Incredible 'hidden work' of Pharmacy team helps keep us protected
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.
We spoke to Matt Prior, Deputy Chief Pharmacist, about the effort that goes into planning and delivering the vaccinations rollout and what it meant for his team to have their efforts recognised at this year’s annual Making a Difference Awards.
Matt said: “The work that pharmacy does for the vaccinations programme is probably both obvious and hidden. It starts with us knowing we need to get a vaccine and then we work to the time frames set nationally.
“When the vaccinations first came along and it was the initial Pfizer vaccine, it required ultra-low freezers which were brand new for pharmacy. We had to look at new storage and lots of new things that we were not used to, creating significant work behind the scenes to procure, receipt and store the vaccines. This is before we start talking about the transport and storage in our vaccination hubs and developing legal mechanisms for both prescribing and administration.
“It’s a complicated process which requires a significant modelling far in advance of the clinics. We've got to predict the throughput and activity across UHDB three to four weeks in advance in order to identify what we get in to make sure we have enough to meet demand but not too much as we don’t want the vaccines to expire or go to waste.”
As part of Matt’s role he has to undertake vast amounts of research about the vaccines and their ingredients, benefits and side-effects and after looking into the impact of the vaccines he is a huge advocate for both the flu vaccinations and the covid boosters.
He said: “From a personal perspective, I think it's right that if you are a healthcare professional or even in a non-healthcare professional role but you are working in a hospital that you get the vaccines to protect yourself and those in your care. We are all here because we want to make people better and in this case prevention is better than treatment.
“We've all seen the devastating effects of covid over the last few years and we know how bad flu waves can get, and it’s been predicted that we’ve got a really bad winter wave coming. So it seems obvious to me that anything we can do to help mitigate this risk should be done sooner rather than later.”
Currently, more than 17,700 vaccinations have been administered to staff at UHDB since September 2022 which is a massive operation and one that would not work without the commitment and efforts of the Pharmacy team.
Matt said: “It is huge and I think the pharmacy department do so much work that is not really seen so something like the vaccinations rollout is a great focal point for pharmacy to be able to showcase how closely we all work to make it a success.”
“We are all plugging away and doing so much work in the background. Everybody's working really hard and it is tough. We have the same workforce challenges that everybody's facing but we all have the same goal in mind and that is to help deliver these vaccines to as many people as we can.”
Last month Matt and the rest of the team were delighted to win the Chair’s Team of the Year award at the annual Making a Difference Awards and Matt said the recognition will go some way to shining a spotlight on some of the incredible work the team do.
He said: “It is a big thank you to everybody who is working really hard and I think any recognition is really important and positive because it encourages us to keep going and you feel like your work is appreciated.
“We know what good the vaccinations can do in helping patients and the trust as a whole when winter hits but it is reassuring to know that our efforts are valued.
“The work we do can be difficult but it is important and that makes it worthwhile.”