Pharmacy

GUH antibiotic dose calculators

GUH Once Daily Gentamicin Dose Calculator
https://calculator.medicaleguides.com/guh/calculators/#/gentamicin

GUH IV Vancomycin Dose Calculator 
https://calculator.medicaleguides.com/guh/calculators/#/vancomycin
 

ED Pharmacy service

Currently one or more pharmacists are assigned a total of 4 hours to review the ‘overnight’ patients in the Emergency Dept.  They visit from 8am in the morning and perform medication reviews for these patients.  The aim is to get the right medications prescribed and to get them to the patient as quickly as possible. So we are checking if the medications prescribed are what the patient was actually taking at home, and that all new medications are appropriate, and as per hospital guidelines where applicable.  Any drug related issues are resolved as quickly as possible and medication incidents are reported.

The main ED pharmacist is on bleep 524, and will be assisted by other pharmacists when necessary.
(Pharmacy Dispensary : Extn 4651 or 4205)

ED patients are not routinely reviewed unless the pharmacist is alerted by a nurse or doctor to a drug related issue such as incomplete medication history, IV drug administration queries, interactions, drug information etc etc.   In this case the patient’s medication will be reviewed by a pharmacist.

When requested, the ED pharmacist is also involved in:
- ED guideline development, e.g. intranasal Fentanyl
- ED staff education, e.g. anaphylaxis management
- Stock management, e.g. what drugs are held in Resus, dealing with drug shortage problems etc
- Antidotes stock management – UHG is considered a holding centre in the West and we stock antidotes as per the NPIC guidelines. 

There is also a dedicated pharmacy technician who visits ED daily for 3 hours each morning and orders the non-stock medications for the overnight patients. She alerts the pharmacist about any specific medication issues so that they can be rectified promptly. Some medications, e.g. epilepsy, Parkinson’s, diabetes, are prioritised and we aim to get them dispensed and to the patient as quickly as possible.  The medications for each patient are bagged and labelled with the patient’s name, and they should be transferred to the ward with the patient. 

On other days the technician is responsible for ordering the medication for ED as follows:
- Monday and Friday: Resus room and antidotes top-up
- Thursdays: main clinical room medications, Paediatrics and Fluid room

IV Administration Guidelines

There is a copy of an i.v. administration guide in resus and the drugs room.
The online searchable iv guidelines are available here.

Antibiotic Guidelines

Connect with the GUH antibiotic guidelines here.

Acute Pain Guidelines

Please find a copy of the acute pain guidelines here.

Antidote List

Antidote List - National Poisons Information Centre, Ireland