Band 8b Divisional Lead Pharmacist

Band 8b Divisional Lead Pharmacist – Calne

Join to apply for the Band 8b Divisional Lead Pharmacist – Calne role at Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust

We are looking for an enthusiastic and passionate pharmacist with a strong background in clinical pharmacy, quality improvement, and innovation to develop their career at a senior level by joining our dynamic pharmacy team. This post provides leadership to the mental health clinical pharmacy teams on the east side of the Trust, covering Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon, and Wiltshire (BSW).

Responsibilities include:

• Lead the clinical pharmacy team in providing medicines optimisation services to wards and community teams, support and develop independent prescribing pharmacists.
• Ensure clinical staff support our wider teams in the best possible way across a large geographical area.
Become an integral member of the senior pharmacy team, supporting the Chief Pharmacist to set the strategic direction for medicines optimisation and pharmacy services.
• Represent Pharmacy at Trust-wide meetings to develop and support the patient‑facing aspects of our medicines optimisation agenda.
• Provide on‑call duties and some weekend and bank holiday working.
• Participate in the pharmacy’s provision of safe, effective, and responsive clinical and pharmaceutical supply services to the Trust and any contracted services.
• Contribute to the strategic planning of the pharmacy service and the implementation of service objectives.
• Lead the development, delivery, and evaluation of clinical pharmacy services across the Trust, aligned with the Trust and national medicines optimisation agendas.
• Develop a competent, motivated, and versatile clinical pharmacy workforce within the existing budget, underpinned by technology, robust governance, and risk management.
• Work with the Chief Pharmacist, Deputy Chief Pharmacists, and other Clinical Lead Pharmacists to ensure strategic plans are delivered and resources are utilised safely, efficiently, and effectively to improve financial management of treatments and medicines expenditure, patient experience, and outcomes.
• Manage the Locality Lead Pharmacists and Specialist Pharmacists working in BSW, BNSSG, and SSC, to deliver clinical services and medicines optimisation, including audit and monitoring.
• Lead on the delivery and development of robust and progressive medicines optimisation, working with the multidisciplinary team to ensure medicines optimisation is embedded at operational and practice level.

Please see the attached job description for a full list of duties and responsibilities.

We are AWP (Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust): a diverse organisation with over 5,000 dedicated staff providing inpatient and community-based mental health care. We provide services across Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES), Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Swindon, Wiltshire and parts of Dorset to approximately 1.8 million people.

Our outstanding people promote mental health and wellbeing. The expertise and resources within AWP are dedicated to a person‑centred approach for those who use our services and for all employees. We recognise that happy and fulfilled employees give better care.

AWP is committed to support and create a positive research and evidence-based environment and culture, which can have a beneficial impact on everyone who works for the organisation and the care we provide to those who use our services.

At AWP we actively encourage applicants from all backgrounds; we are particularly keen to encourage applications from people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, those with disabilities and from the LGBTQ+ community. We want people to bring their unique blend of experiences, backgrounds, perspectives and knowledge to AWP, as diversity makes us stronger.

For further details / informal visits contact:
Valerie McElhinney, Chief Pharmacist,  Informal visits pre‑application are encouraged.