Evelina London’s pharmacy reopens with a robotic helping hand

The pharmacy at Evelina London Children's Hospital has officially reopened after a major refurbishment.

At the heart of the refurbished pharmacy is a new robotic dispensing system, affectionately nicknamed "Sir Dispense-a-lot" by the pharmacy team. While the robot might sound like a character from a book, it has an important job to do, helping pharmacy staff prepare and dispense medicines safely and efficiently.

The refurbishment is part of a wider investment in modernising pharmacy services at Evelina London to deliver the additional dispensing capacity necessary to support the future children's cancer Principal Treatment Centre. Alongside the robot, changes have been made to improve the way medicines are stored, prepared and supplied, helping the team to work more effectively and supporting high standards of patient care.

A new controlled drugs cabinet, the first of its kind at the Trust, manages stock electronically and removes the need for pharmacy staff to keep manual, written records of those drugs being dispensed.

Nanna Christiansen, chief children’s pharmacist at Evelina London, said:

The reopening of our pharmacy is a significant milestone for Evelina London. This refurbishment will help us provide an even better service for our patients and families, while giving our staff access to the latest technology.

 

Sir Dispense-a-lot has already become a popular member of the team, and we're excited about the difference the new pharmacy will make in the years ahead.

For patients and families, this means a pharmacy service that is better equipped to meet the needs of a busy children's hospital. The upgrades and new technology will enable pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to meet the growing demands of the hospital while continuing to provide expert medicines support to patients, families, and clinical teams.

The reopening follows several months of work, during which pharmacy services continued to operate from temporary facilities to ensure patients could continue receiving their medicines without interruption.

The works were carried out by Essentia, part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, responsible for delivering most non-clinical services at the Trust's hospitals and community sites, including estates, facilities and capital management.

Joe Grice, Essentia senior project manager, said:

Delivering this important project on time and on budget to support Evelina London colleagues was a priority for the Essentia project team. I’m proud project delivery went really well, whilst minimising disruption to essential pharmacy services for our patients.

The refurbished pharmacy reflects a commitment to modernising hospital infrastructure and investing in innovation to help deliver the best possible care for children, young people and their families.