Patients at the Cayman Islands Hospital should have a shorter wait to fill their prescriptions beginning in March thanks to the introduction of a dedicated in-patient pharmacy on the premises.
Currently, prescriptions for both in-patients and out-patients at the hospital are filled in the main pharmacy.
Health Services Authority Chief Executive Officer Lizzette Yearwood said: “The Health Services Authority is consistently seeking ways to improve our service and the satisfaction levels for both our in-patients and out-patients; after assessing the operations of our pharmacy, we decided to completely separate services to streamline and improve service offerings to both these patient groups.”
The new in-patient pharmacy will be located between the medical and surgical units of the hospital.
A new clinical pharmacist has joined the team, which comprises a senior clinical pharmacist, clinical pharmacist and pharmacy technician.
The clinical pharmacist will focus on patient education, the way medicines are administered, the effect it has on patients as well as general questions from staff on the in-patient units.
The other pharmacist and the pharmacy technician will focus on order-entering, filling prescriptions and ensuring drugs and supplies are available.
“The Cayman Islands Hospital will have a complete multidisciplinary team on the in-patient units – including doctors, nurses, radiographers, lab technicians, dietician and pharmacists. Statistics have shown that having pharmacists interacting with patient care issues substantially improves patient safety, reduces medication errors, and reduces the patients’ average length of stay. All of this adds up to decreased cost while improving quality,” Mrs. Yearwood said.
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