Pharmacy

The pharmacy department of the Royal Surrey County Hospital employs over 80 people; Pharmacists, Pharmacy Technicians, Pharmacy Assistants and Clerical staff, all of whom play a vital role in providing medication and advice to our patients.

We issue over 700,000 items a year, at a value in excess of £14 million from our recently refurbished main dispensary.  The dispensary has a newly installed state of the art robotic dispensing system at the heart of the operation. A specialist satellite dispensary situated in the St Luke’s Cancer Centre is designed to meet the specific needs of these patients.

In addition, we have a licensed aseptic manufacturing unit which produces over 38,000 items a year of highly specialised medicines including cytotoxic (chemotherapy) infusions and parenteral nutrition feeds. A new upgraded unit is currently in construction at the RSCH site and is due for completion in early 2009.

Medicines Management services provided by pharmacy were classified as ‘good’ based on the Healthcare Commission Acute Hospitals Portfolio survey that was done in 2005.

Our dedicated team of pharmacists and medicines management technicians provide advice to medical and nursing staff on the selection and appropriate use of medicines at ward level. The ward-based pharmacy team will discuss your medicines with you during your stay in hospital. This will involve finding out what medicines you were taking before coming into hospital and how you were managing your medicines at home.  Before you leave the hospital we will provide information on how best to take and manage your medicines to ensure you get the most benefit from your treatment once you have left the hospital. The team also ensures that your GP receives information about your medicines when you are discharged from hospital.

We also have a Medicines Information department who are happy to deal with any queries or questions about your medication.

The main dispensary is on Level B of the hospital near the outpatient clinics. The satellite dispensary is situated within the St Luke’s Cancer centre, opposite the coffee bar.

Our opening times are:

Our main dispensary has a pharmacy shop where you can buy over the counter remedies such as pain killers and cold and ‘flu medication.

When attending an outpatient appointment you may need urgent changes or additions to your medication; if this is the case a prescription will be issued for dispensing by the pharmacy dispensary. If the changes are not urgent then the hospital doctor will write to your GP suggesting an alteration; you should collect your new prescription from the GP two weeks after your appointment.

Please note that our dispensaries can only dispense items prescribed on a hospital prescription note. If your doctor gives you a small green (FP10HP) prescription you will need to take this to any community pharmacy.

All prescriptions issued in outpatients are chargeable, unless you are exempt, at the current rate set by the government (£7.10 per item from 1st April 2008). Please bring enough money with you to cover any prescription charge, or your proof of exemption, when you attend an outpatient clinic. Our staff will be happy to advise you on pre payment certificates or exemption guidelines.

If you attend the hospital for a day surgery procedure, or short stay surgical procedure, which does not involve an overnight stay in hospital, any prescription issued is chargeable as above.

The pharmacy is able to accept payment by credit / debit card.

If you are coming into the hospital for planned (elective) treatment please bring all your current medication with you and a copy of the list of medicines from your GP. This will help us communicate any changes/additions in your medication to your GP on discharge from hospital. If your admission was unplanned (emergency) then the ambulance service may collect your medicines when they bring you into hospital or we may ask a family member to bring in your medicines at a convenient time early in your stay, for the reasons mentioned above.

Where possible your own medicines will be used during your hospital stay, however you will be sent home with at least 10 days supply of medicines; dispended by the hospital pharmacy if necessary.