Your Pharmacy Team

• Ensure our patients receive the best possible medicine treatment on the basis of safety, effectiveness and cost.
• Advise doctors on the choice and dose of medication, ensuring that the least number of medications necessary for treatment are used
• Anticipate problems that may occur when two or more medications are used together,
• Select and dispense the most suitable form of medicine for our patients. This may be tablets, capsules, mixtures, injections, creams, or even producing an individual product (particularly for younger patients).
• Prepare sterile medications under special conditions (e.g. intravenous medications, anti-cancer medications (chemotherapy), eye drops).
• Prepare intravenous feeds (parenteral nutrition) for those patients unable to take food otherwise.
• Teach you and/or your child about different medications, their purpose, how to take them, possible side effects, and other important information you may need to know.
• Provide you with Consumer Medicine Information (CMI) leaflets about the medications you or your child is taking.
• Supply medications to be administered to you or child in the ward areas.
• Work closely with nurses, doctors and other allied health professionals in the hospital to support management and administration of you or your child’s medicines.
• Provide a medication list and arrange supply of any medications you or your child will need to keep taking after being discharged from hospital.
• We know that some medications don't taste nice and we can help with options to improve their acceptance.
• We can speak to your local pharmacist or doctor about you or your child’s medications where necessary
• We help to run clinical trials to evaluate new medications or old medications for new uses.

• When you come to hospital, always bring your or your child’s medicines with you, along with a list of all the medicines being taken.
• This list should include the names of all the medications you or your child have been taking at home including medications bought from your local pharmacy, supermarket, health food shop or other source, as well as herbal and ‘alternative’ remedies.
• Whether you or your child have had any allergies or unexpected reactions to medications in the past.
• Remember to speak up and ask questions if you are unsure about any of the medicines you or your child is taking.

More information

– Your Medicines in Hospital – Fact Sheet

• What is the medication supposed to do?
• How do I/ does my child take it, and for how long?
• My child can't swallow tablets – can she/he have a mixture instead?
• Are there any foods, drinks or other medications to avoid?
• What do I do if a dose is missed?
• Are there any side-effects, and what should I do if they occur?

Information leaflets are available for many medications. These are called 'CMI' (Consumer Medicines Information) leaflets. You can obtain these from your hospital pharmacist.

You do not need a formal referral to access this service.