Specialist Clinical Pharmacist - Medicine & Care of the Elderly

Fixed-term/Secondment for nine months to cover maternity leave

Are you an ambitious pharmacist looking to take the next step in your clinical career?

We are seeking an enthusiastic and motivated pharmacist to join our supportive Medicine and Care of the Elderly pharmacy teams at Forth Valley Royal Hospital. This nine-month fixed-term/Secondment post offers an excellent opportunity to develop specialist clinical, leadership and service improvement skills across two major acute clinical services.

During the first three months, the postholder will work flexibly across Medicine and Care of the Elderly. For the remaining six months, the postholder will be based primarily within the Medicine pharmacy team, delivering specialist clinical pharmacy services across a range of medical specialties.

The Role
As a Specialist Clinical Pharmacist, you will:

• Deliver specialist clinical pharmacy services to medical and Care of the Elderly inpatient areas.
• Work as an integral member of multidisciplinary teams, contributing to ward rounds, clinical reviews and medicines-related decision-making.
• Provide pharmaceutical care for patients with a wide range of acute and chronic conditions, including patients with frailty, multimorbidity and polypharmacy.
• Undertake medicines reconciliation, clinical review, prescribing support and medicines optimisation.
• Support safe and effective prescribing and deprescribing, including contributing to polypharmacy reviews where appropriate.
• Provide specialist medicines advice to medical, nursing, pharmacy and allied health professional colleagues.
• Support the education, training and development of rotational pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, students and other healthcare professionals.
• Contribute to clinical governance, audit, quality improvement and service development.
• Participate in weekend, public holiday and on-call services as part of the wider pharmacy team.

Within Care of the Elderly, the successful candidate may support clinical services across frailty, orthogeriatrics and stroke, with opportunities to contribute to multidisciplinary ward rounds and influence prescribing and deprescribing for older people.

Within Medicine, the successful candidate will support clinical pharmacy services across specialties including gastroenterology, infectious diseases, cardiology, respiratory medicine and endocrinology. The Medicine team also provides pharmacist-led clinics across several specialties, offering opportunities to gain experience in specialist and advanced pharmacy practice.

About you
We are looking for a highly motivated, flexible and organised pharmacist who:

• Is committed to delivering high-quality, patient-centred pharmaceutical care.
• Works effectively within multidisciplinary and pharmacy teams.
• Can manage competing priorities within a busy acute hospital environment.
• Has a positive and adaptable approach.
• Is interested in developing specialist clinical, leadership and service improvement skills.
• Is committed to supporting the learning and development of colleagues.

You should be a well-rounded clinical practitioner and have completed, or be working towards completing, an appropriate post-registration foundation training programme. Independent prescribing experience would be desirable, although development opportunities may be available.

Why join us?

• Gain Band 7 experience across both Medicine and Care of the Elderly.
• Develop specialist knowledge in the management of complex medical conditions, frailty, multimorbidity and polypharmacy.
• Work closely with established multidisciplinary teams.
• Participate in ward rounds and clinical decision-making.
• Gain experience of pharmacist-led specialist services and clinics.
• Develop skills in clinical leadership, education, quality improvement and service development.
• Support and supervise rotational pharmacists and other members of the pharmacy team.
• Build a strong foundation for further development towards advanced pharmacy practice.

The clinical pharmacy service at NHS Forth Valley is supported by an established clinical pharmacy technician workforce and uses modern systems, including Hospital Electronic Prescribing and Medicines Administration.

We are a friendly, dedicated and supportive team, committed to developing pharmacy practice and improving outcomes for patients.

Informal enquiries
Medicine: Kirsty Young, Senior Pharmacist - Medicine
Email: View email address on meeveem.com

Care of the Elderly: Vicky Hough, Senior Pharmacist – Acute Frailty
Email: View email address on meeveem.com

The duties of this post require the successful candidate to be a member of the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme. More information on this scheme can be found at

Certificate of Sponsorship
Applicants who require sponsorship to work in the UK are advised to carefully review the eligibility criteria for the Skilled Worker or Health and Care Worker visa routes. NHS Forth Valley may be able to offer sponsorship for certain roles, provided the post meets the minimum salary threshold and any other required criteria. Please note that sponsorship is not guaranteed and is assessed on a case-by-case basis following interview and at the commencement of pre-employment checks. For further information on visa requirements and sponsorship eligibility, please refer to the UK Government guidance on work visas.

Candidates should provide original and authentic responses to all questions within the application form. The use of artificial intelligence (AI), automated tools, or other third-party assistance to generate, draft, or significantly modify responses is strongly discouraged. NHS Forth Valley is positive about disabled people and is committed to offering an interview to disabled people who meet the minimum criteria for the job. NHS Scotland is committed to encouraging equality and diversity among our workforce and eliminating unlawful discrimination.