Hospital Pharmacy Explained - The Right Chamber - Ep 26

In this episode we sit down with Chief Pharmacist and Associate Director of Medicines Optimisation, Ruckie Kahlon, to explore the often-unseen world of hospital pharmacy and why it’s central to safe patient care.

Ruckie reflects on her 25-year journey with the Trust, from pre-registration pharmacist in the Black Country to becoming Chief Pharmacist and Controlled Drugs Accountable Officer. She explains what it really means to hold statutory responsibility for medicines. From prescribing and procurement to safe administration, storage, and governance, and why pharmacy is involved in virtually every patient’s journey through the hospital.

With around 200 staff working across 11 specialist teams, Ruckie breaks down the different roles of pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, assistants, and apprentices. She discusses how skill-mix is evolving as more pharmacists become independent prescribers and pharmacy technicians take on increasingly clinical responsibilities at the bedside and in specialist clinics.

The conversation also dives into the challenge of medicines shortages, the ethics and practicality of securing high-quality, cost-effective treatments, and the robust systems in place to manage high-risk controlled drugs safely and transparently. Ruckie shares how digital innovations are transforming how medicines are supplied, monitored, and optimised for patients, while freeing professionals to spend more time in direct patient-facing care.

00:00:00 Introduction to The Right Chamber
00:00:49 Meet Ruckie Kahlon: Chief Pharmacist at The Dudley Group
00:01:31 Overview of the Chief Pharmacist role
00:04:26 Pharmacy: The "Octopus" of the hospital
00:05:44 The Pharmacy Team: Pharmacists, Technicians, and Assistants
00:08:21 Revolutionary changes in pharmacy education and prescribing
00:11:21 How pharmacists become qualified prescribers
00:14:40 The shifting landscape of hospital pharmacy
00:16:03 The 11 specialised teams within the Pharmacy Directorate
00:18:25 Procurement and managing a £60 million medicine spend
00:21:23 Navigating national medicine shortages safely
00:23:55 Controlled Drugs and the role of the Accountable Officer
00:27:44 Building strong relationships between doctors and pharmacists
00:29:37 Digital Pharmacy: Implementing electronic prescribing (EPMA)
00:31:11 Pharmacy Robots: Improving accuracy and efficiency
00:34:00 Closing remarks and stay connected

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Produced by the RGUC Digital Media Team - https://iclinical.co.uk/digital-media...

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