Our pharmacy service supports safe and effective care across the hospital, providing medicines expertise and support seven days a week.
On this page
- Opening times
- Where to find us
- Contact us
- Services we provide
- Our pharmacy team
- Formulary
- Prescriptions and charges
- Your medication while in hospital
- Patient information
Opening times
| Opening times | Closing times | |
|---|---|---|
| Monday to Friday | 8.30am 8.45am (Wednesdays) | 6pm |
| Weekends and bank holidays | 9am | 4pm |
Where to find us
The pharmacy is located on the ground floor at the rear of West Suffolk Hospital.
It is also on the right as you enter through the rear entrance.
Contact us
For outpatient prescriptions: 01284 713111
For inpatient medicine queries: 01284 713232
Services we provide
The services we provide within the pharmacy department go beyond what you see when you collect your prescription. Find out more about the various services within our pharmacy department:
Our pharmacy team
We have a variety of roles and staff members within our pharmacy team:
- Chief pharmacist – Alla Williamson
- Deputy chief pharmacist – Sam Holloway
- Technical operations manager – James Root
- Dispensary manager – Jayne Nice
- Procurement manager – David Beaumont
- Clinical trials and quality assurance – James Curtis
- Aseptic unit principal technician – Linda Davies
- Education and training senior technicians – Jo Seymour and Fiona Brame
- Pharmacists
- Pre-registered pharmacists
- Medicines management technicians
- Pre-registered pharmacy technicians
- Dispensers
- Dispensary assistants
- Administration assistants
Formulary
West Suffolk Hospital operates a formulary listing for drugs available for routine use within the Trust. The formulary is regularly updated and monitored by the Trust's Drug and Therapeutics Committee.
The major functions of the committee are:
- To consider the use of new drugs in the Trust. Newly licensed drugs may only be prescribed following consideration by the D&T Committee. If a prescriber wishes to add a drug to the formulary then a written request must be made to the committee.
- To review and update the formulary.
- To produce relevant guidelines on drug usage within the Trust.
- To produce regular bulletins detailing formulary changes.
The contact within the pharmacy department for formulary related issues is:
Mrs Judith Esterhuizen, formulary pharmacist: 01284 712929
Prescriptions and charges
We only dispense NHS prescriptions generated by your consultant or prescriber within the hospital setting. These are usually transmitted electronically to the pharmacy department for clinical screening by the dispensary pharmacist.
We do not dispense FP10 (green prescriptions). If these types of prescriptions are handed to you, you can have them dispensed from your local retail pharmacy. Our trained staff will counsel you on your medication, how to take it, how long to take it for, any special instructions and how to obtain further supply if needed.
Charges are applicable at the NHS standard rate. Private prescription charges are variable and will be determined at the point of dispensing. The pharmacy is a GPhC registered pharmacy and as such can dispense private prescriptions.
Find out more about help with the costs of medication, as some patients may be eligible for support.
Your medication while in hospital
Please bring your current medicines with you when you come into hospital. This helps us make sure you continue to receive the right treatment during your stay. Your GP will be informed of any changes to your medication.