"Outpatients great, Pharmacy needs sorting out"

Dear 'Anonymous'

Thank you for your feedback about your recent visit to Christchurch Hospital; we are sorry to hear the process did run as smoothly for you as it could have.

Given the nature of your concerns about the delays you experienced in receiving

Pharmacy prescriptions, I have contacted the department manager who would like to review the issues you have raised in order to give a full response.

Please allow us one week for this review to take place at which time we will respond in full.

If you have any further concerns in the meantime for contact our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALs) on 01202 704886.

Regards

Head of Patient Engagement

Dear Anonymous

Thank you for your patience while the Chief Pharmacist reviewed your comments.

They now have a response and have asked me to share this with you to try to address the concerns you raised.

“Following the outsourcing of outpatient dispensing to Boots at Bournemouth hospital patients now have 3 options.

1) Certain urgent items used frequently are available as a pre-labelled pack which can be issued to you by the Doctor at your appointment.

2) Patients can take their Christchurch prescription to the Boots store at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital to have it dispensed that day. If you choose this option you will not need to pay again for car parking but can have your parking ticket from Christchurch hospital validated by the car park team.

3) Place the prescription in a drop box situated in Christchurch outpatients. These prescriptions are collected from Christchurch outpatients twice daily by Boots drivers with the last collection at 4:30pm.

Boots will dispense the items later that day and deliver to the Boots’ store that you have selected the following morning ready for you to collect from 1pm. This includes Saturdays as deliveries are made every day except Sunday.

There may be an occasion where there is a query on your prescription which requires us to contact the prescriber so we encourage you to write your contact telephone number in the space provided on the back of the prescription so that if there is any delay Boots can telephone you to let you know.

If you have difficulty collecting from a Boots store you can phone them (there is a phone available next to the drop box) and they can discuss alternative options with you.

We have provided information explaining the changes to patients on a display screen in outpatients, posters and patient leaflets. We value your comments and will make sure that all staff are familiar with the new procedures and can advise patients accordingly.

For frail elderly patients it is also possible to arrange for delivery of the medication to their home.”

While we appreciate this will not change the negative experience you had at your last visit we hope this information will improve any further experience you or other patients have when attending Christchurch Hospital.

We anticipate the changes to the service will enhance the experience allowing patients to collect their prescriptions from a number of locations and reduce waiting, but like any new project they sometimes raise unforeseen issues that need to be resolved and we thank you for raising them with us.

Regards

Head of Patient Engagement