Today, on World Pharmacists Day >, University Hospitals of Derby and Burton (UHDB) celebrate the invaluable contributions of our pharmacy teams. This year’s theme highlights the vital role pharmacists play in improving patient care, safety, and outcomes — and at UHDB, that impact is felt every single day.
We are pleased that three teams across University Hospitals of Derby and Burton (UHDB) have been hailed as national examples of healthcare excellence. Their work has been shortlisted for the prestigious Health Service Journal (HSJ) Awards 2025, who have recognised their innovative work to drive improvements in quality, safety and access to patient care.
A UHDB pharmacist has been named one of The Pharmaceutical Journal's ‘Women to Watch 2024’ for her commitment to transforming the care of older patients, and her leadership in pioneering new ways of working that alleviate pressure on the wider NHS.
Our pharmacy team has been shortlisted for a prestigious national award for improving safety and quality of care for frail patients attending the Emergency Department at Royal Derby Hospital, through an innovative ‘joined-up’ approach.
Pharmacists across UHDB are “proud to be keeping patients safe even after they leave our care” after being recognised at a national level for their work. The Medicines Optimisation team has worked collaboratively with digital services at the Trust and pharmacies across the region to develop an interface that improves communication with community pharmacies, to help patients have the right medication they need, with safety reviews, after leaving hospital.
Since the beginning of the covid pandemic back in 2020, the role of those in the Pharmacy Department at UHDB has become even more unprecedented. While they are still responsible for medicines management across our Trust, they are now also the go-to for any questions about covid-19, both treatments and vaccinations.
Aside from their normal daily responsibilities the team do a lot of work behind the scenes to help protect colleagues, including a huge contribution to the seasonal vaccinations campaign.
On Friday 14 October, UHDB held it’s first in-person awards ceremony in three years at the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas, with 260 members of #TeamUHDB joining in an evening of celebrating exceptional care together.
The glamorous awards ceremony, hosted by local radio DJ Mark O’Sullivan, saw nominees for 10 awards come together to celebrate in what was a night to remember.
A new digitised process for prescribing and dispensing medications at UHDB is benefiting patients and staff-alike by making it easier than ever for people to receive the right medicines for them.
UHDB is the first Trust in the country to have introduced a ‘closed loop medication supply’ process that better enables clinicians to electronically prescribe patients with the drugs that they need via our Pharmacy department.
We’ve been speaking to one of the #UHDBheroes in Pharmacy about why she loves being part of this team, after an exciting new opportunity to join the department opened up this week.
An incredibly supportive team and plentiful development opportunities are among some of the reasons members of Royal Derby Hospital’s Pharmacy Team believe it is such a great place to work.