Profile on Pharmacy – November 2005
The Trust
The Trust is a leading secondary care provider in Greater Birmingham, and one of the largest healthcare providers in the UK. It has been recognised as a major teaching hospital for many years, and has a number of professorial appointments. Having achieved the top three star NHS quality rating for three consecutive years, the Trust achieved Foundation Trust status in 2005. One of only 32 Foundation Trusts in the United Kingdom.
All major acute specialities are covered, including complex clinical haematology and oncology therapies and bone marrow transplantation, together with Regional (tertiary care) specialities in renal dialysis, thoracic surgery, cystic fibrosis therapy, tropical medicine, and HIV/GU medicine.
There are close links with the Universities of Birmingham and Warwick through Professorial chairs in diabetology, thoracic surgery, respiratory medicine and immunology, with chairs in medicine, general surgery and pathology planned for the near future. The Pan Birmingham Cancer Network is superimposed on the Trust's community, & gets much of its professional guidance from our staff.
The Culture
Despite its size and its prestige, the Trust is one of the friendliest and most supportive of employers in the healthcare sector.
It serves a very mixed community, with a rich diversity of cultures, and prides itself on its strong relationship with that community, and with its host Primary Care Trusts at Solihull and at Eastern Birmingham.
It actively seeks innovative models of care, where these will achieve better health outcomes for patients and the wider community. The Trust is currently planning with Southern Birmingham Primary Care Trust, to pioneer within the U.K. an integrated approach to care which was developed in the USA, dramatically reduces hospital stays, and makes great use of intermediate care and patient self-care. The vision is receiving considerable praise and support from central Government.
There is a developing 'enterprise culture', which holds few barriers to joint ventures with commercial and academic organisations, in a mixed economy for facilities provision, healthcare development and delivery.
The Premises
Our buildings are human-friendly, mainly modern and unusually attractive, bright and airy.
Recent capital developments include extra specialist theatres for ENT surgery, a new renal dialysis unit, expansion of the ITU, a custom built maternity services block including neo-natal intensive care, a Women's Health unit, new ward blocks for Oncology and for Respiratory Services, a state-of-the-art Accident and Emergency Unit (the largest in Europe) and an Education Centre (said to be the best in the NHS) including 150-seat lecture theatre and medical library, a new paediatric block, and an elderly care unit.
A health club for staff opened recently, on the Heartlands site. New main entrance buildings are planned for Heartlands and for Solihull, with shops, which may include a community Pharmacy, and with additions to the already excellent staff dining options. A state-of-the art Science Park with Clinical Research Centre and Clinical Trials Unit, on a vacant site at Heartlands, is planned for two years hence.
The Trust gained three stars (top rating) in the July 2003 Government assessments, and achieved Foundation Hospital status in 2005.
The Trust operates from four sites, which are:
Birmingham Heartlands Hospital – a large acute general teaching hospital of 1050 beds, with a heritage of over 100 years (but thankfully no remaining facilities from that time!), providing a full range of clinical specialties, and serving a population of 375,000. It is situated in Bordesley Green, a mixed area of suburban housing through which a swathe of green land is woven, 3 – 4 miles to the east of Birmingham City Centre.
Solihull Hospital – a modern acute teaching hospital of 350 beds, it specialises in acute medicine, coronary and critical care, general surgery, orthopaedics, urology, obstetrics & gynaecology, day surgery, acute psychiatry and EMI assessment. There are associated outpatient clinics as well as chemotherapy, ophthalmology and ENT clinics, day hospitals, theatres, a renal dialysis unit and an Accident and Emergency Department. It is situated in the shopping and commercial centre of the small but lively town of Solihull, 10 miles to the south east of Birmingham City Centre and 7 miles from Birmingham Heartlands Hospital.
Birmingham Chest Clinic – situated in Birmingham City Centre.
Yardley Green – situated adjacent to the Heartlands site, this houses Audiology services, and the Diabetes service is shortly to be relocated to it.
BIRMINGHAM is Britain's second city, having a vibrant and cosmopolitan centre.
