New robot for pharmacy department – update

Our pharmacy department is undergoing an exciting transformation which will lead to improved service for our patients.

In September 2023, work started to replace our dispensing robot with a new and more technologically advanced robot which will also play a key role in the digital transformation of our hospital services.

We are pleased to report the following important updates on the project to date:

• The new robot unit is installed including the new faster conveyer system
• In the Outpatient area works are in progress to install the new conveyer system; this will reduce any delays in medication being delivered from the robot situated downstairs
• The new out of hours robot supply room has been built. This will enable the on call pharmacist to remotely supply medication out of hours if the item is kept in our robot and urgently needed
• The next piece of work will focus on installing the new state of the art inventory management software system working alongside our IT and robot company colleagues. This new software will give us better oversight of our pharmacy stock inventory.

What does this mean for patients?
Please remember that as a result of these ongoing works, our pharmacy service in the outpatients’ area on Level 2 in the Red Zone remains closed into December 2023. This means for most of our patients, if a prescription for medication is needed they will be given a green FP10 prescription that they can take to their local pharmacy to be dispensed.

However, some patients will still need to have their outpatient prescriptions dispensed by the Trust’s pharmacy department. If this is the case, patients will be given a white outpatient prescription which they can present at our temporary pharmacy service located on Level 1 in the Red Zone. Opening times are Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm and Saturdays and Sundays from 11am to 2.30pm.

We thank you for your understanding and apologise for any inconvenience caused by the temporary closure of the pharmacy service in our outpatients’ area.