Career opportunities

Career opportunities in the NHS once you qualify

A commitment to training and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for all staff
Hospital pharmacy provides continuing training throughout your career. All hospital pharmacies are committed to CPD for all staff and are required to demonstrate how this is achieved.

Most newly qualified hospital pharmacists study for postgraduate certificates or diplomas in Clinical Pharmacy / Pharmacy Practice. All pharmacists undertake a wide range of training to support them in their chosen speciality or career path. Training opportunities include in-house training provided by the pharmacy department or hospital, regionally or nationally organised study days or courses covering specific issues, initial speciality training and management training - the possibilities are endless!

Newly qualified hospital pharmacists usually rotate through a variety of pharmacy services similar to those experienced during pre-registration training. This diversity of practice will continue to develop your skills and experience as fully as possible before you decide on a specific area of practice in which to specialise.

The depth and breadth of training undertaken in hospital pharmacy provides an ideal springboard for all possible career options. These might include becoming a Hospital Pharmacy Consultant or supplementary or independent prescriber, working within a Primary Care Trust as a Prescribing Adviser, or in a Strategic Health Authority involved in workforce planning, or in pharmacy or NHS management. General hospital management outside pharmacy offers varied opportunities such as performance and quality management.

If you choose to practise in a different sector of pharmacy, in industry or research, or choose a more unusual pathway such as medical journalism or marketing, hospital pre-registration training will provide you with excellent experience and will develop many of the skills you will require.

The NHS offers hospital pharmacists a recognised career pathway with newly qualified hospital pharmacists entering the NHS at salary Band 6 and many hospital Chief Pharmacists being at salary Band 9. Well established training posts incorporating the opportunity for postgraduate study exist to support hospital pharmacists to progress through the salary bands.

Newly qualified hospital pharmacists are paid according to salary Band 6 on the NHS salary scale. In November 2007 the basic starting salary for a Band 6 pharmacist was £ 23,458 per year. An additional high cost area allowance is payable in inner London, outer London and South East England. If the pharmacist is required to take part in an on-call rota, as most newly qualified hospital pharmacists are, a further payment will be made. NHS salaries increase (usually in line with inflation) in April each year and staff are generally awarded pay increments each year within a pay band. In other words most hospital pharmacists enjoy two pay rises each year!

For further information about NHS salaries see www.nhsemployers.org/

Terms and conditions:

Hospital pharmacists work 37.5 hours per week.This usually means Monday to Friday. You will not be required to work most weekends however involvement in weekend work and bank holiday rotas and on call rotas will be required.

The holiday entitlement is excellent with newly qualified pharmacists getting 27 days annual leave plus 8 bank holidays. The annual leave entitlement rises to 29 days after 5 years and 33 days after 10 years in the NHS.

The NHS supports flexible working and there are opportunities for part-time working and job-shares in many hospital pharmacy departments.

The NHS pension scheme is amongst the best in the country. Your pension may not sound important now, but it will become an increasingly important consideration in the future.