Medication and pharmacy

The London Clinic Pharmacy

Our pharmacy is staffed by qualified pharmacists and technicians who provide safe and effective medicines to all patients at The London Clinic.

Your consultant may write a prescription for medication to take home with you. These will be dispensed by our pharmacy and a pharmacist will talk to you about how to take them correctly and tell you about any possible side effects.

Our Pharmacists' duties

Advise medical and nursing staff about medication
Review your prescription chart to make sure the medication is being used effectively for your condition
Supply medication for you to use during your stay and when you leave
Give you information and advice about your medicines

Please let your nurse know if you’d like to speak to the pharmacists when they visit your floor.

The pharmacy team

The Pharmacy team is based on the ground floor at the main hospital at 20 Devonshire Place and on the ground floor at The Duchess of Devonshire Wing at 22 Devonshire Place.

The team supports patients, nurses and consultants to ensure that medicines are used to benefit patients.

One common misconception is that the pharmacy is only a ‘pill’ supply service. Although this is a key part of what the team offers, making sure that patients receive the right treatments at the right time is at the core of our team's purpose.

Azeem Ahmad - Head of Pharmacy

At the London Clinic I manage the pharmacy department to ensure we meet all of our regulatory requirements and are providing a safe and efficient service to our patients.

I am the Controlled Drugs Accountable Officer (CDAO) which means that I am responsible that high risk controlled drugs are used appropriately and that satisfactory policies and procedures are in place for staff to handle these. The CDAO role is a statutory requirement and requires quarterly audit reporting to the CQC to ensure our policies and procedures are being followed.

I am responsible that the pharmacy staff are skilled in their relevant areas and that these skills are best used in a modern clinical pharmacy setting.

Team activities

Pharmacy Technicians and other support staff make sure adequate quantities of essential medicines are available on wards to minimise delays to patients’ treatments.

Pharmacists monitor prescriptions daily to ensure that treatments are effective and safe for the patients.

Procurement team members take great care to maintain adequate levels of stock so that patient care is not compromised even under exceptional situations (for example obtaining drugs not readily available on the NHS).

Complex conditions

The London Clinic cares for a wide range of patients, some with complex conditions requiring expensive and unusual medicines. The team members are trained and developed to a high standard to enable them to provide a customer focused and responsive service to patients.

Patient focussed

One example of this is seen in self-paying patients who if on expensive medicines that may be a financial challenge to the patient, may be offered at a discounted rate in order for the patient to continue with treatment.

The pharmacy team is unique and one of a kind, focused on the patients. All are specifically trained and the senior staff team members are still ‘hands on’ with patients. The team works alongside all of the departments in the hospital and is dedicated to being the very best it can be.