WINNER
'INFORMATION WAS THEN PASSED ON TO EACH OF THE CLINICAL TEAMS AND THE DISPENSARY, WHICH ALLOWED THE REQUIRED WORKFORCE WITH THE CORRECT SKILLS TO BE ALLOCATED TO HIGH-PRESSURE AREAS, PRE-EMPTING SURGE ISSUES AND THEREFORE REDUCING STRESS ON STAFF AND CONTRIBUTING TO A GOOD FLOW OF PATIENTS THROUGH THE ORGANISATION.'
‘Over a year ago, pharmacy started to attend the whole hospital huddle,’ Susan Roberts tells SP. ‘Each weekday morning, the senior pharmacy technician would visit the whole hospital huddle and, from this meeting, she would establish capacity issues in the hospital and therefore likely workload pressures for pharmacy. This information was then passed on to to each of the clinical teams and the dispensary, which allowed the required workforce with the correct skills to be allocated to high-pressure areas pre-empting surge issues and therefore reducing stress on staff and contributing to a good flow of patients through the organisation.’
Over the same period, the clinical team also improved their communication at ward level. Over a year ago, they introduced an electronic system for collating and communicating clinical pharmacy information: a system, which allowed the clinical pharmacists to allocate
a triage category to patients as they were assessed on admission. Clinical pharmacists were also able to document any actions they had undertaken within the system or request colleagues to follow up pharmaceutical care issues. This allowed team members further downstream to prioritise which patients they would review and provided them with the information to target their actions. The pharmacy technicians also use this system to highlight any issues they identify when reviewing patients on admission (eg, medicines reconciliation discrepancies) to their clinical pharmacy colleagues.
‘The senior pharmacy team (including senior staff from aseptic, dispensary, distribution and clinical services) now huddle for a debrief of the preceding week and to plan for the following week,’ Susan continues. ‘We start by sharing our high and low points of the week and any subsequent issues that need addressed. This meeting is supposed to be very short (ie, fifteen minutes) although we are working on achieving this! Once a month the same team meet for an hour for a longer planning meeting. At this session we plan and agree actions for recruitment, service improvement and particularly planning for our move to a new hospital.
‘As a team, we have worked at length to utilise the skills of each staff group:
Pharmacy assistants –The move to the new hospital in Dumfries and Galloway will see a change in the
SCOTTISH PHARMACIST - 43
assistant’s role as there will be an automated distribution system. Releasing time from a department- based role to ward-based allows them to use their skills to support the accurate flow of patients and their medicines around the hospital, which, in turn, releases pharmacy technician time.
Pharmacy technicians - The pharmacy technicians’ role in Dumfries and Galloway is becoming more clinical and the hospital pharmacy has been developing this role over the past 18 months. This has included using
electronic solutions to communicate information to the wider team, as well as using their skills in a new role in the ward environment. This is contributing to optimal patient flow within the organisation supporting pharmacists to provide a more clinical role.
Pharmacists - The pharmacists are working tirelessly to redesign the service they provide within existing resource and ensure the patients with the highest risk receive the pharmaceutical care they need, thus reducing the estimated 280 preventable deaths related to medicines each year in Scottish Hospitals. This has included implementing an electronic system to triage patients and communicate information to their colleagues and get used to using lap tops and tablets instead of bits of paper. The rate of change has been dramatic.
‘Once a month we also hold a fifteen- minute department meeting where all staff are invited to ensure cascade of information both from and to the senior team. Improving this flow of information around our team has allowed us to optimise the potential of our team, resulting in improved patient care. We work well as a team as we communicate in an open, honest and constructive manner.’
'THE PHARMACISTS ARE WORKING TIRELESSLY TO REDESIGN THE SERVICE THEY PROVIDE WITHIN EXISTING RESOURCE AND ENSURE THE PATIENTS WITH THE HIGHER RISK RECEIVE THE PHARMACEUTICAL CARE THEY NEED, THUS REDUCING THE ESTIMATED 280 PREVENTABLE DEATHS RELATED TO MEDICINES EACH YEAR IN SCOTTISH HOSPITALS.'
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