MEET the newest member of staff to join the pharmacy at Oxford’s Churchill Hospital... and it’s not likely to need a coffee break.

A £140,000 robot is helping the team of 15 pharmacists by preparing and dispensing drugs – even when there’s no one around.

It is helping staff cope with a 35 per cent increase in demand for drugs since the Oxford Cancer Centre at the Headington site opened last April.

The number of drugs dispensed at the pharmacy has risen from 12,000 items per month to 18,000, as the hospital starts to treat extra patients from all around the South East.

The extra work was running the team ragged, but thanks to a donation from national charity the Kay Kendall Leukaemia Fund, the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals Trust has been able to buy the ground-breaking piece of equipment.

Emma Pullen, operational manager of the pharmacy, said: “The robot will continue to go on working throughout the night, preparing drugs, checking dates, and carrying out housekeeping, long after we’ve gone home.

“For us having the robot has been fantastic, and has really improved our workload. For patients, it means getting the drugs they need more quickly.”

The Mach 4 Pharmacy Robot will cut the time patients spend waiting for their drugs and even reduce dispensing errors. It is thought to be one of only three in the UK.

The robot will also allow pharmacists to prepare emergency out-of-hours medication for patients at the Churchill and John Radcliffe hospitals from their own homes.

By using a laptop to remotely instruct the robotic arm, pharmacists can order drugs to be delivered via a conveyor belt to an emergency room where nurses can collect them.

The pharmacy has recently moved from the old entrance at the Churchill Hospital to larger premises across the road.

Before the robot became fully operational at the beginning of May about 70 per cent of patients were getting their medication within the NHS target time of 90 minutes.

But since the equipment has been in place, there have been 10 days where more than 80 per cent met target, six days when more than 90 per cent had their medication delivered on time, and one day when 100 per cent of patients received their drugs within the target time.

Head of major gifts at the hospital Andrew House said: “The new pharmacy robot takes the very best of modern technology and puts it to the service of patients in the Cancer Centre.

“We are incredibly grateful to the Kay Kendall Leukaemia Fund for this support.”

awilliams@oxfordmail.co.uk