Trac proudly powers the recruitment for
Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
About
We provide NHS care and treatment for people living in south east England. Our mental health services provide care and treatment for people with conditions such as psychosis, depression, anxiety, dementia and personality disorder. Our vision is to provide outstanding care and treatment you can be confident in.
Contact
- Address
- Swandean
- Arundel Road
- Worthing
- West Sussex
- BN13 3EP
- Contact Number
- 01903 843000
Pharmacy Assistant Higher Level
Accepting applications until: 17-Aug-2026 08:00
Vacancy status: Open
Accepting applications until: 17-Aug-2026 08:00
Key details
Location
- Site
- Combe Valley Hospital / Woodlands & St Annes
- Address
- Mount View St
- Town
- Bexhill-on-Sea
- Postcode
- TN40 2AF
- Major / Minor Region
- West Sussex
Contract type & working pattern
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
Salary
- Salary
- £25,760 - £27,476 pro rata for part time
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Grade
- (NHS AfC: Band 3)
Specialty
- Main area
- Mental Health
Come and join us
We’re looking for people who share our values of compassion, accountability and optimism to help us provide high quality care for the patients, carers, families and communities we serve. We specialise in NHS mental health and learning disability services and we’re proud to make a difference every day.
At SPFT we put people first. We’ll do everything possible to help you feel respected, valued and included. You’ll have opportunities to learn, grow and gain new experiences to support your career, with access to lifelong learning and professional development.
We actively promote flexible working and understand how important work life balance is, especially in healthcare. Whether it’s part time hours, hybrid working or flexible start and finish times, we’ll explore what works for you and the role.
We recognise that tools like AI are becoming part of everyday life and you may choose to use them when preparing your application. We welcome this, as long as what you submit reflects your own experience, skills and voice. AI can be helpful for structuring or refining your answers, but it should not replace your own examples or create content that isn’t based on your real experience.
Our recruitment process is designed to get to know you, and we’ll explore your examples further at interview, so it’s important your application genuinely represents what you bring. You can read more about using AI in applications and interviews on our recruitment process page.
We’re shaping a workplace where ideas are encouraged, technology supports you and everyone has a voice in how we improve. If that sounds like the kind of organisation you want to be part of, we’d love to hear from you.
Job overview
Are you looking for a career in mental health services or the NHS? If so, you could be well suited to this role.
We are looking to recruit a Pharmacy Assistant to be part of the Inpatient Pharmacy Team in East Sussex and our dispensary hub based at Swandean in Worthing. This role involves assisting Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians with medicines optimisation, ensuring compliance with mental health regulations and providing essential support to healthcare professionals and patients. This is an excellent opportunity for pharmacy assistants working in hospital, community or retail pharmacy who are looking to develop their skills within a supportive NHS environment. The pharmacy team provides a well-structured support system, access to training with opportunity for development and whilst hospital experience is welcome it is not essential - we are looking for motivated individuals who are organised, accurate and ready to develop.
You will work closely with multidisciplinary teams, supporting both staff and patients, and contribute to service development across the East Sussex locality. All applications that demonstrate the required qualifications (NVQ 2 in pharmacy services or equivalent) as per job description and personal specification will be considered. This post is subject to an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Check with adults.
Advert
- Support medicines optimisation and medicines management processes to improve patient care and promote medicines safety.
- Support the working of Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians.
- Provide medicines top up's to Mental Health Inpatient wards, along with development towards named patient ordering.
- Support the dispensing of inpatient, outpatient and discharge prescriptions within the pharmacy hub based at Swandean Worthing.
- Assemble and supply ward stock medicines
- Receive, store and rotate medicines safely
- Support controlled drug processes in line with policy
- Use electronic dispensing and tracking systems
- Monitor stock levels and expiry dates
- Communicate with clinical teams regarding medicines supply
Dispensary location may be subject to future change based on the needs of the service.
Whilst this post will be based at Combe Valley Hospital the postholder will be expected to work at Woodlands / St Anne's Centre on the Conquest Hospital site for approximately half their working week.
Working for our organisation
We are a friendly and committed pharmacy team, who are keen to support the wellbeing of our patients and each other. Sussex Partnership is one of the largest mental health and learning disabilities Trust's in the UK. The physical health of our mental health patients is important to us and with the life expectancy of patients with serious mental health dying 15 to 20 years earlier, the Trust is committed to reducing this risk and pharmacy plays a key role in this. As a mental health and learning disabilities Trust, Sussex Partnership places a huge focus on the wellbeing of our staff, as well as ensuring our rewards packages reflect the immensely important work they do.
You can expect:
- Access to full psychological support, the wellbeing team
- Excellent supervision programmes
- Flexible working opportunities
- Access to a host of discount schemes (including gyms, shopping, restaurants and cars)
- A position within a Trust rated as Outstanding for caring and Good overall by the CQC
- Generous holiday entitlement (starting at 27 days +8 bank holidays)
- Excellent NHS pension scheme
We encourage flexible working. We know that a positive work/life balance brings about huge health-related benefits, which has a positive impact on the care we provide. Please speak to us about flexible working; for example, homeworking, part time hours, flexible start/finish times or anything else. If it works for you and works for the role, we'll do our best to make it happen.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Applications with the following qualifications will be considered:
- NVQ level 2, Pharmacy Services
Please see attached job description and person specification for further information on the requirements of the role. If you have any queries please feel free to contact us to discuss further. We would love to speak with you to see if you are a good fit for this role.
SPFT is committed to building a workforce that reflects the communities we serve. We particularly welcome applications from people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds and from disabled candidates, as these groups are currently underrepresented.
Successful candidates are normally appointed to the bottom of the pay scale unless previous NHS experience in a similar role can be evidenced.
SPFT takes its responsibilities for safeguarding children, young people and adults at risk very seriously. We expect all staff and bank workers to share this commitment and complete the relevant safeguarding training for their role.
If you have not heard from us within three weeks of the closing date, please assume your application has been unsuccessful. However, we’ll always do our best to keep you informed as we know how much time and care goes into applying for a role.
In the event of a high number of applications, we may close this vacancy early.
Protect Yourself from Recruitment Fraud
Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust does not charge any fees for job applications, recruitment processes, sponsorship arrangements or employment offers.
All vacancies, applications and recruitment communications are managed through the Trust's official careers website and published contact details.
These are the only authorised channels for applying for roles, receiving recruitment communications and verifying job offers.
Further information relating to our vacancies and recruitment process can be found at - https://careers.sussexpartnership.nhs.uk/.
Applicant requirements
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- NVQ level 2, Pharmacy Services. Including three core units.
Knowledge and experience
Essential criteria
- Knowledge of policies, procedures and practices across pharmacy services
- Knowledge of pharmacy medicine supply systems
- Knowledge of stock control systems and storage of medicines
- Trained to the higher level of the national profile of a Pharmacy Assistant job description
- Experience of working in a pharmacy team with medicines
- Experience of working with medicines Information Technology (IT) systems
- Experience of dispensing prescriptions or the preparation
Skills
Essential criteria
- Ability to demonstrate clear and accurate written communication skills
- Ability to demonstrate clear and accurate verbal communication skills
- Numeracy skills: ability to carry out simple calculations
- Literacy skills: ability to follow verbal and written instructions accurately
- Ability to maintain mental concentration effort for sustained periods
- Ability to meet deadlines whilst maintaining concentration and paying attention to detail
Values and behaviours
Essential criteria
- Demonstrates appropriate empathy towards patient group
- Good interpersonal skills
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Shaun-Michael Elie
- Job title
- Specialist Pharmacy Technician
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Additional information
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