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Pharmacy change at Tokoroa Hospital
Pharmacy change at Tokoroa Hospital
Waikato Hospital’s pharmacy services will take over the supply of medicines and pharmacy service at Tokoroa Hospital from 1 July.
All pharmaceuticals will come from Waikato Hospital with a technician and pharmacist providing and overseeing the service.
Tokoroa Hospital manager Joanne Knight said the change came about from a previous external survey that identified patient medication education and information as a corrective action.
The pharmacy will provide patient and staff education onsite.
“It means inpatients will get improved medication information, particularly on discharge. Staff will also get formal education sessions that helps to reduce medication errors making it safer for patients,” said Mrs Knight.
Pharmacy Services will carry out chart audits and support clinical staff with the successful Zero Tolerance to Prescribing Errors programme already a success in Waikato Hospital.
“This improves the service for patients once again by reducing medication errors and also by alerting medical officers to drug interactions. Pharmacy will also keep us up to date with current trends and products which ensure we prescribe the best medication for the patient,” she said.
The service is similar to the one provided at Thames Hospital where a clinical pharmacist regularly visits and oversees the clinical pharmacy services offered at the hospital.
Pharmacy manager Jan Goddard said Tokoroa people would welcome the new arrangement to provide an overview of their medication, especially if it was complex.
If they needed to transfer to Waikato Hospital there would be continuity of care. A retail pharmacist in downtown Tokoroa currently provides the service for the hospital.
“This service will be 24 hours a day, seven days a week as we have on-call pharmacists available. I know at Thames Hospital they appreciate having that back up as they often ask for increased service and more hours from the clinical pharmacy team,” said Ms Goddard.
Additional services
offered to Tokoroa include:
• Education for patients on
discharge with medication education cards to patients that
meet defined criteria
• Medicines information service
to prescribers and nursing staff
• Updates on new
medicines and new issues concerning medicines
• Linkage with local and national pharmaceutical
organisations
• Clinical pharmacists review medication
charts
• Staff education.
ENDS
Waikato District Health Board
Healthy People. Excellent Care
Waikato District Health Board (DHB) employs over 6500 people and plans, funds and provides hospital and health services to more than 391,770 people in a region covering eight per cent of New Zealand.
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