Our specialist clinical pharmacy team are responsible for developing, delivering, and evaluating a safe, effective and cost efficient clinical pharmacy service to ensure optimum patient care within the hospice and the wider community.

Our team of one senior pharmacy technician and one specialist palliative care pharmacist provides advice in all pharmaceutical matters to patients, carers and health professionals throughout Ayrshire and Arran.

The team are also part of a joint project with the health board that aims to improve services available through local community pharmacies to palliative care patients across Ayrshire. With access to the correct information and greater involvement in the planning of anticipatory care, community pharmacists are in an ideal situation to provide greater care, support and clinical services to people living with, and dying of, a life limiting illness, and their families. This innovative project looks at greater integration within community teams, as well as the different ways we can improve communication so ensure care is delivered timeously, patient and carer distress is minimised, and symptom control effectively managed.

Through building capacity and strengthening the skill mix within community pharmacies the project hopes to be able to improve access to support, information and medicines from community pharmacy staff and increase general awareness of the needs of palliative care patients and their carers.