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  • Title: Benchmarking the current dispensing rate of Welsh hospital pharmacies.
    Author: Hiom S, Roberts D, Hawksbee M, Burfield R, Francis M, Walker K, Lord S, Warner N.
    Journal: J Clin Pharm Ther; 2006 Aug; 31(4):357-62. PubMed ID: 16882105.
    Abstract:
    BACKGROUND: There is a need to develop capacity measures for pharmacy services for strategic purposes, to provide guidance on safe working limits and to contribute to the target 40% reduction in serious medication errors by 2005. Attempts have been made to quantify workloads in the form of items/person/hour (i/p/h). However, much of these data are anecdotal, small scale or associated with vague methodology. OBJECTIVE: We estimate national average dispensing rates by collecting accurate data from secondary care dispensaries across Wales. METHOD: Seventeen sites collected hourly data relating to staff time and items dispensed over a 3-day period. The result showed a Welsh national average for non-specialist hospital pharmacy dispensing rates of 9.9 items/person/h (95% CI = 0.9, n = 17). There was a significant positive association between hospital size and telephone interruptions (r(s) = 0.83, P < 0.001) but no correlation between hospital size and dispensing rates (r(s) = 0.06, P = 0.822).
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