Continuing the focus on the work of our Board, we’re spotlighting the latest walkround by members.
There was a warm welcome at University Hospital Monklands for Katharina Kasper (pictured), Chair of the Board of NHS Lanarkshire, Donald Reid, Vice Chair, Lesley McDonald, Non-Executive Director, and Chris Deighan, Executive Medical Director.
Graeme Bryson (pictured), Director of Pharmacy, led the group on the visit to find out about the aseptic pharmacy service. Anne Wilson, Monklands Head of Pharmacy, and Emma McFarlane, Lead Aseptic Pharmacist, gave an overview of the service and its key functions.
Graeme said: “Aseptic pharmacy delivers a critical service across our three acute sites, preparing ready-to-administer sterile injectable medicines for patients.
“In NHS Lanarkshire, almost 30,000 treatments were dispensed last year, making it one of the busiest NHS aseptic units in Scotland. Three-quarters of items prepared are systemic anti-cancer therapy.
“We also provide adult and neonatal patients with parenteral nutrition – a method of delivering essential nutrients directly into the bloodstream through an intravenous catheter, completely bypassing the digestive tract. On top of that, we handle immunological treatment for medical patients.
“All of the medicines prepared in aseptic pharmacy are high risk either due to their innate toxicity, like chemotherapy, or because of their complexity, like parenteral nutrition. The operators working to prepare and check these medicines have to undergo intensive training and are subject to regular validations to ensure their skill level is maintained.”
