Hospital Pharmacist
Vol 10 No 2 p40
February 2003

News summary

Pharmacy staff to help reduce doctors' hours

Pharmacy staff at Basildon Hospital, Essex, are to help reduce doctors' working hours as part of a new Government initiative.

Pilot schemes are being set up to test different solutions to implement the European Working Time Directive for junior doctors (under which, from August 2004, doctors will be subject to a maximum 58-hour working week).

The scheme at Basildon is one of 19 chosen to receive Department of Health funding from over 400 national proposals and is the only one involving pharmacy. The scheme involves funding for a pharmacist and four technicians for an 18-month pilot. The technicians will manage some of the medicines management responsibilities that have been undertaken by doctors. The technicians will be responsible for:

•Documenting patients' medicine history

•Preparing inpatient prescription cards

•Assessing the continued use of patients' own medicines

•Ensuring each patient's medication summary is prepared for discharge.

These roles will be integrated into the existing clinical pharmacy service. The scheme provides the trust with the opportunity to explore different ways of working and to improve services to patients.

It is expected that at least 10 hours per day of doctors' overtime (from a workforce of over 100 doctors) at Basildon will be saved by reducing their paperwork relating to patient medication. If it is successful, the scheme will be taken to other trusts across England.

Julia Keating, principal pharmacist at Basildon Hospital, has been appointed to lead the project. She will ensure that the technicians are supervised by pharmacists. Advertisements for the technicians' posts are expected to appear in The Pharmaceutical Journal shortly.