Boots' pharmacy has reduced waits for prescriptions and discharge

NGH and Boots' pharmacy staff celebrate the first anniversary of their successful partnership

The partnership between Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust and Boots UK has had a successful first year, with the outpatient pharmacy improving services and reducing waiting times for patients.

 The turnaround on dispensing medicines since the partnership was established in June 2015 has increased in speed, with 75% of patients in the area receiving their prescriptions within 15 minutes compared to 29% in 2015.

NGH is the only hospital in the area with an on-site Boots pharmacy service, and over the last year it has helped to improve the process of discharging patients. In April 2015 the average wait time for patients was 67 minutes in comparison to 41 minutes in April this year.

During the first year over 35,000 patients have visited Boots outpatients pharmacy and it is hoped that that the partnership will continue to grow and further improve the future service in the community.

Boots-first-anniversary-(cake)-DRK_3674m NGH chief pharmacist Maxine Foster said: “The Boots partnership has enabled us to improve care and reduce our average waiting time for patients which is great for both our patients and our staff”.

Pharmacy manager Julia Pereira said: “In the 12 months since the Boots outpatient pharmacy opened, we have made great progress. For example,
we have worked with our colleagues at the hospital to improve the patient waiting times. We are really proud of this achievement which has positively enhanced the patient experience.

“Our team has gone from strength to strength professionally with the support of the hospital team.We have established some great relationships within the trust and we are all very excited at the prospect of continuing to further enhance the patient experience here at NGH.”