PHARMACY, ITS ORGANIZATION AND

PERSONNEL

HOSPITAL PHARMACY
It is a department or service in a hospital under the direction of qualified
pharmacist where all medicines and related supplies are stocked, dispensed or
prescription to in or outpatient, supplied to the nursing units, manufactured in
bulk and injectables are prepared and sterilized.

PHARMACY DEPARTMENT
Pharmacy department is staffed with pharmacists and is supervised by director of
pharmacy or pharmacist-in-chief. The pharmacy department is one of the many
departments of a hospital that exerts a great deal of influence on professional
position of institution as well as upon its economics of total operational costs. It is
also due to its interrelation and inter-dependency of other services upon it. This
department offers the following services;
• Drug distribution, including floor-stock and unit dose distribution.
• Dispensing of drugs to outpatients.
• The intravenous admixture program.
• The clinical services provided from the hospital pharmacy may include
therapeutic consultation, drug information, for physicians, nurses and other
allied health personnel and for patients. Clinical pharmacy practice also
encompasses preparation of patient drug profiles, recording patient drug
history, advising physicians of possible drug-drug interactions and drug
effects on clinical laboratory test results. It also involves preparation of
patient drug use review, collection of the pharmacy- patient data base,
therapeutic monitoring, and auditing of therapeutic regimens, monitoring
of specific adverse drug reactions to decrease their incidences and
management of chronic care patients.
• Purchasing and inventory control of drug and allied items.
• Conduct and support of pharmaceutical and clinical research, respectively

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 • Education services for pharmacy personnel, medical profession, nursing
staff and for patients.
• Serving function for vital committees such as pharmacy and therapeutic
committee, infection control, research review, antibiotics ambulatory and
standardization committees.
• Special services may include the provision of radiopharmaceuticals
services, total parenteral preparation, central sterile service and poison
control center.

ORGANOGRAM FOR PHARMACY DEPARTMENT

Organogram is also charting or organizational structure of pharmacy department.
This reflects the flow of administrative authority & who is accountable to whom.
Charting is essential after selection & categorization of employees. Obviously, in
small departments, this is generally simple but in large units with more number of
personnel & subdivisions, it is complex.
Once the organogram is prepared & approved, it is posted at prominent place for
each of departmental employees to read & adhere to.
Given figure illustrates an organogram for a well segregated pharmacy
department;

IDM: interactive Database Management

STENOGRAPHY: is one of the most identifiable methods of recording the spoken
word.
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DEPARTMENTAL ORGANIZATION IN A LARGE UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL PHARMACY
OPERATION

PHARMACEUTICAL SERVICES
A pharmacy mainstream service is the drug dispensing to inpatients & where
hospital pharmacy permits, to outpatient. Besides this activity, depending on size
of hospital, other important additional services requiring pharmacist‘s skills &
potentials can also be offered. These additional programs offer at one hand great
financial savings for hospital and on the other hand pride and prestige.
Following are various services mentioned on charting for pharmacy along with the
functions.
1. ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES DIVISION:
• Plan & coordinate departmental activities.
• Develop policies.

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 • Schedule personals & provide supervision to professional, supportive &
office staff.
• Coordinate administrative needs of pharmacy & therapeutic
committee.
2. IN PATIENT SERVICE DIVISION
• Provide medication to all in patients of hospital on round the clock basis.
• Inspection & control of drugs in all treatment areas.
• Co-operate with medical drug research. Sometimes this is included
under research division.
3. OUTPATIENT SERVICE DIVISION
• Compound & dispense outpatient prescriptions.
• Inspect & control all clinics & emergency service medication stations.
• Maintain prescription records.
• Provide drug consultation services to staff & medical students.
4. CONTROLLING AND DISPENSING
• Control & dispense intravenous fluid.
• Control & dispense controlled substances.
• Coordinate & control all drug delivery & distribution system.

5. PURCHASING & INVENTORY CONTROL DIVISION

• Purchase all drugs.
• Receive, store & distribute drugs.
• Maintain drug inventory control.
• Interview medicated service representative

6. CENTRAL SUPPLY SERVICES DIVISION

• Preparation of sterile solution & fluids.
• Develop & coordinate distribution of medical supplies & irrigating fluids.
This service is sometimes rendered through ancillary supply division
7. MANUFACTURING & PACKAGING DIVISION
• Manufacture wide variety of items for use at the hospital.
• Operate an overall drug packaging & prepackaging program.
• Undertake program in product development.
• Maintain unit dose program.

