Introduction

Medicines supply and automation

Supply of medicines is part of a multidisciplinary process, triggered by the writing of a prescription and ending with the administration of a medicine to a patient. As nearly every patient admitted to hospital will receive a medicine in one form or other, the safe and secure handling of medicines is an essential part of a hospital’s medicines management system and is subject to the standards set out in the requirements for trusts to register with their regulator, for example the Care Quality Commission in England. Medicines management therefore needs to be undertaken within a framework of policies, procedures, staff training and quality assurance measures.

Most National Health Service (NHS) hospital organisations define respon-sibilities for each component of medicines management in their medicines policy. Whilst the chief executive has the overall statutory responsibility for every activity within the hospital, the chief pharmacist is responsible for ensuring that systems are in place to address appropriately all aspects of the safe and secure handling of medicines, accountable directly to the chief executive for this purpose across the whole of the organisation. This reemphasises the role of the ‘senior pharmacist’ described in the revised Duthie report, which also gives guidance on the responsibilities of other professionals in the handling of medicines.