Technically it can run without pharmacist. But remember, pharmacist train in dispensing meds, and provide policy and procedures, for formularies, and different order sets that are made. Also they intricately know and understand stability info and all that stuff. Now technically in times of emergency you could have others running it, but really it's not a feasible option on long term. Now if you are asking if a hospital can run without pharmacy specialists, then the answer is yes, but without staff pharmacists, very doubtfull. I mean who would replace them, nurses, doctors??? It's like saying can a hospital run without nurses. You do need someone who is knowledgable about meds and making them and will do only that, to assure right meds being prepared and delivered. Otherwise I think you would have a lot more errors if no pharmacists. But pharmacy specialists, are different they are more rounding, and answering questions and more deal with doctors rather than do trenchwork in central pharmacy dealing with preparation, checking, order entry and all that jazz. They can be dispensable, if a hospital is in dire straits, but staff pharmacists, nope. Hope that helps.
