The MP for Eastbourne, Stephen Lloyd has visited the Pharmacy department at Eastbourne DGH to tour the department and meet members of the pharmacy team.
The Trust’s Pharmacy Department is responsible for dispensing all medicines used across the Trust, in addition to preparing specialist products such as cytotoxic chemotherapy used for the treatment of cancer. There are around 120 staff in the Pharmacy Department split equally between Conquest Hospital and Eastbourne DGH.
Stephen Lloyd with pharmacy department team
Clinical Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians work on the wards, in partnership with doctors and nurses, to ensure that drug therapies are optimised for the patient’s greatest benefit. Pharmacists provide expert advice to clinicians on the safe and effective use of medicines as well as counseling patients about the best use of their medicines.
Stephen Lloyd MP said: “It was absolutely fascinating to visit the Trust pharmacy department at Eastbourne DGH, because of its sheer scale – 60 plus staff, issuing over 100,000 medicines a year is an astonishing figure. It was also a pleasure to meet and listen to many in the team who are highly skilled and dedicated folk. Thanks to Chief Pharmacist, Simon Badcott, and all his colleagues. Truly, many of us wouldn’t be around if they weren’t providing the medicines which keep us healthy, hopefully, for many years to come.”
Simon Badcott, Chief Pharmacist for the Trust, said: “It was great to have the opportunity to show Stephen around the Pharmacy Department. We were able to share with him the scope and scale of the operation here and explain how we support clinicians and patients. He was able to see at first hand the technology we use to minimise errors to make the service safe and efficient. We were also able to share with him our exciting plans for the future which includes a £1.7 million investment in a new electronic prescribing and medicines administration system.”