A to Z of services

Overview

The main Pharmacy Department is located in the Woodcroft wing of Croydon University Hospital, which is marked on hospital maps as its Red Zone.

View Access Guide to Pharmacy for people with mobility or other problems.

Opening hours:

• Monday to Friday - 9am - 5.15pm
• Saturdays, Sundays and all public holidays (except Christmas Day) - 10am - 3pm
• An out of hours non-residential on-call pharmacy service for advice and emergency supplies only is accessible via the main hospital switchboard

The Pharmacy Department at Croydon University Hospital employs around 65 staff, equally split between pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and other support staff, and supplies all the medicines used in the Trust.

Pharmacy staff advise medical and nursing colleagues on the safe selection and appropriate use of medicines. They also provide information for patients on how to manage their medicines to ensure optimal treatment outcomes.

The department places a great emphasis on training and development and has a track record of training all grades of staff.

Qualified Pharmacists are required to undertake postgraduate study for the Pharmacy Joint Programmes Board Clinical Pharmacy diploma and other training activities as identified according to individual development needs.

Technicians are supported through NVQ training provided by London Pharmacy Education and Training, an NHS service funded via the workforce development activity within the Strategic Health Authorities in London and East of England (Beds, Essex & Herts).
 
Trust Formulary Report

Services provided

Croydon Health Services pharmacy department provides and supervises the use of all medicines prescribed within the organisation. This key role, known as Medicines Optimisation, is delivered by a dedicated and multi-skilled team via a full range of services to the hospital including the following:

Patient Services

Patient services is based in the main pharmacy in the Woodcroft Wing and offers efficient and accurate dispensing of medicines to inpatients, outpatients and patients being discharged from hospital.

Outpatient dispensing – via Lloyds Pharmacy

Medicines that are urgently required and those that can only be obtained from the hospital will be supplied from the hospital pharmacy following an outpatient appointment. Patients should bring evidence of any exemptions from prescription charges when attending the hospital pharmacy.
Routine and non-urgent medication should be obtained from a community pharmacy using a prescription written by the GP. A referral letter for the GP will be given to the patient in the outpatient clinic. It may take a few days for the GP to produce a prescription but this should not concern patients as all urgently needed medicines are provided from the hospital.

Clinical Services

A team of specially trained and highly motivated Pharmacists supported by Medicines Management Pharmacy Technicians work closely with other clinical colleagues (Doctors, Nurses, Dieticians, etc) and provide advice to those prescribing or administering medicines throughout the hospital to ensure that patients receive the safest and most effective medicines for their care. Almost all wards are visited daily (Monday – Friday) and patients have their prescribed medication reviewed and checked for contraindications (including allergies) and potentially harmful interactions between different medicines.

Pharmacists use their expert knowledge of how medicines are handled by the body (pharmacokinetics) to calculate appropriate doses for patients with a reduced ability to safely clear medicines from the body. They monitor patients for the effectiveness of medication therapy as well as any adverse reactions that may occur. Each prescribed medication is then adjusted for optimal therapy and patients are given individualised advice on how to make best use their medicines both whilst in hospital and when they are at home. Some experienced Clinical Pharmacists are qualified Non-Medical Prescribers and are trained to conduct clinics for patients in certain specialities.

One-stop Dispensing service

A ‘One-stop Dispensing’ service is available on many wards across the Trust as part of our commitment to making better use of NHS resources. This is achieved by minimising medication wastage and significantly reducing waiting times for discharge prescriptions. The service involves the assessment and utilisation of patient’s own medication (POD) during their hospital stay and labelling medicines ready for discharge. During the patient’s inpatient admission, medicines are stored in an individual bedside POD locker with nursing staff administering them at the prescribed time.

Patients are encouraged to bring their most current and up to date GP repeat prescription into hospital along with their own medicines from home. Those assessed as suitable will be used during their inpatient hospital stay and if required further supplies will be provided by the ward based pharmacy team prior to discharge.

Technical Services

Technical services are responsible for the production of all aseptically prepared medicines, cytotoxic agents for parenteral administration in a ready-to-use form and parenteral nutrition infusion bags for adults, children and babies. The unit is audited by the Regional Quality Assurance team regularly to ensure all processes meet the required standard.

Medicines Information

A dedicated team of Clinical Pharmacists provide evidence based information about all aspects of medicines prescribing and administration between 9 am to 5:15 pm. Staff, patients and GPs can phone the team as there is a dedicated direct telephone helpline.

Purchasing, Ordering, Stores and Distribution (POSD)

POSD negotiates and coordinates the way in which medicines are assessed, selected, purchased, ordered and delivered from suppliers to the hospital and then distributed to patients, wards and clinical areas.  

Education and Training

We are very committed to education and training and every effort made to support an individual member of staff’s professional development. We offer a variety of in-house training for all staff and we have close links with LPE&T (London Pharmacy Education and Training Centre) & colleges and Universities.

The training we provide supports those who are seeking work experience, summer vacation students, community based Pre Registration Pharmacy Trainees, NVQ Level 2 & 3 Pharmaceutical Services students (for Pharmacy Assistants & Pre Registration Pharmacy Technicians) and post graduate education for qualified pharmacists.

All Pharmacy team members work together to ensure that excellent training is provided whatever the grade and each member of staff is encouraged to keep a portfolio containing evidence of their continuing professional development.

Contact Us

Pharmacy Department Office: 020 8401 3057

Patient / Clinical Services (Main Dispensary): 020 8401 3000 ext 4376

Technical Services: 020 8401 3000 ext 4143 or 020 8401 3456

Patient Medicines Information Helpline (9am – 5:15pm): 020 8401 3059

Purchasing, Ordering, Stores & Distribution: 020 8401 3507

Education & Training: 020 8401 3057

Opening Hours

Monday to Friday - 9am - 5.15pm

Saturdays and all public holidays (except Christmas day) - 10am - 3pm

An out-of-hours non-residential on-call pharmacy service for advice and emergency supplies only is accessible via the main hospital switchboard 020 8401 3000.