Pharmacy

The Medicine Chest is our outpatient pharmacy, located on the left-hand side of the main hospital entrance.

Monday: 09:30am — 6pm
Tuesday: 9am — 6pm
Wednesday: 9am — 6pm
Thursday: 9am — 6pm
Friday: 9am — 6pm
Saturday: Closed
Sunday: Closed

Contact: 0121 333 8936

The Medicine Chest opened in January 2013 and is a bright, modern, child-friendly outpatient pharmacy that is also home to a high-tech automated dispensing robot.

If your child attends an outpatient clinic appointment here at the Children’s Hospital, their medicines will be supplied by the Medicine Chest. The Medicine Chest dispenses an average of more than 4000 medicines each month.

Each prescription is checked by a specialist paediatric pharmacist. The prescription will then be dispensed by one of our technicians and our robot. The medicines are then final checked, before being handed out to our patients.

Specialist paediatric pharmacists will also be on hand to answer any questions you may have or to give confidential advice about your child’s medicine(s).

The pharmacy is located along the main corridor next to the neonatal unit.  Signposting is available within the hospital to assist you in finding it. The onsite pharmacy includes a small retail area offering mother and baby items, as well as a range of over-the-counter medicines for purchase.

Please note that this pharmacy cannot dispense prescriptions issued on a GP (green FP10) form or Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) prescriptions, as it is not licensed to do so.

Our pharmacy team includes fully qualified pharmacists who are available to provide advice about your medicines.

While you wait for your prescription to be prepared, you are welcome to browse the retail area or wait just outside in the designated seating area.

Prescription Charges

If you are an NHS patient, standard NHS prescription charges apply to your clinic prescription.

Prescription charges can be paid by cash or card.  If you are unable to pay at the time, please speak with the pharmacist to discuss how this can be managed.

If you are exempt from NHS prescription charges, pharmacy staff are required to request reasonable evidence to support any exemption claim.

If you are a private or self-funding patient, the pharmacist will explain any charges before dispensing.

Please note: Only prescriptions for hospital-registered patients can be dispensed by the onsite pharmacy.

Contact us in the dispensary: 0121 472 1377 ext. 5291

Pharmacy opening hours

Monday to Friday: 9.00am to 6.00pm

Saturday: 9.00am to 1.00pm

Bank Holidays: 9.00am to 1.00pm

Please note: there is no service on Sundays or Christmas Day

Opening Hours

Monday to Friday: 8.45am - 6.00pm
Saturday and Sundays: 8.45am - 3.45pm
Bank Holidays: 10.00am - 3.00pm

Contact 

0121 333 9772

Please note, there is no service on Christmas Day. An on-call pharmacist is available, however they may only be contacted by senior hospital staff.

Our inpatient pharmacy provides a service to all medical and surgical teams and is responsible for managing patients' medicines while in hospital. We are organised into clinical teams of pharmacists, technicians and assistants and work closely with doctors and nurses to ensure medicines prescribed for our patients are safe and effective.

As every child is unique, we help ensure that medicines are suitable and the correct dose is used. We develop guidelines on how drugs should be used and provide information to support doctors in prescribing medicines.

Suitable formulations to allow easy administration to children are also provided. These may have to be specially prepared or obtained if they are not commercially available.

We organise the supply of medicines while in hospital and following discharge to make sure arrangements are made for continuing the supply of special medicines.

We have a Medicines Information department that provides information to our own and other units across the country and we also have specialist teams providing intravenous nutrition solutions and chemotherapy. 

You will see our staff on the wards, in outpatient clinics and in the main department. We are always available to offer advice and information, so please feel free to ask.