Job Description

Here at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust, we are proud to provide expert, compassionate care for our local population. We are ranked as the third in the country for research, embedding education and training across the organisation. Our main hub is the Queen Alexandra Hospital, which is one of the largest hospitals on the south coast employing over 8,700 staff.

Our patients come from all walks of life and so do we. We hire great people from a wide variety of backgrounds because it makes our hospital stronger. If you share our values and our enthusiasm for getting it right for patients, colleagues, and our community, you will find a home at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust

NHS Band 7 Salary: £49,387 - £56,515 per annum

Hours Per Week: full time 37.5

Contract: Permanent

To perform final product approval (releasing officer) for items produced under the MHRA Manufacturer's Specials Licence and, if appropriate, for items produced under Section 10 of the Medicines Act 1968 and Regulation 37 of The Medicines for Human Use (Clinical Trials) Regulations 2004. To ensure finished products are examined for their compliance with approved specifications and fitness for their intended purpose and to release or reject each batch as appropriate. This will require consideration of all factors relevant to the batch release including facility status, staff training status, production documentation review, and the final product.

Apply specialist technical knowledge of good manufacturing practice and quality systems to ensure development and maintenance of quality control and assurance, including quality monitoring; preparation and review of work instructions; investigating quality deviations, non-conformances’, and complaints and reporting to pharmacy management in accordance with procedures.

Work with the QA Manager and other senior management personnel to ensure good manufacturing practice (GMP) and develop the quality management program to maintain the MHRA license and accredited unlicensed status. This will include providing and receiving complex and sensitive information, analysing and interpreting this information and relaying this information to the appropriate staff or customers Acting as one of the releasing officers to ensure that finished products are examined for their compliance with approved specifications and fitness for the intended purpose, and to release/reject each batch as appropriate. This will require consideration of all factors relevant to the immediate release including facility status, staff training status, production documentation review. This includes high levels of concentration over long periods of time to ensure each pharmaceutical product complies with a unique hospital specification, which includes dose calculations, precise and total paperwork/ label checking. Due to the nature of the role this will be subject to frequent interruptions to provide advice to staff on immediate resolution of other problems. Acting as one of the releasing officers requires intense scrutiny of documentation and judgmental skills to interpret information along with the ability to make a reasoned decision, questioning whether a product is fit to be used / released for patient use. Contribute in particular to those processes demanding higher skills or knowledge e.g. preparation of products for clinical trials. This will involve the receipt and interpretation of complex and sensitive information relating to individual patient care

For further information/ details of the role please refer to the

Qualifications

• Degree in Pharmacy, registered with the general pharmaceutical council.

Experience

Essential:

• Thorough understanding of GMP and the requirements of the MHRA.
• A good understanding of current microbiological or chemical methods and instruments used in QA/QC.
• An excellent understanding of equipment and techniques used in aseptic manufacturing or compounding.
• Working experience as a Releasing Officer.

Desirable:

• Previous work experience within the NHS aseptic services.

Additional Information

The health and wellbeing of our staff is at the forefront of everything we do. We are proud to be able to offer our staff some fantastic benefits including our on-site Nursery, access to our free Beach Hut for those long summer days, our on-site Wellness Centre including a gym and a swimming pool, access to our fantastic staff networks including LGBTQ, Race Equality and DisAbility, and awards ceremonies to recognise your achievements. We believe we can offer support to all of our staff when they need it the most.

We welcome the unique contributions that you can bring in terms of your education, opinions, culture, ethnicity, race, sex, gender identity and expression, nation of origin, age, languages spoken, veteran’s status, colour, religion, disability, sexual orientation, and beliefs.

For more information, please see our People and OD Strategy 2026