Pharmaceutical Services

Mission

To provide support to pharmaco-therapeutic treatment care in the process of assisting clients seen at the Hospital, adding value through its contribution towards:

• Improved quality (effectiveness, safety);
• Improved efficiency;
• Improved systems of work and safety for health care professionals;
• Commitment to teaching and research

As such, the rational, safe and effective use of medicines and other pharmaceutical products in the best condition at the Hospital.

For this purpose, the Pharmaceutical Services are organized to perform multiple functions that can be summarized into three main areas:

a) Pharmaceutical Technology
b) Pharmaceutical Logistics
c) Clinical Pharmacy

The technological functions include:

• Pharmacotecnics: preparation of compounded medications (magisterial and officinal formulas) repackaging of medicines for dispensing unitary dosages, preparation of individual dosages of medication and non-sterile pharmaceutical products.
• Preparation of intravenous mixtures, parenteral nutrition and other sterile preparations
• Preparation of cancer chemotherapy cycles.

These are functions that require excellence, based on:

a) Good Practices in Hospital Pharmacy
b) A Quality Assurance program

Logistical functions allow patients treated at the hospital to receive medication on location and at the precise time, at the lowest possible cost. For this, given the complexity of the hospital context, it is essential that the Pharmaceutical Services develop an efficient and functional management model.

As functions of greater impact and relevance, Clinical Pharmacy, Pharmaco-vigilance, Clinical Pharmacokinetics, Clinical Trials and Information are noteworthy. These areas guide the responsibilities of the Pharmaceutical Service towards patients, for health outcomes that must be achieved with the rational (efficient, safe) use of medication, using the current concept of Medicine Based on Evidence, or more precisely "Pharmacotherapy based on evidence."

The CHCB, being a University Hospital with a triple vocation - highly differentiated and specialized technical assistance, pre- and post-graduate teaching and research, requires its workers to remain continually up-to-date with regards to new therapies and their significant complexity.

Vision

“Obtaining optimal results for patients' health through the efficient and safe use of evidence-based pharmacotherapy”

Values

• The people, the patients;
• Teamwork;
• Quality, efficiency and transparency.

Welcome Message

The main reason for creating this page is to inform on our activity and on how it is centred on our clients, providing them with the best quality of life.

Our activity is conducted with the training of a team of 23 health professionals composed of Pharmacists, Diagnosis and Therapy Technicians, Technical Assistants and Operational Assistants who you may get to know throughout this page. Our day-to-day depends on our employees’ strong commitment, posture and attitude, because it is by being focused on the well-being of the patient that our work is carried out.

Activity of the Pharmaceutical Services

The hospital’s Pharmaceutical Services have technical and scientific autonomy, subject to the general guidelines of the Board of Directors, who they answer to with regards to the results of their work. The Pharmaceutical Services is a clinical support service within the area of assistance and management of the human resources needed for the provision of Quality Health Care in the area of Medication and other Pharmaceutical Products. The fundamental objective of the CHCB’s Pharmaceutical Services is to fully comply with its mission.

The Pharmaceutical Services’ main customers are the Clinical Services, whether for inpatient care, or on an outpatient basis care, health professionals and even outpatients.

Operation

The Service operates 24 hours a day, every day of the year, always bearing in mind the Service’s values and internal code.
Hospital of Pero da Covilhã Hospital’s outpatient sector has the following opening hours: weekdays from 9h to 17h.
Fundão Hospital’s Pharmaceutical Services are open on weekdays from 9h to 17h.

Internal Code for the Pharmaceutical Services

• To always act with ambition and youth;
• To respect sound theory, develop new ideas and use working hours as effectively as possible;
• To take pleasure in work and improve the working environment;
• To constantly strive to achieve a harmonious work rhythm;
• To always keep in mind the value of effort and enterprise.

Definition of the Pharmaceutical Services

The Automation / Computerization of the service and the guaranteed quality of service are crucial aspects for maintaining the levels of quality and demand, reducing the possibility of medication errors, ensuring higher quality, better capitalisation of human resources and improving efficiency. In this context many investments were made, with emphasis on:

• The acquisition of a system for semi-automatic supply of medication, in individual doses (KARDEX);
• The acquisition of automatic systems for dispensing medicines (PYXIS) located in the General Emergency and Paediatric Services and the Operating Room;
• Acquisition of a robotic dispenser (Consis) for dispensing medications for Outpatients;
• Acquisition of optical readers;
• Acquisition of clean rooms for sterile preparation;
• Acquisition of automated packaging equipment for solid oral formats (FDS);
• The Integrated Medicine Circuit Management System (SGICM).

The electronic prescription system is widely implemented in the hospital, facilitating direct communication between Doctors, Nurses and Pharmacists and contributing to the prevention of medication errors and improving assistance procedures.

The accreditation of the Hospital by the "Joint Commission" was particularly challenging for the Pharmaceutical Service, which had invested in the implementation and development of a quality management system. This work culminated in the certification process according to the NP EN ISO 9001/2008 standard in April 2011, and it was a commitment of the team that performs functions in this service to serve patients, based on a spirit of cooperation between employees whose contribution is essential for achieving the set objectives.

The Pharmaceutical Service is organised so as to perform multiple and complex activities, determined by the actions of Assistance, Education and Research, inseparable in a University Hospital, and for a more demanding and responsible use of available resources. It is therefore an important structure of the health care provided within the hospital.

Educational Activity

The Pharmaceutical Services performs teaching activities through its employees, who participate in graduate and postgraduate education, in collaboration with the University of Beira Interior, the Polytechnic Institute of Guarda, and Lisbon University, amongst others.

Scientific and Research Activity

The participation in scientific congresses with oral communications and panel (posters) presentations, as well as the publishing of scientific articles has enabled the disclosure of the work done by the Pharmaceutical Services and the exchange of experiences.

Director
Dr. Maria Olímpia Cardoso Ferreira da Fonseca

Contacts:

Tel.: 275 330000

Fax: 275 330072

Mail: secretariado.farm@chcbeira.min-saude.pt

Unit Dosage: ext. 11904/11912

General Warehouse: ext. 11913/11906

Outpatients: ext. 11903

Pharmacotecnics: ext. 11908

Unit Dosage Preparation Room: ext. 11911

Hospital do Fundão’s Pharmaceutical Services: ext. 23901

Location
Hospital Pêro da Covilhã - Piso 0

Hospital do Fundão - Edifício antigo