Lead Clinical Pharmacist – Critical Care and Theatre Services Colchester

Job summary

Are you an enthusiastic & experienced pharmacist looking for a career change & your next challenge?

We are looking for an enthusiastic and experienced Clinical Pharmacist to join our modern purpose-built facilities at Colchester Hospital and support and lead the departments clinical pharmacy service within Critical Care and associated specialist areas.

You will be based within the Pharmacy department but will spend a significant amount of time working at ward/clinical level, ensuring the delivery of all aspects of pharmacy service to specialist high-risk patients.

Our friendly pharmacy team are dedicated to nurturing, mentoring and developing our staff to reach their full potential. As well as direct one-to-one training, the department provides pharmacy forums, clinical huddles and other educational activity. We support personal development plans, smart objective setting and opportunities for study.

ESNEFT has embarked on a full, site wide implementation of the EPIC electronic patient record which includes electronic prescribing and administration and pharmacy stock control system replacement.

In addition to our fully automated dispensaries, we host one of the NHS Specialist Pharmacy Service medicines advice sites and the Regional Pharmacy Manufacturing Unit.

This post is fixed term / secondment until November 2027 to cover maternity leave. Internal applicants currently employed by ESNEFT will be offered on a secondment basis only.

Main duties of the job

We would consider a Band 7 developmental post where you will receive a competency-based programme to gain the skills required to reach the Band 8a.

Please follow our link to find out moreAbout our Pharmacy Service: https://esneft.pagetiger.com/csusdpr/1

Provide an advanced level clinical pharmacy service to Critical Care patients in line with the pharmacy Key Performance Indicators and agreed clinical standards.

Provide oversite and clinical expertise to patients within Recovery and Theatre areas.

Support the wider Nutrition Service affecting patients within the speciality

Provide a key level of support to the Principal Divisional Clinical for Surgery and Critical Pharmacist.

Provide ongoing clinical support and leadership to other pharmacy colleagues and the multidisciplinary team contributing to practice within the specific areas of working.

Assist senior multidisciplinary colleagues in ensuring that all required medication safety and clinical governance issues are actioned and implemented in a timely manner within the respected specialities.

About us

We are ESNEFT and we provide hospital and community health services to almost one million people across east Suffolk and north Essex. Our dedicated staff deliver care from acute hospitals in Colchester and Ipswich, community hospitals, surgeries, community clinics and in patients' own homes.

We are one of the largest NHS organisations in England, employing more than 12,000 staff.

We pride ourselves on supporting our staff. We offer a wide range of training and development opportunities, as well as flexible working options.

Along with supporting you to achieve your career goals we offer a generous pension scheme, unsocial hours payments (where applicable), 27 days annual leave on commencement (pro rata) and access to a range of NHS discounts. Our Staff Health and Wellbeing programme offer a variety of services.

Our philosophy is that Time Matters to everyone. Across the Trust, we concentrate on improving the things we do and removing those which cause time delays for our staff and patients.

We are investing in our commitment to Time Matters with a partnership with leading electronic patient record (EPR) supplier Epic. This digital transformation will bring what's widely regarded as the world's best EPR system to ESNEFT, transforming life in hospital for staff and patients.

If you are passionate about patient care and want to develop your skills and knowledge, then we want to hear from you.

Find out about living and working here - www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkPu7HphU8A

Details

Date posted: 18 August 2026

Pay scheme: Agenda for change

Band: Band 8a

Salary: £57,528 to £64,750 a year per annum

Contract: Fixed term

Duration: 12 months

Working pattern: Full-time

Reference number: 432-HR690-26

Job locations: Colchester Hospital, Turner Road, Colchester, CO4 5JL, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities

For full details of the responsibilities and duties of this role please see the attached job description.

Person Specification

Experience

Essential

• Previous extensive hospital experience inclusive of Clinical Pharmacy practice
• Demonstrated experience of multi-disciplinary working
• Handling of high risk medicines
• Previous experience of educating and training other staff

Desirable

• Previous experience of working with Critical Care patients
• Previous experience of working with Total Parenteral Nutrition
• Experience of writing guidelines and procedures

Qualifications

Essential

• GPhC Registered
• Masters Degree plus Pre-registration training
• Diploma in Clinical Pharmacy Practice or clinical equivalent
• Evidence of, and commitment to, Continuing Professional Development

Desirable

• Non-Medical Prescribing qualification

Knowledge

Essential

• Medicines Management / optimisation
• Basic clinical knowledge of issues relevant to Critical Care and Nutrition patients gained through training & experience
• Good all-round clinical knowledge in other areas and practical skills

Desirable

• Knowledge of governance frameworks and Risk Management
• Basic understanding of clinical issues relating to theatre practice

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.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details

Employer name

East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Colchester Hospital
Turner Road
Colchester
CO4 5JL
United Kingdom

Employer's website

https://www.esneft.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Principal Pharmacist for Surgery

Sayful Choudhury

sayful.choudhury@esneft.nhs.uk

01206745985

Supporting documents

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