Beyond the Medicine: improving mental health care every day
Jules Haste, Clinical Pharmacy Lead and Doctoral Researcher
"When people think of the pharmacy team, they often picture dispensing medicines. But in mental health services, pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and pharmacy assistants play a much broader role, helping patients receive safe, effective, and person-centred care throughout their recovery journey.
As a Clinical Pharmacy lead (working towards a Consultant Pharmacist) no two days are the same. My role combines clinical practice, leadership, service development, education, and research.
A typical day might begin on a PICU mental health ward, reviewing complex medication regimens for patients with severe mental illness. Many of the people we support have a combination of physical and mental health needs, requiring careful consideration of how medicines interact and how treatment can be optimised.
I work closely with psychiatrists, nurses, psychologists, occupational therapists, and other healthcare professionals to ensure patients receive the best possible care. This includes helping patients understand their medicines, discussing benefits and side effects, and ensuring their voices are heard when decisions about treatment are made.
One of the most rewarding aspects of my role is seeing how appropriate medicines can help someone regain stability and move forward with their recovery. Something as simple as identifying a side effect, adjusting a treatment plan, or supporting a patient to make an informed choice can have a significant impact on their quality of life.
Alongside my clinical work, I am involved in research aimed at improving mental health services. My doctoral research focuses on how emergency departments make decisions about people experiencing a mental health crisis, the use of rapid tranquillisation, and how these decisions can be improved to ensure patients receive the right care at the right time. By combining frontline experience with research, I hope to influence practice both within Sussex and nationally.
My role extends beyond Sussex. I currently serve on the Executive Committee as the deputy treasurer of the National Association of Psychiatric Intensive Care and Low Secure Units (NAPICU), helping to support the development of psychiatric intensive care across the UK. This work involves contributing to national guidance, professional development, service improvement initiatives and leading on the national annual conference that ultimately benefit some of the most unwell and vulnerable patients receiving mental health care.
I am also passionate about developing the pharmacy workforce and supporting the next generation of mental health pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and pharmacy assistants. Through teaching, mentoring, and service improvement projects, I work to ensure pharmacy continues to play a vital role in modern mental health care.
Mental health pharmacists often work behind the scenes, but our contribution touches every stage of a patient's care. We help make medicines safer, improve treatment outcomes, reduce health inequalities, and support people to live healthier lives.
World Pharmacists Day is an opportunity to celebrate the many different roles pharmacists undertake across healthcare. For me, it is a reminder that pharmacy is about much more than medicines. It is about people, partnership, and improving lives every day."