The pharmacy service aims to ensure that you are prescribed, supplied and administered with medicines which are optimised for you, at the time that you need them.

Outpatient appointment

If you are visiting the hospital for an outpatient appointment, please ask your GP to give you a list of your medicines, and bring this along to your clinical appointment. This will help your doctor (or healthcare professional) ensure that you are prescribed the most appropriate treatment. If you require a new medicine, your doctor will usually ask your GP to update your repeat prescription and to supply the new medicine. If the medicine is required urgently, or is only available in hospital, staff will supply the medicine from the hospital pharmacy. Most prescriptions are transferred from the clinic to the pharmacy electronically.

Pre-Admission Clinic

If you are attending the Pre-Admission Clinic, a pharmacist or specialist nurse will discuss your medicines with you in detail – please bring a list of medicines from your GP with you to this appointment. Please make sure you make the team aware of any special requirements eg Dosette boxes/compliance aids you may use. You may be asked to stop some of your medicines prior to your procedure. If you require further information about taking your medicines around the time of procedure, please contact your specialist nurse or contact the pharmacist for your directorate.

Inpatient admission

If you are being admitted to the hospital then please bring your medicines with you in their original containers. As a specialist heart and lung centre, the hospital pharmacy may not stock medicines for other conditions, and so leaving your medicines at home may result in delays with your treatment. Please bring at least two weeks’ supply of medicines with you. If your medicines are usually supplied from your pharmacy in a Dosette box or similar compliance aid, then please alert your pharmacy that you are coming into hospital and also bring your compliance aid with you.

During your hospital stay you may meet a variety of members of the pharmacy team. The pharmacy team will supply any new medicines, and will advise on how your medicines can be optimised to meet your needs. When you leave hospital a member of Pharmacy - or nursing staff - will discuss any new medicines with you. Staff will try to ensure that you have at least seven days’ supply of your medicines available to you when you leave hospital. This may be medicines supplied by the hospital, medicines which you have brought with you from home, medicines which you have at home, or a combination of these.

If you require further information about taking your medicines after you have gone home, please contact the Pharmacy medicines helpline 01223 638777.