12 November 2010
The pharmacy at Epsom Hospital has reopened for business after a major redesign and refurbishment costing £170,000.
Anne Davies is Chief Pharmacist for Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust. She said: “The pharmacy department at Epsom Hospital – including the pharmacy shop for patients – has been completely modernised to improve the environment for both staff and visitors.
"We have introduced separate areas for people to drop-off and collect their prescriptions. This means that patients will have much more privacy if they want to discuss their medication with the pharmacist.
"Every aspect of the shop has been redesigned so that our patients and their visitors can browse the range of over-the-counter medicines more easily than before."
But the improvements do not stop with the shop. The pharmacy dispensary, where prescriptions are made up, has also been completely revamped.
This means the pharmacy team are able to work more efficiently, which, in turn, speeds up the time it takes patients to get the medication they need. This is especially important for patients who are waiting to be discharged and need their drugs to take home with them.
Anne added: "The refurbishment has drastically increased the size of the dispensary area. We knocked down a couple of unused offices to create a larger, brighter, open plan space. It used to be quite cramped in the dispensary, and when you’re issuing 500 prescriptions a day, you need as much space as you can get! It’s been a massive boost for staff that work there."
The works have been funded by the Trust’s annual capital programme, which this year will see more than £9.6 million being invested into improving Epsom, Sutton and St Helier hospitals.
