Anaesthesia, Intensive Care and Pain Medicine - St Vincent's ...

St.Vincent’s Healthcare Group
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St.Vincent’s University Hospital
Service Developments/Activities
The relocation of the pharmacy service to a new department
absorbed the time and energy of the staff for the first half of
2003.This move was the culmination of five years of negotiation
and planning.The department is now located on the site of the
old canteen / Physiotherapy Rehabilitation Gym,in the
basement of the hospital,opposite the Purchasing / Stores
Department.The service moved in two phases,with the aseptic
service relocating in February and the dispensary, medicines
information and clinical services, in April.With the additional
space in the new department,it has been possible to allocate a
dedicated area for the medicines information service.The new
Aseptic Unit is a state of the art facility, with two separate suites
for preparing cytotoxic and non-cytotoxic drugs.The new
department is bright and spacious.The high -density stockflow
shelving in the dispensary is flexible and efficient.Our thanks to
everyone involved in the planning/design process,especially the
staff in the Project Office, IT Department, Portering Services,
Technical Services and all who helped out before and during
the relocation.
Clinical Service
Increase in seamless care activities.See Table 1 for value added
activities by pharmacists and technicians.
Aseptic Compounding Service
The move to the new Aseptic Unit in February went smoothly.
The workload for staff,in terms of assembling pre-occupation,
baseline quality assurance (QA) data,initial occupation testing
and ongoing QA monitoring was onerous.The Aseptic Unit
works to Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards.One
of the biggest advantages of the new Aseptic Unit is that,where
stability is not an issue, expiry dates on preparations can be
extended.This has been particularly beneficial in reducing the
need for medical and nursing staff to reconstitute cytotoxic
drugs outside Pharmacy hours.Thanks to all the staff in the
Microbiology Department for their continuing help with QA
monitoring.There was very little change from 2002 in the
number of parenteral cytotoxic preparations made for
Oncology/Haematology patients.There was a large increase in
P h a r macy Department
Allied Health Professional and Support Services
the number of infusions of ganciclovir prepared for patients in
St.Brigid’s ward.This reflects the increase in the number of liver
transplants in 2003.The aseptic service continued to support
the Oncology Research Unit in 2003 with participation in
BCIRG 005,006 and 007 trials.
Medicines Information (MI) Service
In 2003 the MI software programme DI Scan was upgraded to
a paperless office version.This is networked throughout the
department.This facilitates the management of enquiries and
allows enquirers to input queries electronically remote from the
MI centre.
Drugs and Therapeutics Committee
A new Drugs and Therapeutics Committee for St.Vincent’s
Healthcare Group was convened in April 2003, under the
chairmanship of Dr. Donal O’Shea.The committee has
representation from the three hospitals,as well as a local GP
representative. Faced with a backlog of urgent drug –related
issues,the committee met on a monthly basis.The issues tackled
included the following:
•New process for formulary applications
•New Code of Practice for Pharmaceutical Representatives
•Samples of medicines
•Medication Incident Reporting –
still in progress
•Intravenous Drug Administration Policy for Nurses
(2nd edition) – in progress
•Self Administration of Medications (2nd edition)–
Liver Transplant Programme
•Discharge drugs for patients in the Emergency
Department SVUH - in progress.
Prescriber’s Guide and Formulary
A second edition of the formulary was published and circulated
in February 2003.This new SVHG Prescriber’s Guide and
Formulary contains more drug-related policies and practical
guidelines on drug administration than in the previous edition.It
is planned to publish a new edition every year in July to
coincide with the NCHD intake.The Prescriber’s Guide and
Formulary will soon be accessible via the hospital intranet.This
will be useful for communicating formulary changes/additions
and new drug policies or changes to existing policies,to health
care professionals, in a timely manner.
Accreditation
In 2003 a lot of work went into preparing for the Accreditation
Survey (May 2004).The Pharmacy Department was deemed a
"Platform Service".The preparatory process involved reviewing /
writing SOPs, audit and assembling policies and protocols on
drug usage. Fionnuala Kennedy (Clinical Pharmacy Services
Manager) took on the role of Pharmacy Accreditation Manager.
She liased with the Corporate Affairs Manager, attended the
relevant accreditation meetings in the hospital,co-ordinated the
information flow between this department and relevant teams
and assembled the pharmacy information for the teams.Clinical
pharmacists working in specialist areas such as Critical care,
Renal Medicine, Oncology/Haematology and Hepatology had a
role in preparing pharmaceutical care standards for these teams.
Achievements
Nicola Whelan won first prize in the IPOS Poster Awards in
Hospital Pharmacy Practice Research at the Annual Meeting of
the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland (Gorey) in October 2003.
Her poster was entitled "Herbal Medicines:Their Perioperative
Use and Potential Drug Interactions".
Maebh Broderick and Niamh Dunlevy were awarded M.Sc. in
Hospital Pharmacy.
Maeve Moran and Laura McCabe graduated in November after
completing their pre-registration year.
Publications and Posters
Whelan,N.Herbal Remedies:Their Perioperative Use and
Potential Drug Interactions. Irish Pharmacy Journal.2003; 81 (7):
308-312
Broderick,M.Analysis of Medication Incident Report Forms
over a One-year Period in a Large Teaching Hospital. M.Sc.
Thesis.September 2003.
Dunlevy, N.The Need for and Feasibility of Introducing a CIVA
Service to SVUH.M.Sc.Thesis.September 2003.
Lectures and Workshops
Pre-registration pharmacist study days
Presentations – heart failure
Intern and NCHD Orientation
Lecture on medicines to nurses studying for Higher
Diploma in Endoscopy
Presentation on Anti-emetics at Oncology Nursing Study
Day. E.Marsden.
Presentation on Cytotoxic Drugs at Oncology Nursing
Study Day. A.M.de Frein
Presentation on Aseptic Services and Clinical Pharmacy
Services to Pharmacy undergraduates. F. Kennedy,
A.M. de Frein.
Conferences
Palliative Care Study Day; St.Francis’Hospice, Dublin, February
2003.E.Marsden.
UKCPA Critical Care and Hepatology Symposium;London,
February 2003. M.O’Reilly.
Surgery and Theatres Pharmacists Group Study Day;
Birmingham,February 2003.L.Kennedy.
HPAI Clinical Conference; Dublin,April 2003. C. Keane.
Aseptic Preparation and Dispensing of Medicines Seminar;
Leeds,April 2003.AM.De Frein, C. Byrne.
British Travel Health Association Conference;Edinburgh,April
2003.N. O’Hanlon.
The Pharmacy Management National Seminar; Birmingham,
April 2003. F. Kennedy, N.O’Hanlon.
Interferon Treatment and Neutralising Antibodies in Multiple
Sclerosis;Dublin,May 2003.M. Broderick.
Presentation on Clozaril Monitoring;Dublin,May 2003. N.
O’Hanlon,R.Knox.
European Cystic Fibrosis Conference; Belfast,June 2003. C.
Keane.
United Kingdom Medicines Information (UKMI) annual
Conference;Bath, September 2003.N.Whelan,N.
O’Hanlon.
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