Medicines information and medicines management

Medicines information at the Royal Free London

The pharmacy Medicines Information team at the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust provides a full range of advice relating to medicines, to healthcare professionals in both primary and secondary care, and in certain circumstances, to members of the public.

Information about medicines is gained from an extensive range of sources, which are regularly updated to provide the most up to date information available.

Qualified pharmacists answer queries relating to medicines and related therapies, including the following areas:

  • administration and dosing information
  • adverse drug reactions
  • availability of medicines
  • drug interactions
  • safety of drugs in pregnancy and breastfeeding
  • safety of drugs in kidney and liver disease
  • tablet identification

We also provide a Medicines Information helpline service which is offered to all patients discharged, and patients who have received/are currently receiving care from the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust who require further information regarding their medication.

Our helpline service operates from 11am-5pm Monday – Friday and is available via telephone on 0207 830 2983. In addition we can be contacted via email. Please call us for further information.

For any other enquiries about medicines, please contact your GP or local pharmacy. If you have an urgent enquiry, please call 111.

You can also find general information about your medicines by visiting freely accessible websites such as:

Medicines management at Barnet, Chase Farm and the Royal free hospitals 

The Royal Free London medicines management team undertakes the formal review of clinical evidence available for the use of a medicine. The team includes pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and assistant technical officers.

We are a member of the North Central London Joint Formulary Committee which advises on appropriate, equitable, evidence-based and cost-effective medicines use. The committee consists of doctors, pharmacists, nurses and hospital patients from various provider trusts, the community and local clinical commissioning groups. If the medicine is sanctioned it will be added to each hospital pharmacy in our trust and Royal Free’s list of approved medicines.

The medicines management team ensures the Royal Free London purchases the medicine at the best possible price and that the storage and distribution comply with current legislation. Medicines management at the Royal Free London involves monitoring, evaluating and generating usage reports of the medicine as part of the trust's medical services.