About this role
Job summary
A fantastic opportunity has opened up to lead the NHS England commissioned national Specialist Pharmacy Service, the case for and strategic development of which are mandated in the 2014 NHS England paper: The review of specialist pharmacy services in England and in line with a further commissioning arrangement.
The successful candidate will be enthusiastic, hard-working and have a strong track record of service development and innovation. They will have extensive experience and understanding of managing across boundaries in the NHS.
The post-holder would work with the SPS Service Leads and the Office of the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer in developing and leading SPS. The service has 100 wte staff currently hosted through nine acute hospitals across England. Specialities include, medicines procurement, pharmaceutical quality assurance, medicines advice and medicines use and safety. The service has website www.sps.nhs.uk which attracts 8.5 million views per annum and hosts several medicines related tools, key articles and information for front line health care professionals.
The post is based in the Pharmacy Practice Unit, Liverpool, where it is hosted by Liverpool University Hospital Group. Remote working is possible with a commitment to attend site for key meetings monthly.
Main duties of the job
The purpose of this role is to lead the NHS Specialist Pharmacy Service (SPS) in successful delivery of the national contract with NHS England and enable access to specialist pharmacy expertise on behalf of the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for England.
About us
NHS University Hospitals of Liverpool Group (UHL Group) was formed on 1 November 2024, born from a shared aim to improve the care we provide our communities.
We are one of the largest employers in region, with over 18,900 colleagues who are dedicated to caring for our communities - from birth and beyond.
For the 630,000 people across Merseyside, we are their local NHS. We provide general and emergency hospital care, alongside highly specialised regional services that extend to more than two million people in the North West.
We operate from five hospital sites:Aintree University Hospitalis the single receiving site for adult major trauma patients in Cheshire and Merseyside, and hosts a number of regional services including an award-winning stroke facility.Broadgreen Hospitalis home to several elective surgical, diagnostic and treatment services, together with specialist patient rehabilitation.Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospitalprovide specialist services incardiothoracic surgery,cardiology and respiratory medicine, both in the hospital and out in the community.Liverpool Women's Hospitalspecialises in the health of women and babies, delivering over 7,200 babies in the UK's largest single site maternity hospital each year. TheRoyal Liverpool University Hospital is the largest hospital in the country to provide inpatients with 100% single en-suite bedrooms and mainly focuses on complex planned care and specialist services.
Job description Job responsibilities
The key aspects of this role will be to:
Provide leadership and strategic direction for SPS in England Lead and oversee functional delivery to ensure that SPS is deployed to meet the needs of patients, providers, commissioners and clinical and professional networks. Ensure that service requirements and key performance indicators are delivered and collated to enable oversight by the SPS contract management board. Manage the Chief of Staff of SPS, the SPS function Hub Leads employed in the Pharmacy Practice Unit, Liverpool. To include Medicines Use and Safety, Medicines Advice and Quality Assurance and Procurement. Lead the SPS Operational Group, comprising the Assistant Head of SPS and nominated leads from Medicines Use and Safety, Medicines Advice, Quality Assurance, Procurement and Website and Digital. Contribute to NHS England's Pharmacy Senior Management Team and interface effectively with the CPhO Pharmacy Advisory Group, Acute Providers' Pharmacy Advisory Group, ICB Chief Pharmacists Group and NHSE policy teams. Liaise with Regional Medical Directors, Regional Chief Pharmacists (or their equivalent) and regional pharmacy workforce leads on the equitable delivery of SPS across England. Liaise with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society on the contribution of SPS to the work on professional standard sand the appropriate recognition of expertise in within the Society's faculty programme. To provide managerial oversight to the Pharmacy Practice Unit (Liverpool) to include Quality Control Northwest (QCNW) Liverpool.
Person Specification
Qualifications Essential
General Pharmaceutical Council Registration Post graduate diploma or Master's degree Management qualification or demonstrable equivalent experience Membership of the Royal College of Pharmacy or equivalent professional leadership body
Desirable
Higher degree to doctorate level
Experience Essential
Extensive and broad post registration experience Substantive experience of working at a strategic senior management level equivalent to a Trust Chief Pharmacist of a large teaching hospital Demonstrable track record of success in multidisciplinary clinical settings and in clinical leadership roles in terms of driving forward the development and implementation of clinical strategies to deliver improvements in patient care Demonstrable track record of leading and implementing change successfully in large and complex organisations Demonstrable track record of major policy implementation and policy or service development in large and complex organisations Demonstrable experience of formulating long term strategic plans in large and complex organisations Demonstrable substantive experience of development of policies, procedures, guidelines and standards Demonstrable experience of planning and managing budgets Evidence of working with and engaging patients and the public Experience of working across several areas of pharmacy practice Advanced specialist knowledge of the major strategic issues related to pharmacy, prescribing and medicines optimisation including the introduction of new technologies, financial strategy, delivery of CIP and performance management Detailed knowledge and understanding of clinical governance Detailed knowledge of the legislative aspects of medicines and technology management and national policy within the NHS reforms An understanding of workforce, education and training issues relevant to the planning of the future pharmacy workforce
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.
Certificate of Sponsorship Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
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 Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Address Pharmacy Practice Unit
70 Pembroke Place
Liverpool
L69 3GF
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://www.liverpoolft.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)