Pharmacy Department - Northampton General Hospital

Dispensary Services


Staffing

The Dispensary at NGH is Technician-led. The Dispensary Technical Team includes the Dispensary Manager, two Assistant Dispensary Managers, seventeen experienced Pharmacy Technicians, two Student Technicians and seven Pharmacy Dispensers.

Activities

The Technicians and Dispensers are required to accurately dispense prescriptions for out-patients, which includes clinical trials, in-patients and discharge patients. They also extemporaneously dispense a range of medicines for individual patients. Discharge and ward-based duties are also undertaken at a local Mental Healthcare Unit.

We have an effective prioritising system which reduces the number of telephone calls we receive in the dispensary, with the aim to meet specified discharge times. Our Pharmacy Dispensers play a key role in this system, relieving other technical and professional staff from reception duties and answering the telephone. We also have an one-hour ‘phone free’ period each day.

The dispensary-based Technicians also perform the technical final check of medicines and enhanced patient counselling.

We have recently installed an Automated Dispensing System, which will reduce dispensing turnaround times, facilitate faster discharge and release staff to support patient care by redeploying Technicians to support ward-based activities.

Statistics

The average number of dispensed items per month for 04/05 were:

Out-patients4,774 items
In-patients7,268 items
Discharges9,640 items

If you are interested in the Dispensary, or would like any further information contact Jane Maloy, Chief Technician on 01604 545693 or email: pharmacyoffice@ngh.nhs.uk

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