London Health Sciences Centre's (LHSC) Pharmacy Services operate as a single department across all our locations:
- University Hospital,
- Victoria Hospital,
- Verspeeten Family Cancer Centre, and
- Children's Hospital.
LHSC is a leader in progressive hospital pharmacy practice and has a strong history of innovation.
LHSC's Pharmacy Services have made some significant contributions to health care including:
- University Hospital opened as one of the first unit doses and centralized Intravenous admixture hospitals in Canada;
- Computerized medication profiles and pharmacy-printed Medication Administration Records have been in use since 1979;
- Developed one of the first regional Drug Information Centres (LonDIS) in Ontario;
- The Hospital Pharmacy Residency program has been in operation since 1967;
- University Hospital was one of the first Canadian hospitals to implement a decentralized pharmacist staffing model to promote clinical pharmacy practice; and
- The second Automated Dispensing machine in Canada was installed at Victoria Hospital.
Different roles within the pharmacy team
Each pharmacy team member supports improving the quality of life for all patients. They are dedicated to providing pharmaceutical care and supportive practices through innovation and collaboration, emphasizing excellence in service, training, education and research.
The role of pharmacy technicians has advanced at LHSC, with technicians actively involved in medication distribution duties, including 'tech check tech' dispensing. This enables pharmacists to concentrate primarily on clinical activities. Pharmacists spend the majority of their time involved with direct patient care activities.
The pharmacy department has over 300 full-time, part-time and casual employees. Service is provided to two sites (Victoria Hospital and University Hospital). Pharmacy Service is also offered to the Verspeeten Family Cancer Centre, which operates from the Victoria Hospital site, and the department operates two accredited retail pharmacies. Verspeeten Family Cancer Centre provides a retail service exclusively for patients of Verspeeten Family Cancer Centre.
There is an active teaching program involving undergraduate teaching for the University of Toronto and Waterloo pharmacist programs; hospital training placements for Fanshawe College, St. Clair College, Westervelt College and Lambton College pharmacy technician programs and five annual postgraduate Hospital Pharmacy Residents.
The department participates in Clinical Trials Research. Several staff roles support clinical trials associated with the University of Western Ontario, Lawson Health Research Institute, Robarts Research Institute and several in-house drug trials. The department is also recognized internationally for the work of our staff in developing a methodology involving evidence-based review to assist with Formulary and therapeutic decisions.
