Pharmacy

The dispensary provides medicines for patients admitted to the hospital (inpatient) and those issued prescriptions during their clinic visit (outpatients). The department also has a number of “ satellite” pharmacies across the hospital which supply medicines for hospital inpatients .

Upon discharge, all patients are issued with between 14 and 28 days supply of medicines.

Patients attending out-patient clinics, who are issued a prescription, will be given an initial supply of up to 28 days from the hospital pharmacy for any items that are required urgently.

Pharmacy@TheRoyal is the hospital’s retail pharmacy which sells a wide range of over the counter medicines to patients, staff and visitors.

We are committed to continually innovating how we provide pharmacy services to the trust and beyond. We have extensive implementation of electronic prescribing (EPMA) and utilise this to prioritise the clinical agenda.

Our ward based teams provide a robust service with a focus on Medicines Safety and Optimisation. Pharmacy teams deliver a crucial role as part of the MDT and are highly valued across the trust.

We have a mature ward technician team that is focused on delivering safe and efficient services. Innovative roles for pharmacy assistants are also being developed to better integrate pharmacy services into the teams.

The use of technology at ward level is central to our service. EPMA allows us to target clinical pharmacy resource, saving time and allowing us to focus where we are most needed. Ward based automation is allowing us to drive efficiencies in ward medicines use and providing safer processes for medicines administration.

We are one of the leading trusts nationally for the number of active prescribing pharmacists. This has allowed us to create innovative ward based roles and the development of advanced practitioner roles.

Chesterfield Royal Hospital’s Aseptic Manufacturing Unit holds a Specials Manufacturing License, and therefore, Regulated by the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

The department consists of two new (2018), purposely built, clean room suites in which Central Intravenous Additive Services (CIVAS) and Cytotoxic Chemotherapy (CYTOs) are prepared using isolator technology.

These products may include: 

• Prefilled syringes
• Infusion bags
• Infusion devices – elastomeric pumps
• Patient controlled analgesia
• Bladder instillations

These specialist formulations must be manufactured with special care and attention to detail to ensure the highest possible product quality, with the objective of excluding the introduction of all microbial and particulate contamination.  These products are administered to seriously ill patients by injection, sometimes over a period of time. This route bypasses most of the body’s natural defences to infection, necessitating lack of contamination. Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) guidelines and training gives assurance that quality is built into all working procedures to produce products that are fit for purpose.

We have a dedicated team, consisting of Pharmacy Technicians and Assistant Technicians who are focused on delivering safe and efficient services.  All staff are subject to extensive training covering the principles of Aseptic Processing and Environmental and Physical monitoring. This training is ongoing to ensure compliance with ever changing regulatory standards.

Team of specialist pharmacists who provide clinical advice and support to all healthcare professionals across the Trust. This includes advice on the safe and effective use of medication. 

Our ‘Medicines Helpline’ service is designed to assists patients and their carers by answering their questions related to medication received from the hospital and to provide any additional support (see details below).   
 
Medicines Helpline 

Contact  us on 01246 512153 (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm) for medication-related advice for medicines collected from the hospital such as :
•    How and when to take your medicines
•    Side-effects due to recently started medicines
•    Clarification on medication changes  after discharge

For information on what we keep or any medication we may owe you, please contact the pharmacy dispensary (01246 512152 / 57).

We have a diverse range of specialist pharmacist roles that have been established through our commitment to developing clinical pharmacy. Specialist clinical roles deliver services to haematology/oncology, medical specialties, ED, nutrition and anticoagulation.

Pharmacy input to the antibiotic stewardship team is instrumental in delivering local and national agendas. The use of technology through use of an antibiotic formulary application has been successful in ensuring appropriate prescribing.

Pharmacy prescribing support to the theatre admissions unit has also been an innovative and successful development. All elective surgical patients have their medicines assessed and prescribed by pharmacists on admission. This role ensures appropriate care for this group of patients and significant safety benefits have been demonstrated.

A team of pharmacists undertake clinical roles based within the Royal Primary Care team. This close link to the practices means we can better understand the transition of care as well as supporting the GP workload agenda. There are also rotational opportunities for pharmacists to enrich their experience outside of the hospital.

Pharmacists manage the anticoagulant services provided by the trust. This includes running the outpatient anticoagulation clinic and the prescribing of warfarin for inpatients. Utilisation of prescribing pharmacists in the clinic has allowed us to develop an AF referral and a surgical bridging service. The anticoagulation team also takes a lead role in thrombosis committee and has helped in attainment of trust VTE exemplar status.

Although the hospital is an average sized district general hospital our trainees are able to experience a wide range of specialties and undertake some of the novel roles we have developed. Trainees receive supervision and development opportunities to help in becoming high quality professionals. We are keen to grow our own staff so are committed to providing a training experience that will allow us to develop the next generation of innovators who can continue to take the service forward.