Lead Pharmacy Technician - Dispensary | Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Posting date:	27 April 2026
Salary:	Not specified
Additional salary information:	£39,959 - £48,117 per annum
Hours:	Full time
Closing date:	27 May 2026
Location:	Bedford, MK42 9DJ
Company:	Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Job type:	Permanent
Job reference:	7916404/418-AHP16404-CW

Summary

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a highly motivated and enthusiastic individual to join us as the Lead Pharmacy Technician – Dispensary, overseeing the Dispensary service at Bedford Hospital. This is a 12‑month fixed‑term position.

This is a demanding role that requires strong leadership and organisational skills, along with the ability to prioritise and manage your own workload independently.

The post holder will also act as line manager for a number of staff within the Pharmacy department.

This is an excellent time to join the team as we continue to expand our Senior Dispensary Team.

The successful candidate must be registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council as a Pharmacy Technician and hold Accredited Checking Technician status.
1. Lead and manage the coordination and organisation of the day‑to‑day work of the pharmacy dispensary team, as directed by the Principal Pharmacy Technician – Dispensary.
2. Prioritise workload and reassign dispensary staff to appropriate areas as needed, ensuring flexibility across technical duties.
3. Work collaboratively with the Principal Pharmacy Technician – Dispensary to promote a strong team approach to service delivery.
4. Take accountability for the quality of your own work and the daily performance of staff within your area of responsibility.
5. Support the planning, implementation, and evaluation of service developments.
6. Line‑manage designated members of the Dispensary Team as assigned by the Principal Pharmacy Technician – Dispensary.
7. Oversee the day‑to‑day operation of the electronic controlled drug management system, acting as the system manager.
8. Serve as the Dispensary lead for the Prescription Tracking System (PTS), resolving any issues or problems that arise

Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust provides hospital services to a growing population of around 700,000 people living across Bedfordshire and the surrounding areas across two busy hospital sites in Bedford and Luton. Both hospital sites offer key services such as A&E, Obstetrics-led Maternity and Paediatrics. You will be joining a friendly, high performing Trust committed to ensuring the health and wellbeing of staff. As one of the largest NHS Trusts in our region you will have access to a programme of high quality training and development to help you grow your career. The Trust continues to be committed to delivering the best patient care using the best clinical knowledge and technology available.

We not only recruit based on qualifications and experience - we recruit individuals who demonstrate the behaviours which underpin our Trusts core values. We achieve this by using values based recruitment. We are dedicated to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone, we are committed to promoting equality and diversity, and creating a culture that values differences.

Please note that vacancies may close prior to the advertised closing date when sufficient number of applications have been received. All new staff will be subject to a probationary period covering first 6 months in post. Travel between hospital sites may be required. Please review all documents attached to ensure you familiarize yourself with all requirements of the job.
1. To ensure excellence in standards of customer care maintaining a strong patient focus.
2. To supervise and manage the day-to-day activities of the dispensary and when required, seek support from the Principal Pharmacy Technician - Dispensary.
3. To manage the technical elements of the dispensing process carried out by the team of pharmacists, technicians, pre-registration technicians, senior pharmacy assistants and trainee pharmacists.
4. To personally receive prescriptions into dispensary including ensuring prescription charges are collected where appropriate.
5. To participate in the labelling and dispensing of inpatient, outpatient, controlled drugs, day case prescriptions and discharge prescriptions in accordance with the departmental procedures.
6. To support staff in any problem solving that arises including contacting other healthcare professionals.
7. To be the named line manager for a number of staff as determined by the Principal Pharmacy Technician - Dispensary.
8. To monitor near-miss dispensing error rates and report and devise strategies to resolve any problems or training gaps identified.
9. To participate and support the Principal Pharmacy Technician - Dispensary in the investigation of dispensary related incident reports (near-miss and trust-wide

For details, please refer to the attached Job Description file


This advert closes on Monday 11 May 2026