New outpatient pharmacy opens at RD&E
Patients at the Royal Devon and Exeter (RD&E) hospital can now benefit from a more convenient outpatient prescription service thanks to a new Boots pharmacy which has opened its doors to the public.
The new Boots UK outpatient pharmacy service is located on the ground floor in the main hospital corridor. The dispensary will enhance patients’ experience while visiting the hospital, help to reduce waiting times and free up RD&E pharmacy staff to focus on inpatient care.
Since the RD&E’s pharmacy department was built at the Wonford site in the late 1980s, demands for its inpatient and outpatient services have increased, resulting in it gradually outgrowing its space. Staff have developed innovative ways to meet demand in a restricted space but a more effective long term solution was needed. After exploring several possible solutions over the past few years, Pharmacy staff and Trust Executives chose a competitive tendering process as it allowed the appointment of an external partner to deliver outpatient dispensary services - a move that enables Trust Pharmacy staff to focus on medication reviews for inpatients at the RD&E and other partner Trusts. Following a formal tendering process the contract was awarded to Boots UK in late 2014 because of their expertise in this specialist area.
The new partnership with Boots UK will bring a range of benefits for patients, the Pharmacy team and the RD&E including:
- A dedicated prescription service for outpatients with shorter waiting times
- More time for RD&E pharmacy staff to focus on medication reviews for inpatients
- Improved drug formulary control
- Members of the public and staff able to buy over-the-counter medicines and a range of health and wellbeing products including sandwiches, drinks, snacks, toiletries and beauty products.
The Trust has worked in partnership with Boots UK throughout the project to ensure it has been delivered with the minimum amount of disruption to the hospital.
A new team have been recruited to run the dispensary and pharmacy, all of whom have received RD&E training to ensure they are familiar with the hospital’s clinical areas and specialisms. The Trust’s pharmacy team will continue to run the inpatients dispensary in their current space on the ground floor, close to the main entrance.
Tracey Foss, Chief Pharmacist, said: “Our first priority at the RD&E is to deliver safe, high quality care and ensure our patients receive the best possible service. We are delighted to welcome Boots UK into the hospital as our partner, because they have an excellent track record running outpatient dispensaries at other NHS acute hospitals and we are confident they will help us deliver real improvements for our patients.
Peter Bainbridge, Director of Pharmacy at Boots UK added: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust to help offer their patients the best possible pharmacy service. This new partnership allows us to extend our healthcare offering and build upon our community pharmacy presence, helping to ensure we are located in the places our customers want and need us most. We understand that convenience is important to our customers and we are committed to continuously seek new opportunities to provide better, more accessible healthcare solutions.”
