Community Pharmacy Workforce Support
CPH recognises the ongoing challenges with pharmacy recruitment however the pharmacy vacancy webpage that was previously provided was not well used by community pharmacy contractors. Therefore the CPH committee has adopted the initiative in Community Pharmacy Suffolk to promote the use of the NHS jobs facility by community pharmacies.
NHS Jobs and Community Pharmacies: Did you know that your community pharmacy can advertise vacancies on the NHS Jobs website for free?
**It is simple to register, just send the NHS Jobs template email with your details to: nhsbsa.nhsjobs@nhsbsa.nhs.uk.**
Those that register will become super users of the site which would enable the person to be able to approve job listings prior to being published, so ideally would be the person that is responsible for recruitment. You may want to register using the pharmacies nhs.net premises account if no one has a personal nhs.net email at the pharmacy, as this also allows for changes in staff.
You will need a Privacy Policy and a company logo to upload to the site.
By turning the NHS Jobs website into the hub for community pharmacy vacancies, it supports our workforce challenges and embeds our sector as a key NHS provider, where our vacancies sit alongside NHS Trusts and GP surgeries.
It also takes advantage of the various pathways students are directed to for NHS careers advice and to see NHS pharmacy vacancies. Core platforms such as NHS Health Careers and Pharmacy Careers websites, along with the work of ICS training hubs, all help to drive the public to the NHS Jobs website.
For multiple pharmacies, please seek further advice at head office level.
Primary Care Careers
We are pleased to announce that the Primary Care Careers (PCC) pilot offering recruitment support to community pharmacies across N&W and SNEE ICBs will be extended and widened from 1 April 2024 including Hertfordshire.
The PCC team are an ICB-level recruitment service that is currently funded and supported across 5 eastern region ICBs (HWE, MSE, BLMK, N&W and SNEE), providing a dedicated recruitment support function for general practice teams; however, the service is currently being widened to include a pilot that offers support to pharmacy, optometry and dentistry teams.
With the particularly acute workforce crisis affecting community pharmacy, the ICBs have collectively agreed to support a pilot for 20 community pharmacies with vacancies, located across the SNEE & N&W footprints in 2024/25.
This offer (of 10 sites, per ICB, per sector) is available across all the ICBs the Primary Care Careers team support.
If you have a vacancy for any job role across the team that you would like help to recruit for, we would suggest you utilise this funded (free to you), tailored and personalised service that takes much of the leg work away from your busy team and lets the team at Primary Care Careers do the advertising across Indeed, NHS Jobs, their dedicated website and social media. They will then help you by managing applications and provide you with a shortlist of potential applicants for you to contact to arrange interviews.
If you wish to take up the free PCC recruitment support offer, please contact:
Email: enquiries@eoeprimarycarecareers.nhs.uk
Phone: 01206 918760
