A Review of Pharmacy Services in Australian Collocated Hospitals

Abstract

Introduction: A collocation involves the development of a private hospital on the campus of a public hospital‐usually a teaching hospital. There is a wide range of collocation models. The aim of this project was to review and compare pharmacy services provided at collocated hospitals across Australia.Method: With the support of the 1999 Amgen Pharmacy Management Grant, visits were made to both the public and private pharmacy departments at nine collocated hospitals, and pertinent issues were discussed with the director of pharmacy or their equivalent at each site.Results: The private hospital pharmacy service can be operated by either the private hospital owner (Catholic hospitals); or the public hospital pharmacy department (with either a separate or fully integrated department); or a private partnership (with either an on‐site or off‐site pharmacy). Compared to their public counterparts, the private hospital pharmacists service significantly smaller institutions (average beds‐147 v. 464). The private pharmacies are, on average, operated from significantly smaller on‐site premises (average floor space 90 m2 v. 611 m2), and with lower staffing levels (beds/pharmacist: 49.1 v. 25.3 and beds/total staff: 27.3 v. 14.2). The private and public pharmacies are open for similar periods each week (58.2 v. 60.3 hours). Both private and public pharmacies rely heavily on computers and information technology to provide services (0.7 v. 0.7 computer terminals per staff member). Private pharmacies provide a similar range of general clinical services to those offered by public pharmacies e.g. both perform basic medication chart review. With one exceptkm, fees for professional and technical pharmacy services are charged by private pharmacies not owned and operated by the private hospital.Conclusion: Several structural and functional arrangements exist for the private hospital pharmacy services provided at a number of collocated public and private hospitals in Australia. A variety of factors, some outside the control of pharmacy management, influence the design of the private hospital pharmacy service.