Pharmacy Purchasing and Distribution Assistant
| Posting date: | 11 December 2025 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £30,546.00 to £32,207.00 per year |
| Additional salary information: | £30546.00 - £32207.00 a year |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 28 December 2025 |
| Location: | London, SW10 9NH |
| Company: | NHS Jobs |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | C9289-CS-252 |
Summary
Undertake training in line with defined objectives. Undertake relevant Pharmacy Services Level 2 unit(s) in line with GPhC requirement Participate in ward top-up service. Return to stock or dispose of all medicines returned from wards / departments covered on top up rota immediately on return to department. Keep up to date with and follow relevant departmental procedures. Participate in the training of new staff. Attend and participate in departmental meetings and departmental quality initiatives. Act in a professional manner at all times and maintain confidentiality at all times. Follow legal, ethical, professional and employers code of conduct and work within departmental policies and procedures. Participate in service audits as required. Support the buying office and invoicing office to ensure that all daily, weekly and monthly tasks are completed. Ensure all TPN, medical gases, and consumable orders are booked onto JAC correctly in time for end of month booking out. Follow relevant procedures for each rotation, including adherence to GMP, orange guide and COSHH regulations etc. in order to deliver the service in a safe and effective manner. Undertake any other duties as reasonably required by the Chief Pharmacist. To support the buying office team and the invoicing department to ensure that key performance indicators are met. To support the goods receipt team when required. Purchasing and goods receipt Supporting the processing of orders for medication supplies including assisting with sourcing urgent supplies. Dealing with any out of stock queries and liaising with the relevant staff as appropriate. Ensure that the daily stock count, the KTAKEM, occurs and any discrepancies are investigated and dealt with. Support the buying office Purchasing Coordinator in dealing with any buying office related handover emails to ensure that any urgent issues are dealt with in a timely manner. Ensure that all out of hours medicine purchases or supplies are processed and dealt with without delay. Investigate manufacturers delays, updating the list of delays and ensuring all relevant staff are informed. Receiving, checking and booking in deliveries of controlled drugs when they arrive to fulfil legislative requirements. Storing goods safely and correctly in the appropriate areas of the pharmacy. Dealing with queries from staff and other hospital staff relating to product delays, delivery times and orders. Follow up outstanding orders to ensure that stock is delivered promptly and avoid out of stock situations. Place orders with alternative suppliers if necessary. Ensuring stock levels of all products are accurate and supporting the appropriate ordering of stock. Ensure that contracts are adhered to and return any over ordered or unwanted goods in order to avoid finance penalties. Check the ONOTR report. This report is to be checked every month for outstanding orders that have not been delivered or received onto JAC. Undertaking any specific projects in accordance with objectives set by the Buying Office and goods Receipt Manager. Support the Procurement and Distribution Manager in dealing with drug recalls where required. Ensure that urgent deliveries of medicines (e.g. from other hospitals, alternative suppliers via taxi / courier service) are arranged within the required timescales and when appropriate. Responsible for the ordering of the medical gas cylinders for the hospital. Ensure the zero stock report is checked weekly to identify any items where there is zero stock and urgent supply is required to be sourced. Ensure the slow moving report is checked weekly to identify any slow moving items preventing stock wastage. Assist with the writing and updating of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). Assist with the training and inducting of rotational technicians, pre-registration trainee technicians and trainee pharmacists in all aspects of the purchasing and distribution functions. Maintain good and open channels of communication with all suppliers in order to ensure that all aspects of purchasing are dealt with effectively. To participate and support the goods receipt team when required. Deal with and respond appropriately to booking in discrepancies and issues and communicate with suppliers as needed. Move stock into designated areas in the pharmacy department. INVOICING Ensure that invoices are processed and reconciled so they can be passed to finance for payment. Liaise with external suppliers and negotiate complex issues to resolve all invoicing queries and follow through communications to the finance department to ensure that payments are not delayed. Priority is given to any suspended accounts on hold to avoid delays of pharmaceutical supplies reaching pharmacy and our customers. Analysis and investigation of reasons for non-payment needs to be resolved in a timely manner by negotiating the issues with the supplier concerned and follow through with finance for urgent payment. Inform your line manager of major price increases found against products in order for the information to be passed onto relevant Directorate Pharmacists because of the implications this has on their budgets. In the absence of the invoicing manager ensure that all urgent invoice or price queries are dealt with and communicated to relevant staff. DISTRIBUTION Participate in a stock supply to wards, clinics and departments based at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and off-site clinics. This includes performing top ups, inputting orders on WellSky, picking and checking medicines and packing appropriately for distribution to wards/departments. Process top up ward orders via ARX robot and manually as needed. Correctly pick medicines against orders, matching medicine names, strengths, formulation and pack size to supply to wards and departments Correctly review medicine expiry dates when picking medicines before supplying to the wards and departments Deal with and respond appropriately to stock discrepancies and issues and communicate with buying office, dispensary and ward pharmacists as required. Ensure all to-follows are processed in timely way and any stock issues are communicated to the relevant staff. Ensure all Blist orders and ad hoc requests are processed efficiently, safely and to ensure defined key performance indicators are achieved. Support the maintenance of the cleanliness and tidiness within the distribution area in pharmacy. Support the implementation of pharmacy initiatives and projects such as electronic ward ordering and any other initiatives. Support the maintenance of the Major Accident boxes. Ensure the correct drugs and quantities are kept in the boxes at all times. Carry out expiry date checks on a regular basis and update lists with new expiry dates. Ensure that all Major Accident boxes are ready for use at all times. COMMUNICATION Ensure all communication, which may be complex, contentious or sensitive, is undertaken in a responsive and inclusive manner, focusing on improvement and ways to move forward. Ensure all communication is presented appropriately to the different recipients, according to levels of understanding, type of communication being imparted and possible barriers such as language culture, understanding or physical or mental health conditions. These duties are not exhaustive and will be reviewed with the post holder, allowing for amendments with the broad scope and band level of the role. TEAM WORK AND VALUES Work to meet departments expectations relating to teamwork and supports the Trusts values. To include: Working harmoniously with the direct team and wider team to achieve the objectives of the service. Demonstrate an ability to work well with all co-workers, peers and managers. To work constructively with all team members and to actively support each other to cover the workload of the service. To communicate effectively and professionally in order to ensure that the service delivered by the department is of the highest quality. This includes attendance at and participation in department meetings.