Follow each medication order from the ward to the bedside and back to the register.

A hospital pharmacy serves wards, an ICU, theatres and an outpatient counter. Each holds its own small stock, and each depends on the pharmacist to check every order that comes down.

Records matter more here than at a retail counter. Controlled drug balances, batch numbers and the pharmacist who verified each order have to be retrievable long after the shift has ended.

Medication orders arrive from the wards through the morning round and again after the evening review. Clinical pharmacists check each line against allergies, weight and the formulary, and call the prescriber when a dose or a drug needs a second look at the bedside.

Technicians prepare unit doses and ward supplies. Nurses raise requisitions for the ICU and ward cupboards, and the controlled drug cupboard is counted with two signatures. The store receives deliveries from approved suppliers with batch and expiry noted on arrival. Returns come back from transfers and discharges.

The outpatient counter dispenses against clinic prescriptions. Discharge medicines go out on the day the patient leaves, and the chief pharmacist reviews wastage, non-formulary requests and consumption by ward at month end, when the committee meets.