Hospital Pharmacist
Vol 9 No 3 p61-62
March 2002

News summary

Pharmacy department does not belong in the basement, trust told The pharmacy department at New Cross Hospital, part of the Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust, is to be moved out of its basement location on to the ground floor in a major restructuring of the trust's pharmacy services...[more]

Award recognises improvement in drug distribution at Manchester trust The Central Manchester and Manchester Children's Hospitals NHS Trust and the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) have won a national award for a research project that improved the drug distribution process in the trust...[more]

Storing patients' drugs in bedside lockers cuts errors A study by pharmacists at Wirral Hospitals NHS Trust and reported in The Pharmaceutical Journal has shown that giving drugs to patients from individual bedside lockers is associated with fewer medication errors by nurses when compared with the traditional method of giving drugs from a general ward drug trolley...[more]

King's Fund wants more choice for patients using NHS services A call for greater choice for patients using NHS services has been made by the King's Fund...[more]

HPG seeks comments on risk management of aseptic preparation on hospital wards Comments are being sought by the Hospital Pharmacists Group (HPG) on managing the risk of aseptic preparation on the wards...[more]

New guidance on dealing with work related upper limb disorders published The Health and Safety Executive has published guidance on managing and treating work related upper limb disorders (ULDs), including repetitive strain injury (RSI)...[more]


NEWS IN BRIEF


London Pharmacy Education and Training is organising a course for pharmacists considering a move to hospital pharmacy or returning to this area of practice. The course consists of four training days (16 April, 24 April, 2 May, and 20 June) and a work placement of up to two weeks duration in a London, Hertfordshire or Essex hospital. Candidates should be pharmacists registered with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society who have had no hospital pharmacy experience in the past three years. For further information, contact Tamsin Stevenson (tel 020 8237 5261, fax 020 8846 6860, e-mail tamsin.stevenson@chelwest.nhs.uk).

Novartis and The Daily Telegraph are inviting entries from pharmacists and other scientists for the "Visions of Science" photographic competition. There are four entry categories: science in action; science as art; science close-up and science concepts. In each category, there will be three prizes of £1,000, £400 and £100, donated by Science Photo Library. For more details or to obtain an entry form, call 020 7613 5577 or visit the website www.visions-of-science.co.uk. The deadline for submission of entries is 31 May.

Readers are advised that the complete set of "Exercises in clinical accuracy checking" are now available on PJ Online and can be downloaded as portable document format (pdf) files from here.

Pharmacy Management is holding a seminar entitled "Crossroads for pharmacy" on 17 April at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's headquarters in London. The seminar will focus on developing pharmacists as prescribers and integrating pharmacists into the decision-making process in prescribing and medicines management. Registration fee (for pharmacists working in the NHS) is £39.95. Further details from 0800 169 3484 (e-mail seminar@pharman.co.uk).

The UK Clinical Pharmacy Technician Network is holding a meeting on 19 April at Birmingham Children's Hospital. There are 60 places available at this meeting and places will be allocated on a first come first served basis. For further information and to book a place, contact Sarah Gray (e-mail slgrayuk@yahoo.com).

The Cardiac and Critical Care Organisation is holding a conference entitled "Improving clinical effectiveness in critical care medicine" on 12–13 July in central London. The provisional programme includes sessions on sepsis, pain and sedation, and outcome and cost-effectiveness in the intensive care unit. Registration fee, which includes lunch but not accommodation, is £145 (late fees apply after 1 June). Further details are available from Louise Martin, conference organiser, on 020 7928 6572.

The University of Manchester is holding a one-week workshop entitled "Basic pharmacokinetics" on 14–19 July in Manchester. Registration fee is £1,425, including meals and accommodation. Details from Susan Huzar (tel 0161 275 7827, e-mail susan.huzar@man.ac.uk).

  * PDF files on PJ Online require Acrobat Reader 4 or later.