Prescriptions are dispensed for inpatients, outpatients and children who are discharged from the wards.

You are most likely to visit the dispensary if your child attends casualty or an outpatient clinic and is given a prescription.

When you hand in the prescription, a member of the pharmacy staff will confirm your child's details and check if they have any allergies to medicines. The pharmacist will then check that all doses are suitable for your child's age and weight.

A wide range of medicines is kept in stock but occasionally we may need to have a medicine specially made for your child, or even import one from another country.

When the medicines have been dispensed and checked, the pharmacist will hand them to you and give you any necessary instructions or advice.

This is also an opportunity for you to ask any questions you may have. Before you leave the pharmacy make sure you know how to how to give your child's medication.

• What dose should I give and how often? How do I measure it?
• Should I give the medicine before or after food?
• How long should I give the medicine for?
• Will I need further supplies and how will I obtain them?
• Does the medicine have any unwanted effects?
• Will it cause problems with my child's other medicines?

Remember to put all medicines out of the sight and reach of children.

There is a team of clinical pharmacy staff that work on the wards at Sheffield Children's Hospital which is made up of qualified pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. They work closely with the doctors and nurses on the ward to ensure that each patient's medicines is prescribed and administered safely and effectively. The service is provided daily Monday to Friday and you are most likely to meet one of the team near your (or your child's) bed when we will look at your medicine chart. They make sure that any prescriptions are completed correctly, that the dose is correct for your age and weight and that if you are on more than one medication that they are safe to take together. They may ask you (or your parents/carers) some questions about the medicines that you usually take at home and about any allergies that you may have.

Once the pharmacist is happy that the prescription if safe and correct then we will make sure that the medicines are available on the ward for administration at the right time. This is either by checking that the ward keeps a supply of the medicine or by ordering a supply from the dispensary. They will also order any medicines for injection to be made up by the aseptic service. If you brought any of your own medicine in from home with you we will have a look at them and make sure they are ok for the nurses to use while you are in the hospital.

When it is time to go home if you need any medicines to take home they will make sure that you get a supply to take with you. The doctors will write a prescription that we will take to the dispensary to be prepared.

If you have used your own medicines during your stay then they will make sure you have enough to take home and if not, will supply you with some more. If you would like any extra information about your medicines or would like to talk to us about ways we can help you take your medicines then just ask us during your stay.

Aseptic Services uses aseptic technique, a method that reduces the risk of microbiological (bacteria, viruses etc) contamination, in the production of injectable medicines. All production is done in 'clean room' where there is strict controls to prevent microbes from contaminating the room and the medicines prepared there. This particularly important for injectable medicines because if they get inadvertently contaminated, the microbes will get injected straight into the blood and it then has a much higher chance of causing a serious infection.

Other benefits of using the aseptics services for preparing the hospital's injectable medicines include providing standardised, clearly labelled medicines and savings on nursing time.The pharmacy aseptic service prepares a range of aseptically prepared products but commonly intravenous antibiotics are prepared here and supplied to the wards on a daily basis.

Sheffield Children's hospital is a principal cancer treatment centre in the region for children's cancer treatment. The oncology service prepares chemotherapy on site to nationally agreed guidelines or within national or European Clinical trials. Members of the team also provide full review of medicines that provide supportive care for this treatment on every hospital admission and provide information to parents. The service also provides the medicines for bone marrow transplants.

Other roles of the services include co-ordination of reporting all side-effects of medicines used in the hospital. It encourages health care practitioners and patients to report unusual side-effects. More information can be found can be found at the Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) website. The medicine information service is also involved in evaluating the safety, efficacy and cost-effectiveness of new medicines for treating child illnesses. It provides advice to the hospital on the new medicines so a decision can be made on whether it is appropriate to use them on patients.