Paediatric pharmacy is one of the smallest specialties in NHS hospital pharmacy — but the roles that do appear on public job boards carry some of the highest advertised salaries in the profession.
In PharmSee's latest sample of 200 NHS Jobs pharmacy listings (drawn from 461 total active postings in April 2026), three roles specifically mention paediatric or children's services. All three sit at Band 7 or above, with advertised salaries ranging from £57,528 to £77,368 per annum.
The current paediatric pharmacy listings
| Role | Location | Salary range | Estimated band |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced Clinical Lead Pharmacist — Women and Children's Services | Stoke-on-Trent (ST4 6QG) | £66,582–£77,368 | Band 8b |
| Clinical Pharmacist, Adult Respiratory Medicine and Paediatrics | London (SW3 6HP) | £58,133–£65,261 | Band 7-8a |
| Lead Advanced Pharmacist Paediatric Oncology | Brighton (BN2 5BE) | £57,528–£64,750 | Band 8a |
Source: PharmSee analysis of NHS Jobs listings, April 2026. Sample represents 200 of 461 total NHS pharmacy postings (43% sample). Salaries are advertised ranges and may vary by experience and location.
Why so few listings?
Three paediatric roles in a 200-listing sample translates to approximately 1.5% of NHS pharmacy vacancies. Even accounting for the sample cap (PharmSee captures 200 of 461 NHS pharmacy listings, or 43% of the population), the upper confidence bound suggests no more than 7 paediatric roles in the full NHS Jobs pharmacy population at any given time.
Several factors explain the rarity. Children's hospitals and paediatric wards represent a fraction of total NHS bed capacity. Paediatric pharmacists tend to be highly specialised — many rotate through paediatric oncology, neonatal intensive care, or general paediatric medicine over years — and turnover in these roles is typically low. When a paediatric pharmacist post does open, it often goes to an internal candidate or a known specialist network before it reaches a public job board.
The Brighton listing is notable: a Lead Advanced Pharmacist in Paediatric Oncology, combining two rare specialties (paediatrics and oncology) in a single role. This level of specialisation typically requires significant post-qualification experience and often a postgraduate diploma in paediatric pharmacy practice.
Salary context
The £57,528-£77,368 range for paediatric pharmacy roles places them firmly in the upper quartile of NHS pharmacy salaries. For comparison, PharmSee's analysis of the same NHS Jobs sample shows:
- General pharmacist roles: typically £37,338–£44,962 (Band 6-7)
- Aseptic/sterile services: £25,272–£65,723 (Band 2–8a)
- Mental health pharmacy: £28,392–£64,750 (Band 5–8a)
- Oncology pharmacy: £46,148–£64,750 (Band 7–8a)
Paediatric pharmacy's salary floor of £57,528 exceeds the salary ceiling of many other pharmacy specialties, reflecting the seniority required to work safely with children's medicines — where dosing errors carry disproportionate risk and specialist formulation knowledge is essential.
Career pathway
Entry into paediatric pharmacy typically follows a general hospital rotation that includes a paediatric placement. The Royal Pharmaceutical Society and the Neonatal and Paediatric Pharmacists Group (NPPG) provide specialist frameworks. Most paediatric pharmacist posts require:
- Full GPhC registration
- At least 2-3 years of hospital pharmacy experience
- Evidence of paediatric medicines management competence
- Independent prescriber qualification (increasingly expected at Band 8a+)
For pharmacists interested in working with children, the pathway is long but the career reward is significant: senior paediatric pharmacists sit at Band 8a-8b, comparable to consultant pharmacist grades in other specialties.
Monitoring this specialty
Given the small number of public listings, PharmSee will continue to track paediatric pharmacy postings across future measurement cycles. The three current listings may represent a snapshot of normal turnover rather than growing demand — but any increase would be significant given the baseline.
Browse all current NHS pharmacy vacancies using PharmSee's job search, or compare salary ranges across specialties with the salary tool.
Methodology
Data drawn from PharmSee's multi-source vacancy tracker, which monitors 11 public pharmacy job sources including NHS Jobs. The 200-item NHS Jobs sample represents 43% of the 461 total NHS pharmacy listings at the time of measurement. Role classification is based on job title keywords; some paediatric-relevant roles may use different terminology (e.g. "children's services", "neonatal") and not appear in a title-only search. Salary figures are advertised ranges as stated in the listing.
Data snapshot: April 2026.