Clinical Pharmacy

Guy’s and St Thomas’ Clinical Pharmacy Visiting Professional Programme gives non-UK pharmacists the knowledge and skills to practice pharmaceutical care safely.

Introduction

Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust provides a fully comprehensive pharmaceutical service which includes dispensing, clinical pharmacy, manufacturing, medicine information, medicine safety and quality assurance. Our pharmacists work across multi-disciplinary teams both in the hospital and community setting, to deliver advice, guidance and support within a culture of medicine safety. The Clinical Pharmacy Programme is intended to provide visiting pharmacists with the core aspects of pharmaceutical care in order to have the knowledge and skills to practice safely. The programme offers a unique opportunity to acquire knowledge and clinical skills that can be applied back at work in the visitors own setting.


Programme aims

The programme is aimed at those who wish to extend their expertise in clinical pharmacy, and who wish to learn more about Guy’s and St Thomas’ pharmaceutical services.

The training aims to enable visitors to:


Format

The programme will be based within the hospital environment and ambulatory care where these services are provided. Visitors will work alongside, and learn from, experienced clinical pharmacists. Visiting professionals will be aligned with a supervisor from within the pharmaceutical team who will ensure that all of their learning and development needs are met.

The programme has been designed to provide the opportunity to contribute to patient care and interact with patients, their carers and healthcare professionals. A unique focus of this programme is the opportunity for visitors to be totally integrated in the delivery of pharmacy services at the hospital. This means that they will attend ward rounds with the clinical teams and participate in the pharmacy team’s weekly teaching and training activities.


Who can apply

The Clinical Pharmacy programme is intended for overseas pharmacists with an interest in pharmaceutical care. It would be an advantage for visitors to have experience in adult pharmacy but it is not essential, however those applying are expected to have worked in a hospital pharmacy.


Programme duration

Clinical Pharmacy Observership

We are able to offer visiting pharmacists an observership for a period of two to six weeks. During this period the visitor will have the opportunity to observe and practice clinical pharmacy skills, initially in the area of general medicine and general surgery. After this induction period visitors will be able to select specialist areas where they may wish to gain a deeper insight into the skills and knowledge of specific clinical areas. The programme’s duration can be tailored to the specific learning requirements of those visiting the Trust. Specific programs can be tailored for more experienced pharmacists wishing to develop their clinical skills in a single speciality. 

Clinical Pharmacy Fellowship

For those wishing to spend longer in an area of practice we are able to offer visiting professionals a clinical pharmacy fellowship of up to 6 months. In addition to the opportunity to gain and practice clinical pharmacy skills as in the observership, visitors will have the opportunity to participate in research and/or governance projects under the supervision of clinical specialists, as well as gaining a more in-depth understanding of clinical pharmacy practice in one or more specialist areas.


Clinical Pharmacy service

Pharmaceutical services

Guy’s and St Thomas’ provides all pharmaceutical services and expertise, including dispensary, stores, clinical pharmacy, manufacturing, medicine information, medicine safety, governance, and quality assurance.

For more information on clinical pharmacy services at Guy’s and St Thomas’ please view the video clip

Clinical pharmacy specialist expertise and support is available for medicine (including respiratory medicine, diabetes), surgical specialities (including pain management and total parenteral nutrition), cardiovascular services (cardiology, cardiothoracic surgery and vascular surgery), renal medicine (including renal transplantation and haemodialysis), infectious diseases, critical care, and paediatrics.

We employ seven Consultant Pharmacists, working at the forefront of clinical pharmacy practice (more than any other Trust).

Our pharmacists work across multi-disciplinary teams both in the hospital and community setting, to deliver advice, guidance and support within a culture of medicine safety.

Clinical Pharmacy service

Guy’s and St Thomas’ Pharmacy department is one of the largest in the UK and has a strong focus on individual patient care. Patients in the hospital environment need more specialised care due to their condition so pharmacists will often attend the bedside of patients in hospital ensuring the safety and effectiveness of medicines and consulting the patient with regards to issues they my have regarding concerns about medicines.

Patients are prioritised according to their pharmaceutical care needs with junior pharmacists undertaking tasks which focus on the safety of patients, mid-grade pharmacists focussing on the effectiveness of medicines use and senior pharmacists working in areas where the evidence for medicines use is conflicting or lacking.

The clinical pharmacy service provides a seven-days-a-week service to key specialities and is supported by the resident (on site) pharmacy service which acts as the first point of contact for the pharmaceutical care needs of patients out of hours.


Fees

A course fee per week will be applied; this fee excludes accommodation and travelling expenses. To find out the fee amount please email vpp@gstt.nhs.uk.


Please note

Clinicians are able to offer bursaries or discounted placements on an individual basis. This is at the discretion of the Directorates of GSTT and does not affect the terms and conditions of the Visiting Professional Programme agreements.

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Visiting Professional Programme attendee

It was a nice experience to shadow clinical pharmacists at Guy’s and St Thomas’. It gave me new insights of how pharmacists can contribute to improving patient care in a multidisciplinary approach

Doctor from China