Pharmacy Team

Who we are

The following teams sit under Medicines Management:

Adult Services

The Medicines Management Adult Services team supports medicines optimisation in community hospitals, out-patient clinics, minor injury units and patient’s homes in order to improve outcomes, prevent disease development and reduce medicines waste.

The team helps to protect patients against the risks associated with the unsafe use and management of medicines by supporting their obtaining, recording, handling, using, safe keeping, dispensing, safe administration and disposal.

Integrated Pharmacy Team (IPT)

kentchft.ipt@nhs.net

The Integrated Pharmacy Team aims to enable patients who have been identified as having difficulty managing their medicines to:

• improve health outcomes
• take medication safely and effectively (improving concordance)
• reduce potential harm from medication.

The team works within the east Kent health and care partnership area; as this is a new service it will be rolled out in stages across the locality. The team will be taking their referrals primarily from the east Kent multi-disciplinary teams hubs. Our health professionals working in these localities may ring the IPT direct to discuss patients.

The referrals we accept within the hub are for patients who are frail, complex or at high risk of medication related harm. For example, patients using high risk medicines, have a high medication burden, those experiencing falls, suspected difficulties with medication adherence or a history of frequent admissions. We may also include patients who require home visits which are not provided by any other Pharmacy team in the area.

Medicines Information and Education

The Medicines Information and Education team provides:

• A single point of contact for accurate, up-to-date and well-researched medicines information for KCHFT staff and community patients.
• An enquiry answering service which supplies professional advice to support and influence clinical decisions with respect to patient care
• Targeted training which has been designed to improve knowledge and skills

The team utilise a comprehensive range of medical databases and peer-reviewed texts in order to provide support to healthcare professionals within the Trust. This support is delivered by in-depth responses to individual enquiries and by the creation of training packages designed to increase awareness of medicines management issues.

Quality and Governance

The Quality and Governance team are responsible for a wide range of pharmacy services, including management of Controlled Drugs (CDs), governance of prescribers, supply contract monitoring, prescription security and management of the SafeMed medicines incident system.

The service assists the Controlled Drugs Accountable Officer in ensuring that all CDs are ordered, stored, administered and disposed of according to the Trust’s CD Policy, as well as supplying KCHFT wards and services with sundry items and prescription stationary.

Sexual Health

The Sexual Health team aims to provide support to the growing local needs of the Genitourinary Medicine (GUM), Contraception, HIV and TB Services ensuring the clinical, cost-effective and safe use of medicines in relation to treatments used in these specialties.

The team:

• Works alongside other health-care professionals to ensure patients with specialised pharmaceutical needs are appropriately managed
• Provides HIV medication review and adherence clinics to support patients with often complex and difficult regimens
• Promotes the safe and effective use of HIV medication
• Manages and co-ordinates the HIV homecare delivery service
• Governs policies, SOPs, guidelines, audits, alerts, recalls and incidents
• Provides staff training and regular medicines updates.

Specialist Services

The Specialist Services Team provide pharmaceutical and medicine optimisation support to the following services:

• Bladder and Bowel
• Cardiac
• Community Orthopaedics
• Children and Young People (including Immunisation and
• Community Paediatric Support)
• Dental
• HEN Home Enteral Nutrition Dietetics
• Health Visitors
• Epilepsy
• IV Therapy
• Falls
• Learning Disability
• Lymphoedema
• Out Patient Departments
• One YOU Smoke Free
• Podiatry
• Respiratory
• Speech and Language Therapy
• Tuberculosis
• UTC / MIU.

This includes standard operating procedures (SOPs) and guidelines, risk assessments, stock review, medicine audits, medicine enquiries, promotion and training of the safe and effective use of medicine.

The team are responsible for the trust’s Patient Group Directions and medicine protocols which includes processes for new PGD’s, updates and reviews and also for the organisation’s Emergency Response National PGD and protocols.

Clinical support and education to special schools, short break service and ADHD clinics is carried out in collaboration with local authorities, particularly social care and education, to provide medicine support and deliver a range of services to vulnerable children and their families.