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174 A ied Heal Services 2020 | NMH Annual Rep t Laura Delany, Antimicrobial Pharmacist and David Fitzgerald Chief Pharmacist preparing COVID-19 vaccines for staff. T he overall aim of the Pharmacy Department is to ensure safe, effective and economical use of medicines and to support education, training and research in NMH. The department purchases, supplies and dispenses medicines for inpatient and outpatient use. The department consists of pharmacists, as well as pharmacy technicians, who work together to ensure patients receive the highest quality pharmaceutical care possible. Pharmacists provide a clinical pharmacy service for the NICU, antenatal and gynaecology wards, Maternal Medicines Clinic and antimicrobial stewardship, to ensure safe and effective use of medications. This is achieved through review of patients' charts using the Maternity Newborn Clinical Management System (MN-CMS) along with the performance of medication history checks and reconciliation at ward level. Pharmacists play a central role in the continuing development and optimization of the electronic prescribing module of the MN-CMS, devoting a significant amount of resources to the provision of induction and ongoing training for clinical staff. The Chief Pharmacist plays a central role in providing the Drugs and Therapeutics Committee with up to date information on drug expenditure, new products, and medication policies, procedures, protocols and guidelines, while notifying the committee of cost implications associated with changes in clinical practice. The Chief Pharmacist is also a member of the Research Ethics Committee. The NMH medication safety programme is led by a Senior Pharmacist who chairs the multidisciplinary medication safety committee. This committee is responsible for developing and implementing a 5-year strategy, along with an annual workplan. Activities include dissemination of medication safety newsletters and alerts, performance of audits and quality improvement initiatives, along with an extensive programme of induction and ongoing training for all clinicians. Senior pharmacists are members of multi-displinary teams for the Maternal Medicines Clinic, NICU and Infection Control. Pharmacy Activity Pharmacy adapted to the unprecedented demands during the first wave of COVID-19, splitting into two teams in March to ensure continuity of critical services. Hit by temporary staff shortages due to the pandemic, the service was maintained with help from retired pharmacist Noreen O'Callaghan and from Louise Delany who briefly returned from maternity leave. Pharmacy staff led efforts to mitigate the shortage Pharmacy