Pharmacy Innovation at NNUH
Pharmacists at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital have been working in the Emergency Department as part of a national pilot to see what difference it will make by putting them at the heart of urgent and emergency care.
“There’s been a lot of good feedback during the six week trial,” said deputy chief pharmacist Clive Beech. “If you get the medication right at the start you sort out any problems before patients get to the wards.
The trial has meant three pharmacists providing a seven day a week service from 9am to 8.30pm in the Emergency Department (ED) and Acute Medical Unit.
Pharmacist Emma Gray said the reception they received from staff had been “amazing” and they enjoyed being more proactive rather than reactive.
By seeing the patients when they first came in the scheme helped make sure
• Medication was supplied swiftly therefore reducing delays with discharges
• Any medication related problems are identified on admission
• Patients understand any new medication started or stopped
• The pharmacists were also a source of medicine information to the ED team.
Another recent pharmacy innovation is fingerprint recognition and swipe cards being used to improve efficiency with a new automated drug cabinet in the Emergency Department.
The impressive metal cabinet which dispenses medicines quickly and safely is on a three month trial with a large cabinet in ED and a small one in AMU.
The up-to-date system means that once the member of staff has swiped in their security card and had their fingerprint scanned, in they can type the appropriate medicine onto the keyboard and only that medicine in the right amount is dispensed saving the team time.
Clive Beech explained that the system guides staff to the right drug and strength. Plus it means there is an automatic reordering system that sends a daily report to the Pharmacy detailing what medicines have been used and need to be replaced for the next day. This eliminates the need for manual ordering and unpacking saving both nursing and pharmacy time. The system also ensures accountability and when it has been used elsewhere it has reduced both stock holding and medicine usage.
“It saves time, it saves money and it ensures you get the right drugs and eliminates human error,” added Clive.