Primary Care Pharmacist

Job details

• Job reference: 257125
• Salary: Band 7 (£52,845 - £61,466)
• Job closing date: 14/09/2026
• Job Type: Other Therapeutic
• Location: The Balfour
• Employment type: Fixed-term or Secondment
• Hours Per Week: 36
• Job posted date: 24/08/2026
• Employer (NHS Board): NHS Orkney
• Department: Pharmacy

About the Organisation:

NHS Orkney is committed to delivering excellent care to our 22,000 residents. Whether you’re new to the NHS or bringing experience from elsewhere, your skills will make a real difference.

Our modern healthcare facility, The Balfour, brings together inpatient care, emergency services, outpatient clinics, diagnostics, GP practices and the Scottish Ambulance Service. We’re also investing in services across our outer isles, ensuring high-quality care reaches every corner of Orkney.

We are guided by our core values that shape everything we do – Open and honest, Respect and Kindness – from how we care for our patients to how we support each other as colleagues.

About Orkney:

With over 70 islands – 20 of them inhabited – Orkney offers a unique blend of natural beauty, close-knit community and an opportunity for adventure. From dramatic coastlines and rare wildlife to rich cultural traditions and active lifestyles, it’s a place where compassion thrives and every day brings something new. Regularly named one of the UK’s best places to live, Orkney offers a lifestyle that’s both fulfilling and inspiring.

The Position:

Primary Care Clinical Pharmacist (Polypharmacy & Medicines Reablement)

Help Shape the Future of Medicines Optimisation in One of Scotland's Most Unique Health Systems

We are looking for an enthusiastic and motivated pharmacist to join NHS Orkney's Primary Care Pharmacy Team and help deliver an innovative new Polypharmacy and Medicines Reablement Service across Orkney.

This exciting new post has been created through transformational funding to improve outcomes for people with frailty, multimorbidity and complex medicines needs. Working across GP practices, care homes, community settings and patients' own homes, the successful candidate will undertake structured polypharmacy reviews, medicines reconciliation and medicines optimisation activities aimed at reducing medicines-related harm and supporting people to remain independent for longer.

The post holder will work closely with GP practices, community pharmacies, hospital teams, care home and care at home services, patients, carers and unpaid carers to provide person-centred pharmaceutical care across mainland Orkney and the outer isles. A flexible approach, making effective use of remote consultations, multidisciplinary working and planned locality visits, will be key to delivering this service.

You will join a friendly, supportive and experienced pharmacy team and be supported by our established Primary Care Pharmacy Service. Team working is central to how we deliver care, and you will have opportunities to contribute to service development, quality improvement and innovative models of care across NHS Orkney. The role offers experience across the four pillars of advanced pharmacy practice: clinical practice, leadership and management, education, and research, and we are committed to supporting the successful candidate in their professional development, including progression through the Royal Pharmaceutical Society credentialing programme.

This is an exciting opportunity to make a real difference to patient care while helping shape a new service expected to deliver significant benefits for patients and the wider health and care system. The programme aims to support over 800 polypharmacy reviews annually and improve access to pharmaceutical care for people living in our remote and island communities.

The successful candidate must be a registered pharmacist with excellent clinical, communication and interpersonal skills. Experience in primary care, community pharmacy or hospital pharmacy is welcomed. An Independent Prescribing qualification is essential to the role.

This post offers a unique working environment with a friendly and enthusiastic team in a stunning remote and rural setting, where you can make a visible difference to the health and wellbeing of the Orkney population.

For more information on this position, NHS Orkney and our Primary Care Pharmacy Team, including information on travelling, living and working in Orkney, please visit: https://express.adobe.com/page/Med50g8DZLUOB

Location, Working Pattern and Contract Duration:

This post will be based at The Balfour

The successful candidate will work: Full Time 36 hours per week

This post is Fixed-Term/Secondment* until November 2028 months due to funding for a specific project

It is a condition of this employment that you must live and remain a resident within the UK for the post in which you will be employed with NHS Orkney.

Benefits and Salary:

Did you know NHS Scotland salaries are higher than those in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland?

The salary for this post is Band 7 and if residing on Orkney, you’ll also receive a Distant Islands Allowance of £1,719 pro rata per annum, adding extra value to your rewarding career with us.

NHS Orkney also offers an attractive pension scheme, wide range of work life balance policies, employee assistance programme and various discounts to both local and national retailers.

Further Information:

If you share our vision and are ready to be part of Team Orkney, we’d love to hear from you. Your rewarding career starts here!

We are happy to consider any reasonable adjustments that candidates may need during the recruitment process, and you will be asked whether you require any during your application. If there are additional requirements you would like to request, please contact ork.recruitment@nhs.scot

For further guidance on the recruitment process and tips for creating a strong application, please refer to our Candidate Application Pack.

To find out more about this opportunity please contact:

Lyndsay Steel, Lead General Practice Pharmacist by email on Lyndsay.steel1@nhs.scot or phone 07999 029282

This post is subject to a Disclosure Scotland check.

NHS Orkney is an equal opportunities employer committed to advancing equality and particularly welcomes applications from groups of people currently underrepresented within the workforce. We are a committed participant in the Disability Confident Leader Scheme and guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum essential criteria for our vacancies.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) - Candidates should provide original and authentic responses to all questions within the application form. The use of artificial intelligence (AI), automated tools, or other third-party assistance to generate, draft, or significantly modify responses is strongly discouraged. By submitting your application, you confirm that all answers are your own work, reflect your personal knowledge, skills and experience, and have not been solely produced or altered by AI or similar technologies.

Failure to comply with this requirement may result in your application being withdrawn from the application process.

Please note this advert may close early if sufficient applications are received.

Interview Date: Interviews will take place w/c 21st of September, date to be confirmed.

*Please discuss seeking a secondment with your line manager, prior to submitting an application.