Advert details:
Salary: Band 7 (£52,845 - £61,466)
Job closing date: 10/12/2026
Job Type: Other Therapeutic
Location: NHS Lothian
Employment type: Fixed-term
Hours Per Week: 18
Employer (NHS Board): NHS Lothian
Department: Pharmacy

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Band 7 Pharmacist - Diabetes and Frailty Project
NHS Lothian | Fixed Term for 36 Months | 2 x 0.5 WTE
Transforming Care for People Living with Diabetes and Frailty
An exciting opportunity has arisen for an enthusiastic and innovative pharmacist to join a new multidisciplinary service aimed at improving outcomes for people living with diabetes and frailty across Edinburgh.

This fixed-term Band 7 post will play a pivotal role in a transformational project designed to optimise diabetes management, reduce unnecessary insulin use where appropriate, improve patient safety, and support people to live well in their own homes and care settings. The post forms part of a dedicated project team comprising Consultant Diabetologists, Diabetes Specialist Nurses, and Pharmacy colleagues.

About the Role
Many frail older adults currently rely on nursing support for insulin administration. This model of care is resource intensive and may not always represent best practice. Through proactive multidisciplinary review, the service aims to support safer, more person-centred diabetes management, including insulin optimisation, deprescribing where clinically appropriate, and implementation of individualised care plans.

As the Band 7 Pharmacist, you will:

• Provide specialist pharmaceutical input to patients with frailty and diabetes.
• Work closely with Consultant Diabetologists and Diabetes Specialist Nurses to support medication optimisation.
• Lead on medicines management aspects of the project, including reviewing prescribing changes and supporting safe transitions to alternative therapies.
• Monitor medication supply issues and proactively manage changes in demand resulting from altered prescribing practices.
• Analyse and report on medicines-related outcomes, including medicine, consumables and equipment costs.
• Contribute to service evaluation, quality improvement and future service development.
• Support education and training of colleagues across primary and community care settings.
• Participate in multidisciplinary team meetings and contribute to the development of sustainable models of care

About You
We are looking for a pharmacist who:

• Is registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).
• Has significant relevant post-registration clinical experience.
• Demonstrates strong clinical decision-making and medicines optimisation skills.
• Has experience working with long-term conditions, ideally diabetes, older people, frailty, or polypharmacy.
• Has excellent communication and multidisciplinary working skills.
• Is motivated by service improvement and innovation.
• Can work autonomously whilst contributing effectively within a wider multidisciplinary team.
• A postgraduate clinical qualification and evidence of practice at Advanced Level would be desirable.

Why Join Us?
This is a unique opportunity to help shape an innovative service that will:

• Improve safety and quality of care for people with diabetes and frailty.
• Reduce avoidable hospital admissions.
• Support more effective use of community healthcare resources.
• Deliver sustainable improvements aligned with NHS Lothian and Edinburgh Integration Joint Board strategic priorities.

You will gain valuable experience in service development, multidisciplinary working, quality improvement and specialist diabetes care, while helping to deliver meaningful change for a vulnerable patient population.

Join us and help transform diabetes care for people living with frailty across NHS Lothian.

To work in the United Kingdom, there is a legal requirement for an individual to demonstrate that they have the relevant permission to work in the country. This permission is, without exception, granted by the UK Visa and Immigrations Service. Further information on what NHS Scotland Boards are required to do to check this as well as what your responsibilities include can be found in the further information for this vacancy.

Please note: we anticipate a high level of interest in this position and may close the vacancy early once a sufficient amount of applications are received. Therefore, please make sure you complete and submit your application at an early stage.

We will fully support disabled candidates, and candidates with long-term conditions or who are neurodivergent by making reasonable adjustments to our recruitment policy and practices.

This post requires the post holder to have a PVG Scheme membership/record. If the post holder is not a current PVG member for the required regulatory group (i.e. child and/or adult) then an application will need to be made to Disclosure Scotland and deemed satisfactory before they can begin in post.

Please note: As this post is part-time, the salary will be pro-rata.

For further information on what is included in the role and what skills/experience are being looked for, click on the links at the bottom of the screen to the job description and person specification. If after reading this information you have any questions, please contact Karen.Reid@nhs.scot