Important information about the pharmacy which we reccommend you read prior to coming to hospital.

• Pharmacy and your Medications
• What does Pharmacy do?
• Pharmacists on the Wards
• PYXIS
• How patients can help improve their own safety
• Do’s and don’t’s of prescription medicine

Pharmacy and your Medications

If you know you are coming to hospital please bring your medication with you. This includes any consultation meetings with our medical or surgical staff, and any planned surgical procedures.

It’s important that we know EXACTLY what medication you are taking, how often, and in what dose. It is also helpful if we know the name of your GP and local pharmacist so that we can advise them of any changes to your medication or so that we can call them if we have any questions about the medication you are taking.

This is handy information to keep in your wallet in case of an emergency as well. It makes our job a lot easier if we know who to contact in an emergency situation, who your GP and local pharmacist is, as they can give us vital information that we need to know about your medication history.

What does the Pharmacy do?

A key function for the pharmacy is to provide medication to nursing staff for patient prescriptions. While you are an inpatient pharmacists fill medication on the wards On discharge you may be given a prescription to fill, which you can do at the hospital pharmacy or your local, regular pharmacy Please note that where you get your prescription filled the first time is where you must go to get your repeats

Pharmacists on the Wards


A pharmacist will come to your bedside to:

• Check your medical history
• Monitor and check your scripts
• Ensure you have been prescribed the correct medication and the correct dose
• Check allergies that you may have
• Check your drug interaction
• Liaise with your regular pharmacist to notify them of any changes in medication

During this one on one consultation with patients the pharmacist will:

• Discuss what medication you are currently taking
• Discuss any unwanted side effects you may be having
• Discuss with you any new or changed medications 
• Listen to any concerns you may have about new or old medication
• Give you advice on how to get the best out of your medication

PYXIS

Medication errors occur in all hospitals and health care settings. However at Wanganui Hospital, a pharmacist is actively involved with patients on the ward, to reduce the likelihood of a patient being given the wrong medication or the wrong dose. 

The medical and surgical wards also have a PYXIS, which greatly reduces the likelihood of medication errors. PYXIS is an automated drug dispenser. When a Doctor prescribes medication, a script is sent to pharmacy. A pharmacist enters the patient and medication details into PYXIS so when the nurse is doing drug rounds, they enter the patients name into PYXIS and will be given the correct medication and dose.

How Patients can Help Improve their Own Safety

If you are normally given a blue pill in the morning and you are given a pink pill, ask the nursing staff why? This is not disrespectful to nursing staff. If a mistake has occurred, they will be very grateful to you for picking it up. It may be the correct medication however as different brands of the same pill may be a different colour or it may be the same medication in a higher or lesser dose.

Do’s and Don’t’s of Prescription Medicine

Do’s

• Follow instructions
• Notify your GP if you are having any unwanted side effects or reactions from your medication
• Return any unwanted medication to GP or pharmacy for disposal
• Keep all medication out of reach of children
• Ask for a child proof cap for your medication if you have children in the house

Don’ts

• Don't mix tablets from bottles or packets into one container
• Don't take your medication out of its original container unless you are using a dispensing box
• Don't Ever give your medication to friends or family

If you take a lot of different medication several times a day ask our pharmacy about Blister Picks.