Medicines prescribed by your cancer team for you to take home with you from hospital are dispensed by our outpatient pharmacy service, PharmaC. 

You can get these prescriptions dispensed at the PharmaC counters at Clatterbridge Cancer Centre – Liverpool or Clatterbridge Cancer Centre – Wirral. 

If you get your prescription at another hospital, your cancer team will explain how to get your medicines.

Free prescriptions

If you live in England and have cancer – or are living with the effects of cancer or cancer treatment – you can get free NHS prescriptions if you apply for a medical exemption certificate. Find out more about applying for free prescriptions. 

What we do

PharmaC is our outpatient pharmacy and dispensing service. In some ways, it operates like an independent community pharmacy but it is wholly owned by The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust.

The PharmaC team provides:

  • Medicines prescribed by your cancer team for you to take home with you
  • Advice on how to get the most from your medicines 
  • Advice on health and self-care to help you make healthy lifestyle choices
  • Over-the-counter medicines and products
  • Advice on medical requirements for holiday healthcare and overseas travel
  • Medicines delivery service for the NHS

All medicines are dispensed in child-resistant containers unless you ask us not to do this.

Outpatient prescriptions usually take 20 to 30 minutes to dispense. There are lots of steps involved and we have to carry out careful safety checks to make sure you have the right medicines in the right doses.

What happens:

  • You see your doctor / other health professional
  • Your patient records are updated 
  • A prescription is produced – this could be a paper prescription for you to hand into PharmaC or an electronic prescription
  • Our PharmaC team get notification of your prescription from the prescriber or from the patient arriving at the pharmacy
  • Your prescription is checked by a registered pharmacist to make sure the medication is safe and appropriate for you
  • Your medication is prepared in PharmaC by a Pharmacy Assistant or Pharmacy Technician
  • It’s checked by a specially-qualified staff member – this is very important to make sure you get the correct medication 
  • Once checked, your medication is bagged and ready for collection
  • You collect your medication after final safety checks 
Graphic showing the process a prescription follows from te prescriber to te patient. The wording is included in the main webpage.
Prescription journey

 

PharmaC is based at Clatterbridge Cancer Centre – Liverpool (CCC-Liverpool) and Clatterbridge Cancer Centre – Wirral (CCC-Wirral).

They have a confidential consultation room where you can discuss anything about medicines or your health in privacy.

Clatterbridge Cancer Centre – Liverpool 

PharmaC is on Level M1 of CCC-Liverpool, near the Blackburne House café and Outpatients reception desk. 

Clatterbridge Cancer Centre – Wirral  

PharmaC is near the main entrance of CCC-Wirral. When you walk through main reception, turn left and go down the corridor (past the vending machines and Lymphoedema). 

Opening hours

Find up-to-date opening hours for Liverpool and Wirral on PharmaC’s website. 

Our team

Ricardo Martinez Moreno-Davila – Superintendent Pharmacist (interim)
Hugh O’Neill – Deputy Superintendent Pharmacist (Liverpool)
Melanie Carrol – Deputy Superintendent Pharmacist (Wirral) 
Jayne Stenton – Operational Manager (Procurement and Distribution)
Elizabeth Kelly – Operational Manager (Dispensaries) 

Contact details

If you are a patient who needs to talk to someone about your medicines, deliveries or supply:

Call our PharmaC dispensing team on 0151 318 8739.

Further information

PharmaC website 

Pharmacy services (treatment at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre)

Free prescriptions for people with cancer (NHS England)