A PHARMACIST will be permanently stationed in Blackburn’s emergency department in an attempt to ease pressure on staff.

It follows a pilot project across 53 hospital sites, which examined the extent to which patients with medicines-related issues could be assessed by a pharmacist, and then signposted for the right care.

MORE TOP STORIES:

East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust has struggled for years to deal with high numbers of patients, who do not need emergency care, turning up at the Royal Blackburn Hospital.

By having a pharmacist based permanently in the department, this should help free up doctors and triage nurses for those who are seriously ill.

Neil Fletcher, clinical director of pharmacy at the trust, said two pharmacists from the multi-assessment unit were based in A&E during the trial, and saw about 400 patients over the five weeks.

He said: “We are pleased with how the pilot went here are very keen to take this work forward.

“We are now looking at putting a pharmacist in the emergency department who can be part of the team there and support with the triaging of patients.”

The results of the work will also be fed back to a national project and announced later in the year.

The project has been led by Health Education England and supported by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS).

David Branford, chairman of the England pharmacy board at the RPS, said when it was launched: “Utilising the skills, expertise and accessibility of pharmacists can significantly help to alleviate some of the pressures currently being experienced in the delivery of the urgent and emergency care.

“There are benefits to having a pharmacist involved at all stages of the urgent care pathway, as the results of the pilot showed. It is now time to take that evidence to be more strategic and change the services on offer to the public to make best use of the workforce.”