The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 269 No 7228 p839
14 December 2002

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Commission for Health Improvement (www.chi.nhs.uk)

Praise for Norfolk trust pharmacy services

The Commission for Health Improvement has highlighted pharmacy services at Norfolk Mental Health Care NHS Trust as an area of notable practice, despite finding that other areas of the trust need considerable improvement.

The clinical governance review of the trust, published last week, highlighted recruitment and retention problems, poor two-way communication with support staff at all levels and a need for service users to be placed at the core of the trust's strategic development.

However, the CHI inspectors identified pharmacy information for service users and professionals as an area of good practice and noted that a lithium audit carried out by the trust had led to quality improvements through the installation of a lithium database. As a result of the pharmacy's success, Stephen Bazire, pharmacy services director at the trust, has been given the responsibility of ensuring greater utilisation of the pharmacy's skills and services with the aim of improving medicines use throughout the trust.

Mr Bazire told The Journal: "We realised that less than a quarter of the patients [taking lithium] were receiving blood tests at the right frequency, so we are now setting up a lithium database of all those who are on lithium in Norfolk." There are now some 600 patients on the database who are invited every three months for a blood test. Mr Bazire praised the team effort of all the pharmacists and technicians involved, especially in relation to the information service.