Hospital pharmacy

Erkiso Sh. [BPharm, MPharm]

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Introduction

• Pharmacy service is the last and critical step for client’s services in
hospitals.

• Since the ultimate health outcome is determined by appropriate selection,

quantification, procurement and rational use of pharmaceuticals,

 pharmacy services should be designed to provide assurance that

quality and safety is maintained at all stages of service provision.

 Hospital pharmacy is concerned with the pharmacy service to all kinds of

hospital settings.

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Organization of a typical hospital pharmacy
department

• Hospital pharmacy services need be effectively managed so as

to provide patient-centered services.

• To achieve this, the department shall be led by head/ director

who is assigned by the hospital management.

• The department head/director in turn assigns unit

coordinators; and team leaders may be formed to execute
activities as deemed necessary.

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Organization…

• Organization of the pharmacy services

 should ensure patient’s safety, privacy and satisfaction.

• To achieve this, the following issues should be addressed:

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A. Pharmacy Service Organization

• The pharmacy services of the hospital should be organized as

 outpatient pharmacy services unit,

 inpatient pharmacy services unit,

 emergency pharmacy services unit, pharmaceutical supply management unit,

 drug information services unit,

 compounding pharmacy services units.

 Other units shall also be established depending on the hospital complexity and
demand.

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B) OPD Pharmacy

• can be organized in multiple locations (e.g. ART pharmacy, Adult OPD

pharmacy, pediatric OPD pharmacy, chronic care pharmacies, MCH
pharmacy etc.)
 depending on the arrangement of the OPD clinics, geographical proximity and
complexity of the hospital so as to improve accessibility and convenience to
patients.

• Patient waiting areas at the OPD pharmacy units should be fitted with
appropriate seat and should provide enough safety and protection.

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C) Inpatient pharmacy

• Depending on patient load, number of beds, and geographical accessibility,

there should be adequate number of inpatient dispensaries and specialty
pharmacies located near to the major wards.

• These dispensaries should be led by pharmacists (preferably clinical

pharmacists).

• Inpatient pharmacy services should function under the unit dose

dispensing and work for 24 hours and 7 days a week.

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D) Emergency pharmacy

• Should be organized near emergency department.

• The dispensing process should be organized such that

pharmaceuticals should reach to the patient as fast as
possible.

• Besides the routine prescription based dispensing, emergency

crash cart system shall be used to avoid delays in availing
pharmaceuticals to emergency patients.

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Emergency…

• Emergency crash cart is a trolley used in hospitals for

transportation and dispensing of emergency pharmaceuticals
at site of medical/surgical emergency for life support
protocols to potentially save patient’s life.

• In crash cart system, the emergency physician, pharmacist,

nurse shall determine the list and amount of pharmaceuticals
to be included in the crash cart (Emergency Medicine List).

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E) Extemporaneous Compounding:

• In order to respond to specific patient needs, the hospital

pharmacy should have compounding services with separate
premises and equipped with the necessary facilities in
fulfillment of relevant regulatory requirements.

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F) Pharmaceutical supply management

• To ensure uninterrupted supply of pharmaceuticals, the hospital

pharmacy should have pharmaceutical supply management unit.

• The unit has separate pharmaceutical stores for medicines and supplies.

• The overall operation of the unit (selection, quantification, procurement,

inventory management, warehousing and distribution) should be
coordinated by a dedicated pharmacist and stores should be managed by
a separate store managers.

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G) Drug Information Services (DIS)

• The hospital pharmacy should have a drug information

service unit

 to effectively provide evidence based and

 up-to-date drug information for health care providers and

patients.

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THANK YOU

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