60 Seconds with… Tomi Shitta, Head of Pharmacy at the RLH & MEH
Reflections on the Royal London 14/15th floor expansion
What was your role before the expansion, and what has been your role during the expansion?
I joined Barts Health in February 2020 as the Head of Pharmacy for Royal London and Mile End Hospitals. I was completing my induction when the Trust went into pandemic planning and response. In my new role as Head of Pharmacy, I was working alongside the Group Chief Pharmacist, Raliat Onatade, and the Royal London Executive Team to deliver a responsive, patient-centred, and safe pharmacy service. Over the last 7 weeks my role has now involved supporting the provision of pharmaceutical care on COVID wards, expansion of critical care beds in existing ward areas and of course, the expansion into the 14th and 15th floors.
What have you been responsible for?
My role during the 14th and 15th floor expansion has primarily been to provide expert advice on the key requirements for pharmacy services including workforce and medicines storage in the newly built critical care wards. As we know medicine is one of the principal treatment interventions used in the critical care setting and pharmacy staff play a very vital role in ensuring optimal pharmaceutical care is delivered to this patient group.
The well-planned layout of the wards on the 14th and 15th allows close proximity to critical medicines and ample space for medicines preparation within the treatment room. The most exciting part of working on the project was providing hands on support with organising the treatment room, my main aim was to ensure nurses were able to find critical drugs quickly whilst maintaining the key safety elements within the Trust’s Medicines Management policy.
As expected, I wasn’t working alone; I had pharmacy colleagues that provided expert knowledge on critical care medicines as well as operational support. The pharmacy team were instrumental to ensuring the adequate supply of medicines in time for the ward opening to its first critical care patients.
What has been the biggest challenge?
I felt supported by the project working group and my pharmacy colleagues which I would attribute to the smooth running of the pharmacy work stream. It has been wonderful to be a part of a successful team effort that delivered such great work in such a short timeframe.
What has been your best highlight?
I would have to say the highlight of working on the 14th and 15th floor project was the support from pharmacy colleagues that volunteered to help commission the treatment room on their day off. There was also lots of excitement within the team from the anticipation of working on the new critical care wards. It was lovely to see their passion for caring for patients despite the pressures we had all been working under. The team was exemplary and demonstrated our WECARE values at various points during the delivery of the project.
How are you feeling now it’s completed?
Now that the first phase has all been completed I feel immensely proud to have been part of such a monumental achievement and I’m even more grateful to have worked with my colleagues on this and I know we will all look back on this project with PRIDE.