Our services and departments
Pharmacy
The Pharmacy department within West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust is located on three sites and has over 100 staff, with the main Pharmacy department at Watford General Hospital. The department at Watford relocated to new state of the art facilities in 2009.
The department delivers a wide range of services which include inpatient and outpatient dispensing, aseptic preparation, pre-packing, clinical ward based services, surgical preoperative assessment clinic service, medication support services (medicines information, formulary management, medication safety, audit, clinical trials support and clinical governance)and education and training. The department has specialist clinical pharmacists in paediatrics and neonatology, antimicrobials, intensive care, oncology, gynaecology and obstetrics. Currently 4 are non-medical prescribers.
The department has a strong focus on delivering high quality care to patients and an innovative approach in responding to changing service requirements. This has led to the development of our pre operative assessment clinic service, pharmacy led RSV clinic and on the opening of the 120 bedded AAU in 2009, the re-engineering of our dispensing and clinical services. The work undertaken to re-engineer pharmacy services in response to the opening of the AAU, with roles re-designed and service improvements delivered, was recognised by the HSJ in 2013 when the Pharmacy department became finalists in the HSJ efficiency awards for Clinical Support Services.
For the department to deliver high quality patient care it recognises that the development of its staff, through education and training is a high priority. Pharmacy staff in the department are supported in undertaking post graduate diplomas and masters degrees at a number of Universities across the UK supported by a lead practice development pharmacist and other experienced directorate pharmacyleads. In particular, the department has close links with the University of Hertfordshire where currently 3 staff hold honorary lectureships and since 2009 16 junior pharmacists have undertaken the University’s JPB diploma /masters in Pharmacy Practice.
The department also actively supports continuing professional development and in the last 4 years staff have undertaken courses on business skills for clinical leaders, PRINCE 2 project management, leadership courses for senior and middle grade managers, and 5 Pharmacists have recently attained coaching qualifications (who are now being used both to support other staff in the department and to pilot the use of coaching skills to counsel patients on their medication).
The Pharmacy department plays a key role in promoting the safe use of medicines across the Trust and provides training for nurses, medical students and junior doctors. This includes the introduction of a junior doctor medicines use induction and competency assessment and the development of an e- learning module for all medical staff on the safe use of medicines.
In supporting the development of new and innovative ways of working, the department actively encourages staff to undertake practice research and engage in the dissemination of new ideas. In the last 4 years, this has resulted in the support of a number of research based postgraduate projects including MSc projects on "Improving the quality of patient discharge – Pharmacist TTA interventions"; "An evaluation of a Pharmacy pre-operative assessment clinic service" and currently in progress "An evaluation of pharmacy counselling and health coaching approach on patients newly initiated on warfarin".
Between 2010 and 2012 staff within the department had 5 posters accepted relating to practice research undertaken and gave 6 oral presentations at conferences including an oral presentation to the 22nd ECCMID (European congress of clinical microbiology and infectious diseases) on Optimising Antimicrobial Use.
Service / Department Locations
- In Jubilee wing at Hemel Hempstead Hospital
- Near Outpatients at St Albans City Hospital
- Level 2 of the Acute Admissions Unit at Watford General Hospital
Service / Department specialties
The department has Clinical Pharmacists covering all clinical specialties within the Trust and has dispensaries on three sites. A licensed Technical Services department together with Stores, Distribution and Procurement services, are located on the Watford site. Medicines Information services are also provided on the Watford sites.
Trust Prescribing List
Refer to the Pharmacy Formulary internet site for details of the medicines
available on the Trust Prescribing List.
» View the Trust Prescribing
List
Contacts
- Chief Pharmacist, Martin Keble
- Deputy Chief Pharmacist, Lindsay Smith
- Pharmacy Operations Manager, Sue Schechter
- Technical Services Manager, Osi Ajaegbu
- Antimicrobial Pharmacist, Tejal Vaghela
- Pharmacy Team Leader, Acute Admissions Unit, Kavan Nagi
- Pharmacy Team Leader, Care of the Elderly, Robyn Anne Oram
- Pharmacy Team Leader, Critical Care, Sital Sanghvi
- Pharmacy Team Leader, Medicine, Lakshmi Khetani
- Pharmacy Team Leaders, Paediatrics, Anu Paul and Zahida Hassandin
- Pharmacy Team Leader, Surgery, Rekha Shah
| Department secretaries | Chief Pharmacist's office | 01923 217733 |
| Hemel Hempstead/St Albans | 01442 287739 | |
| Watford | 01923 217454 | |
| Dispensary | Hemel Hempstead | 01442 287661 |
| St Albans | 01727 897819 | |
| Watford | 01923 217734 | |
| Medicines Information | Watford | 01923 217853 |
| Technical Services | Watford | 01923 436601 |
Contacting the Trust
Please contact the relevant Trust switchboard if you require further information or assistance.
- Watford General Hospital switchboard: 01923 244366
- Hemel Hempstead Hospital switchboard: 01442 213141
- St Albans City Hospital switchboard: 01727 866122
