07.04.2006
The School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences was delighted to welcome Hemant Patel, President of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, to the school on 29 March.
Mr Patel formally opened a newly-refurbished clinical skills laboratory which replaces the school's old-style dispensary.
Professor John Smart, Hemant Patel, David House and Professor Andrew Lloyd
The new laboratory, which cost around £200,000, is designed as a modern pharmacy department with patient consultation areas, dispensing areas, and examination rooms. It is equipped with linked computers for labelling and patient medication records, and standard teaching equipment and video facilities.
One of the most modern facilities for professional pharmacy teaching in the UK, the laboratory allows students to experience the kind of modern clinical environment in which practising pharmacists now work.
The President congratulated the university on its investment, and explained how pharmacy practice was going through exciting changes, becoming more clinical, inter-professional and patient-focused. These modern facilities, he said, would assist in preparing future pharmacists for such a challenging role.
Following the opening ceremony Mr Patel gave a presentation on the future of pharmacy to a group of final-year pharmacy students.
Explaining the need for the new laboratory Professor John Smart, head of the School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, said that the key role of the pharmacist now "is to bring science directly to the patient and into the healthcare team."
"This new clinical skills laboratory will allow us to teach the professional and clinical aspects of modern pharmacy practice much more effectively", he added.
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