New dispensary service at Walsall hospital
A pharmacy dispensing service has been set up within the outpatients department at a Black Country hospital.
The service at Walsall Manor Hospital will allow patients to collect their medication much closer to the clinics they have attended.
It has been set up in the area that was previously the Purple Hub, along the outpatients' corridor, near to the main entrance of the hospital.
Nalini Patel, pharmacy operations manager, who has worked on the project over the last few months, described it as a "milestone for pharmacy" – and said it was a great achievement for the Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust as it continues to work to make services as safe as possible throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.
She said: "Now we have an outpatient pharmacy situated within outpatients itself, we can serve patients far closer to the clinics and this saves them quite a lengthy walk round to the other end of the hospital.
Timely
“This service enables us to dispense prescriptions in a more timely way whilst patients wait and it also gives them an opportunity to ask advice about their medicines. We believe that having the outpatient pharmacy will improve our patients’ experience, reduce numbers accessing the West Wing area of the hospital and creates better accessibility for outpatient staff. It is a milestone for pharmacy.
“We will continue to work closely with our nursing colleagues to dispense medicines for those patients who attend day case appointments as part of our developing plans.
"We would like to thank all trust colleagues who have supported pharmacy to help us provide a more patient-centred service and integrate with the outpatient staff and I would like to acknowledge the hard work of all the pharmacy staff whose enthusiasm and commitment has ensured the successful setting up of this improved service.”
The outpatient pharmacy is open from Monday to Friday, from 9am to 5pm, with the last prescriptions being received by 4.30pm.
