Senior Dispensing Assistant
At a glance
- Band
- Band 3
- Contract
- Fixed-term
- Pattern
- Part-time
- Hours / week
- 23.5
- Posted
- 15/09/2026
- Closes
- 29/09/2026
Sponsorship verdict
This contract type is not eligible for Skilled Worker sponsorship.
NHS Trusts cannot issue a Certificate of Sponsorship for part-time, bank, locum, zero-hours, job-share or short fixed-term (under 12 months) contracts under current Home Office rules. This applies even when the wider Trust holds a Skilled Worker licence.
Role summary
This is a fixed-term Senior Dispensing Assistant role at Colchester Hospital, covering maternity leave for 23.5 hours per week. The position involves dispensing medications for inpatients and outpatients, including controlled drugs, and restocking pharmaceutical products. You will also handle prescription payments and sell over-the-counter products under pharmacist supervision. Pharmacy experience is essential for this role.
Key responsibilities
- Dispense for inpatients and outpatients, calculating dosage and quantities according to SOPs.
- Ensure all customers receive appropriate medicine, correctly labelled and packaged, with relevant patient information.
- Dispense controlled drugs for ward stock and named patients, adhering to legal requirements.
- Perform self-checks on dispensed items for accuracy before final checking.
- Receive outpatient prescriptions, obtaining necessary information for effective service provision.
- Operate cash till and card machine for prescription payments and ensure correct declaration of payment/exemption.
- Sell over the counter products under the supervision of a pharmacist.
Essential criteria
- Previous experience of working in pharmacy (retail/hospital)
- Use of computers
- Basic Secondary Education - 'O' level/GCSE English, Maths & Science Grade C/4 or above
- Confidentiality issues working within pharmacy and on wards
Desirable criteria
- NVQ Pharmacy Services Level 2 - optional units: relevant to pharmacy practice area or equivalent.
Useful to know
Agenda for Change 2024/25 pays Band 3 at £24,625 – £25,674 a year, across England.
This advert: £25,760 – £27,476 — outside the standard scale; check for HCAS/London weighting.
Posted 1d ago · Closes in 14d
Plenty of time to prepare a strong application.
Full advert · preview
East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust
Senior Dispensing Assistant
The closing date is 29 September 2026
Job summary
We are looking for a Senior Dispensing Assistant to join our Pharmacy team to cover maternity leave. You will work within most areas of the ESNEFT Pharmaceutical Service based at Colchester Hospital, providing dispensing support to qualified staff. This post is fixed term / secondment until 14th September 2027 at 23.5 hours per week. Internal applicants currently employed by ESNEFT will be offered on a secondment basis only, which will need to be discussed with your line manager.
Duties will include dispensing for in-patients, outpatients and controlled drugs following standard procedures; a re-stocking service of pharmaceutical products to wards and departments.
Pharmacy experience is essential and a formal qualification is desirable, e.g. NVQ Level 2 or equivalent.
Formal Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holiday commitments are mandatory and will be on a rostered basis.
Details about our pharmacy service - https://esneft.pagetiger.com/csusdpr/1
Main duties of the job
- To dispense for inpatients and outpatients by calculating appropriate dosage and quantities required against prescriptions/requisitions, following departmental Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
- To ensure that all customers receive the appropriate medicine in the c
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