The James Cook University Hospital pharmacy department offers pharmaceutical services to their base hospital, one of largest hospital sites in the country, as well as to neighbouring community hospitals. A pharmacy service is also provided to patients at Teesside Hospice.
Friarage Hospital pharmacy department offers dedicated support to this district general hospital in Northallerton and to the community hospitals and mental health wards in this part of the region.
The pharmacy team
Our large dynamic, friendly and busy team includes assistant technical officers; pharmacy technicians; medicines management technicians, pre-registration trainees; clinical and specialist pharmacists; and a variety support staff.
The pharmacy team is committed to delivering outstanding patient centered pharmacy services to the staff and patients of South Tees Hospitals.
The operational teams utilise technologies such as an automated dispensing robot to prepare safe and prompt supplies of medication to wards and departments as well as inpatients and outpatients.
Innovative ways of working such as the introduction of ward based dispensing carts has shown to reduce waiting times for discharge prescriptions.
Many specialist pharmacists are qualified to additionally prescribe medications, allowing for more effective and quicker prescribing for our patients.
The expanding aseptics and manufacturing services utilse an electronic prescribing system to efficiently prepare and supply critical chemotherapy treatments and total parenteral nutrition for named patients on demand.
The clinical trials team facilitates over 120 clinical trials, contributing to local and national research into new and innovative treatments.
Work currently underway includes:
- Implementation of electronic Omnicell® medication cabinets to replace traditional medication cabinets across some of the wards and departments to improve medication safety and security, and enhance ordering and administration of medicines.
- Ongoing promotion of the ‘Green Bag’ scheme, encouraging patients to bring their medications into hospital to increase adherence to medication, improve patient safety and decrease medicines wastage.
- Developing roles for pharmacy staff including prescribing and transcribing, advanced clinical practitioners and pharmacist led clinics. New highly specialised roles including pain specialist pharmacist and integrated urgent care pharmacist.
- New roles for pharmacy staff to be involved in education and training for doctors and nurses, to further improve medicines optimisation across the organisation.
- The trust is currently scoping an electronic patient record system which will include e-prescribing.