SOLIHULL, an expanding town, just outside the southeastern limits of Birmingham, has its own theatre, sports facilities, cinema and wide variety of places to drink and dine. Additionally, whilst it benefits from the attractions of Birmingham, it is also situated on the edge of the Warwickshire countryside for the benefit of those who enjoy more rural pursuits and village life – the best of both worlds!
Add to the above, the advantages of major Universities and Colleges, good standards of schooling and housing, a buoyant local economy, easy road (M5, M6, M42, M40) rail (including TWO routes to London) and air links (Birmingham International Airport), and you'll appreciate the benefits of working and living in and around Birmingham and Solihull.
Pharmacy constitutes a Directorate in its own right, within the organisational structure of the Trust, and this reflects the good standing of professional Pharmacy and the high importance attached to Pharmaceutical Care by the Trust's clinical and non-clinical staffs. The Directorate receives strong practical support, being well resourced, and having a voice, a sense of participation, and an opportunity to contribute to the strategic direction of the Trust, both in its own right, and as a member of the Medical Board.
We have a staff of 150 operating from two sites, Heartlands and Solihull, serving the Trust itself, and providing services from Solihull on contract to Mental Health and Community clinics and a Hospice.
The Directorate has an integrated management structure (a single management team), with certain functions being concentrated on one site, and others being co-ordinated but delivered on the two sites. Some staff enjoy a rotation between sites, for service consistency and personal development and the sharing of ideas, whilst others are permanently based at one site.
The full range of Teaching Hospital services is provided, including (in no particular order) dispensing and distribution, procurement and stores, medicines management, ward based clinical pharmacy, medicines information, education and training, prepacking, aseptic compounding, residency, internship, quality assurance, informatics and IT, formulary work, controls assurance and risk management, clinical trial management, patient counselling, teaching, clinical and practice research and development. Emphasis is placed upon individual patient care and clinical excellence.
Pharmacy takes a lead in Medicines Management as a multidisciplinary initiative, and also leads in the Trust Prescribing Committee, and in the Interface Prescribing Group at which it partners the locality Primary Care Trusts. It is also a key player in realising the NHS Modernisation Agenda, in improving the 'patient pathway', and in responding to National Service Frameworks and other standards documents.
We have an active commitment to personal development of staff, through formal teaching, on the job training, staff secondments and exchanges. There are weekly clinical meetings at Solihull and monthly education and information meetings at both sites, open invitations to the weekly “Grand Round”, opportunities to participate in IT and management and audit training, and to share in the junior doctor development program. Many staff members are running or involved in projects, and have the opportunity to pursue their own special interests complementary to their principal function.
A recent internal restructure has been carried out within the Pharmacy Directorate – a copy of our new organisational charts is enclosed. This has strengthened steps made in recent years, towards a patient-focussed service, sensitive to the needs of different groups, and well integrated with the wider clinical team. This fits well with our efforts to break down traditional boundaries between different staff groups within Pharmacy, as we improve everyone's skills and put them to use in the best possible way. This sometimes results in unusual jobs or combinations of responsibilities, and a fast pace of change, but we think we can cope with this, and are well on the way to achieving some exciting advances as a result. Some of those advances will be achieved through our participation in bedded Directorates, guiding clinical choices & the cost effective use of medicines.
Some recent Pharmacy developments:
“The engine is revving, the handbrake is off, and we are now letting the clutch out!”
These developments, together with major investments from the Trust into the Pharmacy Directorate, enrich the jobs that we offer, and provide job satisfaction and personal development opportunities for our existing staff, and for those about to join us – maybe you?
If you join us now, you'll have an opportunity to influence our strategic plan for the next five years, as we develop it. Nothing stays the same for long, though, and whenever you join, the skills and experience and ideas you bring with you will add to our plans and sometimes send us off in new unexpected directions.
Here are some of the ideas we have in mind for this year and next year:
Further Information
We look forward to hearing from you.
Good wishes,
Martin Phillips
Clinical Director of Pharmacy / Trust Head of Medicines Management