), a pioneering collaboration between King's College London, and Guy's and St Thomas', King's College Hospital and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trusts.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Application numbers

Please note that the closing date is given as a guide. On occasions, we may close a vacancy early due to a high number of applications being received. You are advised to submit your application as early as possible to avoid disappointment.

Name Dean Selway-Abbott Job title Principal Pharmacist E&T Email address deanselway.abbott@nhs.net Telephone number 02088873409

If you have problems applying, contact

Address King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Jennie Lee House
2nd Floor
Love Walk Lane
SE5 8AD
Telephone 020 3299 0072