Job Advert
NHS Scotland is committed to encouraging equality and diversity among our workforce and eliminating unlawful discrimination. The aim is for our workforce to be truly representative and for each employee to feel respected and able to give their best. To this end, NHS Scotland welcomes applications from all sections of society.
A rare and exciting opportunity has arisen for a clinically focused and motivated pharmacist to join our team within Surgery, Anaesthetics and Critical Care at Raigmore Hospital. This is a new post, which will sit alongside the current Lead Pharmacist for Critical Care and Anaesthetics. The two post holders will work closely together, deputising for each other during periods of leave. This role would allow the successful candidate to develop as a leader in both the surgical specialties and critical care, with supervision and support available from experts in each area.
Our surgical and critical care pharmacists are integral members of the multi-disciplinary team. Raigmore Hospital cares for trauma patients, patients undergoing emergency/complex surgical interventions and patients requiring critical care. Such acuity and complexity necessitates the provision of a high quality clinical pharmacy service. The post holder will be supported to help deliver care to 18 flexible level 2/3 critical care beds, surgical admissions, and general surgery/orthopaedic wards (emergency and elective), on a rota basis. The post will be split, with approximately 50% in a patient-facing clinical role, and 50% on directorate duties. Directorate-level activities include finance reporting, protocol and guideline development, and clinical governance.
The post holder will be based within the pharmacy team at Raigmore Hospital, but the creation of this new role has been supported by the opening of a new National Treatment Centre (NTC) in Inverness in 2023. This is a new, purpose-built centre which will care for both ophthalmology and orthopaedic patients. The successful candidate will therefore have input across both sites, with support provided to the NTC primarily being at a directorate level: developing treatment pathways and protocols; monitoring drug expenditure; providing staff training, and dealing with relevant queries.
As this is a new position, the successful candidate will have the flexibility to shape the role dependent on the needs of the different services. Other areas of involvement may include specialist pharmacy input to the Acute Pain Team, and reviewing complex patients referred via the pre-assessment unit prior to surgery.
The successful candidate will supervise the training and development of students, trainee and junior pharmacists, and pharmacy technicians. Clinical pharmacy technicians are embedded within the team and we are also looking at opportunities for pharmacy support workers to play a valuable role within the overall skills set. The job will also involve education and training of the wider multi-disciplinary team, including medical students and medical/nursing staff.
The post provides many opportunities for personal and professional development; you will be able to build on your clinical, leadership, managerial and strategic skills. Candidates should be good communicators, enthusiastic, self-motivated, innovative and able to problem solve and prioritise. You should be able to work unsupervised whilst at the same time being a strong team-player. Post-graduate qualifications including a Diploma/MSc in Clinical Pharmacy and Independent Prescribing are desirable, but support and encouragement will be given to the right candidate to achieve these once in post. Specific training in critical care/surgery will also be encouraged. As a department, we are committed to our pharmacists becoming credentialed at RPS Core Advanced level, and support for this will be provided in the form of 5 development days per year, a peer support group and a dedicated Lead Education and Training pharmacist for Advanced Practice within the board.
We would welcome applications from pharmacists within all sectors of pharmacy, as this role would offer the opportunity to build on transferable skills. This is an exciting time to join our friendly
pharmacy team, as we work towards transforming the way we approach patient care. As well as developing the clinical roles of pharmacy support staff, we are currently implementing HEPMA across all our hospital sites in NHS Highland, and have installed robotics in both our dispensary and distribution services, improving patient safety and efficiency.
Inverness offers the perfect balance of city-living whilst having the beauty and ruggedness of the Highlands on your doorstep, allowing for a healthy work-life balance.
Note you will be required to work in the emergency on-call, weekend working and public holiday rotas.
Informal enquiries are most welcome, to Jane Wylie, Lead Pharmacist for Surgery and Anaesthetics. Please contact jane.wylie1@nhs.scot or telephone 01463 706123 (bleep 6010).
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FOR CANDIDATES
- You should apply for this post by completing the application process on Jobtrain.
- DO NOT upload a CV as this will not be used for short listing purposes
- Posts close at midnight on the indicated date
- For help to complete an application on Job Train please click on this link https://www.eess.nhs.scot/jobtrain-accessibility-statement/
- Please note that our correspondence method is by e-mail, therefore please ensure you enter your email address accurately
- Please check your e-mail regularly (including junk folders) and also your Jobtrain account for updates
- Please contact Jobtrain Candidate Support Hub - https://jobseekersupport.jobtrain.co.uk/support/home for advice and support with any system issues
- We recommend using the Internet Browser "Google Chrome" or "Microsoft Edge" when using Jobtrain
- Once you have submitted your application form you will be unable to make any amendments
- Some of our vacancies are for internal candidates only. If you are a member of staff, please ensure you update your Jobtrain profile to reflect that you are employed by NHS Highland