Band 5 PA to Group Chief Pharmacist / Pharmacy Office Manager - London
Our trust has over 17,000 staff serving 2 million patients every year. It comprises Barnet Hospital, Chase Farm Hospital, the Royal Free Hospital, North Middlesex University Hospital and more than 30 services in the community. This larger scale organisation provides an unprecedented opportunity for us to continue our pioneering work, particularly in finding ways to deliver even better care to our patients.
Our mission is to deliver world class care and expertise in our clinical services, underpinned by world class teaching and research and we will continue to measure our progress against our five governing objectives: excellent outcomes, excellent patient and staff experience, excellent value for taxpayers’ money, being safe and meeting our external duties, and building a strong organisation.
Everyone is welcome at Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. We're proud of our diversity and we continue to undertake new initiatives to advance equality for LGBT+, BME, gender equality, staff carers and people with disabilities and lived experiences to promote good relations and understanding between our staff.
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Job overview
PA to Group Chief Pharmacist / Office Manager
The Pharmacy Services of the Royal Free London are seeking to appoint a Personal Assistant to the Group Chief Pharmacist from January 2025, based at the Royal Free Hospital site Hampstead, North London.
The successful candidate will be an experienced PA who can provide a comprehensive secretarial and administrative service to the Group Chief Pharmacist, the Deputy Group Chief Pharmacist, Deputy Chief Pharmacist RFH and liaise closely with other senior Pharmacy management across the Trust Sites.An ability to use tact and discretion to a high and consistent degree are essential for the smooth running of this post and for the functions of the Royal Free Pharmacy office.
In addition to the above the postholder will be a proven meetings / committee secretary who will support Pharmacy management in a number of internal and external facing meetings both in assembling agendas and meeting paper binders, taking minutes and generate action logs to a high, detailed and timely standard.
Main duties of the job
The postholder will work closely with all Pharmacy section leads, colleagues from the hospital executive teams, colleagues from other NHS Trusts and where necessary personnel from other external bodies to the NHS in order to assist in the achieving of agreed performance and productivity targets and mutually agreed projects and service improvement initiatives.
The successful candidate will need to demonstrate an ability to run a number of projects / tasks simultaneously, be able to work under pressure, have excellent forward planning skills, a flexible approach to working to ensure deadlines are met and have strong Microsoft office skills especially Word, Excel and Outlook.Experience of using the NHS Recruitment software TRAC and PECOS procurement software would be an advantage however training can be provided.
The postholder will, in liaison with relevant Pharmacy site managers support the planned co-ordination of A&C activities as and when such staff are on annual and / or study leave.
Working for our organisation
Our trust has around 10,000 staff serving 1.6 million patients. It comprises Barnet, Chase Farm and Royal Free Hospitals and more than 30 services in the community. Our mission is to deliver world class care and expertise in our clinical services, underpinned by world class teaching and research and we continue to measure our progress against our five governing objectives: excellent outcomes, excellent patient and staff experience, excellent value for taxpayers’ money, being safe and meeting our external duties, and building a strong organisation.
The Trust takes pride as one of the major specialist centres for infectious diseases, liver and renal transplants, breast and plastic surgery, myeloma, and neuroendocrine tumours. Working in one of the main speciality centres brings exciting opportunities to see a range of patients at different levels of complexities.Everyone is welcome at Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. We're proud of our diversity and we continue to undertake new initiatives to advance equality for LGBT+, BME, gender equality, staff carers and people with disabilities and lived experiences to promote good relations and understanding between our staff.
The Pharmacy department is a friendly, progressive, and expanding unit dedicated to providing the highest standards of pharmaceutical care and service in this internationally renowned teaching hospital. Quality improvement and cost-effective, safe use of medicines is at the forefront of everything we do.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please see attached job description for more information about this role and working at Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust.
Previous applicants need not apply
Person specification
Royal Free World Class Values
Essential criteria- Demonstrable ability to meet the Trust Values
Education & professional Qualifications
Essential criteria- A Level standard of education or equivalent
- European Computer Driving Licence (ICDL
- RSA / Pitman Secretarial Qualification or proven work experience to a similar standard
- Evidence of Continuing Professional Development in the Company Secretary or Corporate Governance field
Experience
Essential criteria- Proven secretarial experience preferably in a hospital environment
- Proven experience working with senior / executive management.
- Ability to take and produce detailed meeting minutes and action logs and follow up in an effective and timely manner
- Experience of investigating and drafting complaint responses for senior staff perusal
- Experience of liaising with a range of hospital colleagues and external bodies as workload and duties demand
Skills and aptitudes
Essential criteria- Able to keep track of multiple tasks / projects
- Able to demonstrate problem solving skills
- Able to plan, organise large events / meeting for a wide range of healthcare professionals and other external organisations
- Excellent command of written and spoken English
- Well-developed interpersonal and communication skills
Personal Qualities & attributes
Essential criteria- Tactful when dealing with a wide range of staff, patients and visitors to the Trust
- Diplomatic in managing potentially awkward situations
- Ability to carry out day to day responsibilities and deal effectively with unpredictable demands that may possibly arise
- High awareness of the need to act in a confidential, objective and discrete manner in relation to potentially a wide range of individual and department issues
- Willing and able to work flexibly to meet deadlines (particularly around DTC meetings)
Others
Essential criteria- Demonstrative initiative
- Ability to work independently and as part of a team
- Flexible, able to change priorities quickly within current workload if necessary / requested
- Ability to carry out day to day responsibilities and deal effectively with unpredictable demands that may possibly arise
- Ability to work under pressure
- Covid-19 Vaccination
We encourage and support staff to get COVID-19 vaccine and a booster dose as and when they are eligible.
- AT* - Apprenticeship Training. Where AT* is entered next to the job title indicates that this vacancy is for an apprenticeship role.
- By applying for this role, you accept if successful, that your personal data may be transferred from the Trust to another NHS organisation where your employment transfers within the NHS. This is in accordance with the streamlining programme which aims at saving you time and improving efficiencies within the NHS when your employment transfers. Therefore we require you to complete your stat and Man e-learning modules prior to joining our organisation.
- If you are an EU/EEA citizen who does not have EU Settlement or Pre-Settled status, you will require a visa to work in the UK.
- Applications from job seekers who require sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. Before submitting your application and to avoid disappointment please check that you are eligible under the UKVI points based system.
- If you are offered a role with one of the NLPSS partner trusts, as part of pre-employment checks your identity and right to work documentation will be verified remotely (in most circumstances), using a certified identity verification service provider TrustID. You will be asked to capture an image of the relevant documents as well as a “selfie” using your smartphone/tablet (if available) for facial matching. TrustID will also perform a digital address check using Trunarrative and Equifax, which is a soft check and does not leave a footprint on your credit rating. For more information, visit www.trustid.co.uk
- The Trust uses electronic new starter forms on Trac to collect personal details. Information collected is securely stored and used to set up the employee record on the ESR HR system.
- The Trust will request a DBS (CRB) if post involves regulated activities. The Trust is compliant with the Disclosure and Barring Service Codes of practice and the Rehabilitation of offenders act.
- By applying for this post you are agreeing to Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are offered a job, information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.
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