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 8. STERILE PRODUCT DIVISION
• Produce small volume parenteral.
• Manufacture sterile ophthalmological, irrigating solutions.
• Prepare aseptic dilution of lyophilized & unstable sterile injection for
administration to patients.
9. ANCILLARY SUPPLY SERVICE
• Supplying medical, surgical laboratory supplies & ward floor stocking.
• Distribution of health accessories & parapharmaceuticals.
• Providing information on the above.
10.RADIOPHARMACEUTICAL SERVICES DIVISION
• Centralize procurement, storage & dispensing of radioisotopes.
• Labeling of radioisotopes with appropriate kit formulations.
• QA in section & QC of radiopharmaceuticals.
• Radiopharmaceutical research.

11.INTRAVENOUS ADMIXTURE DIVISION

• Centralize the preparation of IV solution admixture
• Review each I/V admixture for physiochemical incompatibilities.
• Preparation of TPN.

12.ASSAY AND QC DIVISION

• Perform analysis on products manufactured & purchased.
• Develop & revise assay procedures.
• Assist research division in special formulation.

13.DRUG INFORMATION SERVICES DIVISION

• Provide information on drugs & drug therapy to medical, pharmacy &
nursing staff & to patients.
• Maintain a drug information center.
• Prepare the hospital’s pharmacy newsletter.
• Maintain literature files.
• Help in updating of formulary.

14.POISON CONTROL CENTRE

• Provide info. on poisons, poison prevention and first aid.
• Maintain list of antidotes.

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 15.EDUCATIONAL AND TRAINING DIVISION
• Coordinate educational programs of pharmacy, medical and nursing
staff.
• Participate in hospital wide educational programs involving nurses,
doctors etc.
• Train newly employed pharmacy department personnel.

16.SERVICE MONITORING AND AUDITING

• Appraise, audit and monitor each of the pharmaceutical services for
quality assurance.
• Take corrective measures if not up to the standards.

17.PHARMACEUTICAL RESEARCH DIVISION

• Develop new formulations of drugs, especially dosage forms not
commercially available, and of research drugs.
• Improve formulations of existing products.
• Cooperate with the medical research staff of projects involving drugs.

18.AFTER HOURS PHARMACY SERVICES

• Dispensing of drugs when pharmacy is closed.

Each of the above services is coordinated and managed by head or manager who
report to chief pharmacist.

JOB DESCRIPTION AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF HOSPITAL PHARMACIST

Job description is the performance and responsibilities required for patient care.
It depends on activities of pharmacy department. Typically, responsibility of a
hospital pharmacist includes the following;
PHARMACY POLICIES
• Planning, organizing, and directing pharmacy policies and procedure in
accordance with established policies of hospital
IMPLEMENTATION OF DECISIONS
• Implementation of decisions of pharmacy and therapeutic committee

COMPOUNDING AND DISPENSING

• Compounding and dispensing of drugs, narcotics and controlled substances
according to prescriptions

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DEVELOPING AND IMPLEMENTATION A CONTROL
• Developing and implementation a control over requisitioning and
dispensing of drugs and pharmaceutical supplies
FILLING AND LABELING
• Filling and labeling of all drug containers issued to services and indicates
the direction for use on the containers for patients
PREPARATION AND STERILIZATION
• Preparation and sterilization of injectables medication manufactured in
hospitals and manufacturing pharmaceutical
MAINTENANCE OF PERPETUAL INVENTORY
• Maintenance of perpetual inventory of drugs, narcotics and other
controlled drugs
INSPECTION
• Inspection of all pharmaceutical supplies on all services

MAINTENANCE OF AN APPROVED STOCK

• Maintenance of an approved stock of antidotes and other emergency drugs

FORMULATING SPECIFICATION
• Formulating specification for purchase of all drugs, chemical and biological
used in hospital
ESTABLISHMENT AND MAINTENANCE IN COOPERATION
• Establishment and maintenance in cooperation with accounting
department of a system of records and bookkeeping in accordance with
policies of hospital for charges to patients
PREPARATION OF PERIODIC REPORTS
• Preparation of periodic reports on progress of department

ENSURING ACCURACY
• Ensuring accuracy in use of pharmaceutical equipment for compounding
and dispensing of drugs

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FOLLOW PRESCRIPTIONS
• Follow prescriptions in detail for any drug interaction or for any error
(called prescription intervention)
FURNISHING INFORMATION
Furnishing information concerning medications to physicians, nurses and to
patients
COOPERATION IN TEACHING COURSES
Cooperation in teaching courses to nursing and medical students
RESEARCH
• Carrying out, participation in and supporting research

PERFORM DUTIES
• Performs any professional related duties assigned other than those
mentioned here.

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