The pharmacy team at University Hospital Hairmyres is getting a Big Shout Out for its fantastic commitment to providing effective, safe and efficient care and logistics.
Anthony Carson, the hospital’s Head of Pharmacy, said: “We have a dedicated team who work across dispensary, distribution, procurement, clinical pharmacy and medicines information.
“Our focus on safety is clear when you consider we normally dispense 9,000 to 10,000 items a month – with an accuracy of over 99.9 per cent.
“We’re a lean and efficient service – 74 per cent of the medications needed for inpatient discharges are dispensed within the target two-hour turnaround time. Thanks to that, we actually got a Valentine’s card from the discharge lounge staff!
“We also handle discharge prescriptions for some off-site locations and supply controlled drugs to Hairmyres’ wards and departments.”
Beyond dispensing, the department provides:
- clinical pharmacists and clinical pharmacy technicians, giving a clinical pharmacy service on the wards
- medicines distribution to all the wards and Stonehouse and Udston hospitals
- management of the ordering of medicines in a timely and cost-effective manner
- a medicines information service for our three acute sites, Forth Valley Royal Hospital, and primary care in Lanarkshire and Forth Valley
Unique to Hairmyres’ pharmacy service is the vaccine distribution hub, which supplies all of NHS Lanarkshire. There’s also the Drug Initiation Service, which monitors patients starting high-risk medicines for three months before their GP takes on oversight.
Anthony added: “Successes include the evolving pharmacy technician role, our spotlight on wellbeing and quality improvement, and recruitment from the Demonstrator programme along with support for DFN Project Search, the initiative that helps young people with autism and learning disabilities into employment.”
The Hairmyres pharmacy team’s work was witnessed first-hand at the latest Board walkround, led by Martin Hill, Chair of the Board of NHS Lanarkshire. He was joined by fellow non-executives Alastair Boyle, Scott Haldane, Lesley McDonald and Donald Reid, along with Director of Pharmacy Graeme Bryson, Executive Nurse Director Trudi Marshall and Head of Evidence Amanda Minns.
Martin said: “We were extremely impressed by the team’s work, which is reflective of the very high-quality pharmacy services across Lanarkshire as a whole. The event gave us a useful opportunity to speak with some of the staff and also to find out what elements of their work the pharmacy staff would like to Board to be sighted on.”
