In the latest issue of Hospital Pharmacy Europe, we include an innovative case study on how a facility in Switzerland became the first hospital in the world to introduce a fully automated hospital-wide prescription medicines supply chain.

This enabled safe, secure, timely and efficient delivery of patients’ medicines from the central pharmacy to the ward or care unit.

Preterm delivery is considered a nutritional emergency, requiring the provision of parenteral nutrition. Individualised parenteral nutrition (IPN) is essential for appropriate nutrient delivery and management of fluid and electrolyte balance in a cohort of preterm infants. However, these complex bespoke prescriptions can be resource intensive and prone to medical errors and Dr Ann-Marie Brennan and colleagues detail how computerised prescribing of IPN and the support of multidisciplinary nutrition teams overcome some of these shortcomings and ensures optimal delivery of nutrition for this vulnerable patient group. 

Emergency departments (EDs) are often ill equipped to reconcile and continue vital medications for Parkinson’s disease, and dramatic deterioration in symptoms and increased morbidity may occur as a result. Results of a research study by Kunal Gohil and colleagues clearly demonstrate the potential deficiencies of emergency departments in reconciling and continuing chronic therapies in the acute setting. Pharmacist intervention was associated with a statistically lower number of omissions of anti-parkinsonian medications while in the ED and a lower incidence of PD-related deterioration in patients’ symptoms while in the department. Clinical pharmacists are an ideal choice to take pressure off ED clinicians, while yielding time and efficiency savings on base ward level.