Chief Pharmacy Technician

Due to the planned retirement of the current chief pharmacy technician, an exciting opportunity has arisen at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Gateshead for a Band 8a Chief Pharmacy Technician.

We are seeking a dynamic, strategic, experienced and motivated pharmacy technician who is passionate about pharmacy services. You will be responsible for the professional leadership and management of the Trust’s pharmacy technician workforce.

You will have knowledge and experience of national developments in medicines management and the role pharmacy technicians play in driving forward pharmacy and medicines management services.

This role brings together the management of pharmacy operations and medicines management services. The post holder is responsible for the professional leadership and management of the Trust’s pharmacy technicians and provides oversight of the education, training and development of pharmacy technicians, pharmacy support staff and administration staff within the department.

As a key member of the Pharmacy Senior Team, the post holder works closely with senior pharmacy colleagues in promoting a collaborative culture, embedding effective leadership, inputting to strategic planning, and supporting the Trust’s governance framework and transformation agenda.

The post holder focuses on best practice and managing risk, whilst driving initiatives to make optimal use of finite resources and new technologies. The role includes responsibility for the management of relevant aspects of pharmacy operational budgets, contribution to cost improvement programmes, implementation of evidence-based improvements, and monitoring against relevant national standards.

The role requires excellent organisation and leadership skills, a patient-centred approach, strong communication and influencing skills, resilience, and an ability to secure engagement from staff and service users. The Chief Pharmacy Technician role supports the regulatory compliance (GPhC/CQC/ MHRA/NHSE) of the pharmacy service.

Based in the North East of England we provide a range of hospital and community health services from our leading facilities, including the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Blaydon urgent care centre and Bensham Hospital, all within Gateshead.

Established in 2005, we were one of the first foundation trusts in the country and since then have consistently achieved the highest levels of care for patients.

We now employ around 4,800 staff and currently provide 444 hospital beds across the Gateshead region.

Our values should be the ‘golden thread’ which runs through everything we do – they are the core of who we are. Our five values can easily be remembered by the simple acronym ICORE; Innovation, Care, Openness, Respect, Engagement.

We have a number of staff networks including the Global Ethnic Majority (GEM) network, D-Ability network, LGBTQ+ Network and the Women’s Network, to challenge us and help us to constantly improve. Our Armed Forces network is one of our emerging networks.

The health and wellbeing of our staff is one of our highest priorities, and we offer a range of support and initiatives as part of our ‘Balance’ programme balancegateshead.com to cater for our diverse workforce, so that your individual needs can be supported, allowing you a happy and healthy working experience with us.

For further details / informal visits contact: Name: Venessa Echanique Job title: Deputy Chief Pharmacist Email address: ***email_hidden*** Telephone number: 0191 4452315