Pharmacy

We ensure that medicines are bought, stored and supplied promptly, safely and cost-effectively for our CHI sites.

We prepare certain products needed for our patients which are not available buy e.g. making oral suspensions of medicines only available as tablets.

Our pharmacists work as part of the wider healthcare team (including doctors, nurses, dieticians, and other healthcare professionals) on the wards. Some specialist areas or services have their own specialist pharmacist who has developed a detailed knowledge of the medicines used in that area of medicine in babies and children.

This is where medicines are prepared in extremely clean conditions. We make chemotherapy and other medications for children with cancer or other conditions. We also provide special feeds called Parenteral Nutrition for children who need their food to be given by a drip.

We provide up-to-date and accurate information and advice to the clinical teams in CHI. We also support other hospitals and healthcare professionals by providing advice about medicines for children. We help children and families understand medicines by producing information sheets explaining the best way of giving children medicines.

Our specialist pharmacists and technicians manage and support the pharmacy computer systems and other health technology used in CHI to manage medications efficiently and safely. We are also helping to develop the systems which will be used in the new children’s hospital.

Our antimicrobial pharmacists advise the clinical teams about the appropriate use of antimicrobials, such as antibiotics, throughout CHI and work to ensure that they are prescribed safely and cost-effectively.

Our Medication Safety Pharmacist works with all staff to promote safe medication practices in our hospital. Our staff voluntarily report medication errors and this helps us to make improvements to prevent similar errors from occurring in the future.

Our specialist Clinical Trial pharmacists support important research into new treatments for children. We also undertake pharmacist-led research across a number of specialist areas and support summer research projects in collaboration with the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland’s School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences.