Spotlight On the Medicines Management Team

Our Medicines Management Team have a wealth of experience working in pharmacy and are involved in medication safety and governance at our Trust.

The team includes Helen Willimott, Deputy Chief Pharmacist and our Medication Safety Officer, Specialist Pharmacists Charlotte Waller and Finola MacAuley, and Faye Healey, Pharmacy Governance and Ward Technician Team Lead.

The team covers all things associated with the safe and effective use of medicines, including Trust policy in relation to use of medicines, training for pharmacy staff and mandatory training for nursing, medical and pharmacy staff.

Helen said: “No two days are the same. We all hold clinical and managerial commitments in addition to our roles in medicines management, which can at times require juggling! Each day will be a combination of different and varied tasks from rota management, attending or chairing meetings, training, guideline and policy writing, reviewing medication incidents and implementing national safety alerts.”

More than 3,500 prescriptions are written every day at the hospital and around 130 medication incidents are reported every month.

“Although we are a small and lesser-known area of pharmacy, we are always keen to help improve safety and support staff towards safer practices with medicines by working in collaboration with colleagues from within the Trust and wider,” said Faye.

“The CQC looks closely at how we manage meds across the Trust so it is important we meet the standards not just for patient safety but also for regulatory compliance.”

Charlotte added: “The most rewarding aspects of the role have been implementing positive changes that can directly impact patient safety and helping to ensure staff are equipped with the knowledge to do their job safely. The biggest challenges can be disseminating safety messages to diverse teams who are often working under immense pressure and facing multiple other challenges in their roles.”