Quality Assurance Specialist | Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust
| Posting date: | 20 May 2025 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | Not specified |
| Additional salary information: | £61,927 - £68,676 p.a. inclusive of HCA |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 20 June 2025 |
| Location: | London, SE1 9RT |
| Company: | Guys and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 7219867/196-LIS9564 |
Summary
Pharmaceutical Quality Assurance Specialist
We are looking for two excellent and motivated quality professionals to join our Quality Team based multisite at Guys and St Thomas'. Ideally you will have experience working in the pharmaceutical industry or NHS in quality assurance.
The successful candidates will be working with our licensed and unlicensed units so experience within these areas is key. We currently are looking to recruit to a permanent position within our licensed units and a fixed term (maternity cover) position within our unlicensed units.
The posts provide an excellent opportunity for healthcare scientists who have been through the STP programme and are currently working in a foundation quality position.
Working with us provides excellent opportunities to utilise your GMP and Quality knowledge, skills and experience and prepare you for more senior roles leading on projects and staff management opportunities.
The QA department supports a variety of areas across the hospital trust and there is an opportunity to work with a wide variety of teams across multiple disciplines.
This opportunity provides excellent foundations and experience for any candidate thinking of progressing within Quality Assurance in the future with the opportunity to work alongside experienced quality professionals.
• To lead and deliver Pharmaceutical QA Services to the Trust Pharmacy Manufacturing and Quality Control Units.
• To be responsible for maintaining the integrated Quality Systems across the Pharmacy Manufacturing Service as required by the MS, MA(IMP) licences and NHS guidance.
• To provide technical support and advice on QA to other departments in the Trust and to external customers of the Trust.
Guy’s and St Thomas’ is among the UK’s busiest and most successful NHS Foundation Trusts. We provide a full range of hospital and community services for people in south London and as well as specialist care for patients from further afield including cancer, renal, orthopaedic, respiratory and cardiovascular services.
Guy's & St Thomas' Technical Services is a large licensed and section 10 manufacturing unit with a wide product portfolio, including terminally sterilised, aseptically manufactured and non-sterile products, as well as a variety of extemporaneously prepared aseptic and non-sterile dosage forms. Pharmacy Technical Services employs over 100 staff in multiple areas across the Guy's and St Thomas' sites.
Pharmacy Quality Assurance provides QA support to a number of facilities across both the Guy's and St Thomas' sites, including the MS licensed Aseptic, Sterile and Non-sterile Units and also unlicensed units (CIVAS/TPN and Oncology) and the main Pharmacy.
Service management
• To ensure that the pharmaceutical quality management system is maintained and developed in accordance with the MS and MA(IMP) licence requirements and in response to changes in regulations and legislation.
• To provide senior QA input into complex quality exceptions to ensure satisfactory corrective and preventative action is taken. To undertake a regular senior QA review of all quality exceptions according to department procedures.
• To ensure all changes to the quality management system are effectively communicated via the change control process to all grades of staff. By example and effective communication to create an environment of quality improvement.
• To carry out Trust GMP Internal Audits.
• To ensure the Internal Audit Programme is adhered to and audits are reported and actioned in a timely manner.
• To review and update all QA documentation as required in accordance with GMP
• To maintain and develop the documentation control system in accordance with GMP.
• To be responsible for ensuring that all the QA requirements for the validation master plan are fully completed and documented.
• To provide QA service to other NHS Production units in accordance with licences and Technical Agreements/Service Contracts.
• To review and coordinate the service contracts and technical agreements with suppliers.
• To coordinate the documentation, sample collection and results reporting for the microbiological testing service.
• To respond to customer complaints and undertake drug defect investigation for Trust manufactured products.
• To report drug defects on purchased products to manufacturer’s and communicate response to end user.
• To coordinate the Trust response to Drug Alerts issued by the MHRA.
Personnel Management, Training and Development
• To supervise the work of the Technical / Clinical Interface Pharmacists (Band 7) and QA Officers B6/7, to ensure that all activities undertaken within the unit meet current legislation such as GMP/GDP, GCP, Health and Safety, COSHH, and that all work documentation and procedures meet these regulations.
• To supervise the work of the Microbiological Team to ensure that all environmental monitoring of the manufacturing areas is carried out routinely and results reported efficiently in accordance with GMP.
• To ensure that all staff working in the QA department are trained and competency assessed in the tasks they undertake.
• To ensure there is sufficient QA cover to undertake all monitoring and release activities. To report any deficiencies to the Deputy QA Manager and the Head of Pharmaceutical Quality as appropriate.
• To be responsible for the recruitment and selection process for staff within the QA department.
• To be responsible for the maintenance of the training records for all staff in the QA department.
• To participate in the training of pharmacists technicians, and scientists with the QA department and externally to the trust as necessary.
Service evaluation and development
• To critical assess the current quality management systems with a view to maintaining a continuous quality improvement cycle within the department.
• To be responsible for updating and enhancing current unit documentation in line with accepted guidelines and changes in the workings of the QA department. To ensure changes are documented and controlled following department procedures.
• To attend regulatory and internal audits and meet the requirements of the auditor in a clear and concise manner. To lead on the response to audit deficiencies and ensure agreed action plans are completed in a timely manner.
• To be responsible for the planning and introduction of new documents to manage and monitor developments within the QA department.
• To undertake risk assessment activities within the Trust to identify high risk activities that could be managed within the resources of the QA department.
• To assist in other practice research and in service development in accordance with jointly agreed objectives between the post holder and Deputy QA Manager/Head of Pharmaceutical Quality.
Clinical trials
• To review new trials requiring QA services to ensure that the protocol, authorisation and ethical approval meets the requirements of The Medicines for Human Use (Clinical Trial) Regulations 2004.
• To review new trial documentation and assess the quality requirements for new clinical trials to be made under the Section 10 exemption. To ensure that all clinical trial production follows the principles of GMP and GCP and follows the department's quality management system.
• To review and authorise all clinical trial production documentation to ensure the preparation of the clinical trials complies with all regulatory requirements.
• To attend site visits and audits by sponsors, clinical research organisations and their representatives to ensure that all pharmacy requirements for the undertaking of IMP production are available.
• To lead in the response to audit deficiencies in a timely manner as required.
Research and Development
• To provide QA support to the development, formulation and validation of new products in response to clinical need and risk management in accordance with objectives set by the Product Lifecycle Team
• To provide the QA input to ensure the key objectives within the validation master plan for pharmacy manufacturing are met.
• To support and where required supervise designated MPharm/MPhil./PhD/STP students registered with the Universities and to ensure that agreed standards and systems of work are followed
Clinical services
• To provide expert pharmaceutical QA advice on the use of all other products prepared by the Licensed Units.
• To respond to MHRA Drug Alerts and coordinate the retrieval, quarantine and replacement of stock.
• To lead on the documentation and communication of Drug Alerts to all relevant areas of the Trust.
This advert closes on Sunday 1 Jun 2025