Background and importance The SARS-CoV-2 health crisis unleashed in Spain in March 2020 forced hospitals to urgently reorganise and adapt in an unprecedented way. One of the strategies carried out was the establishment of ‘clean’ circuits and hospitals from SARS-CoV-2.

Aim and objectives To describe the organisational changes of a pharmacy service of a SARS-CoV-2 ‘clean’ hospital and to measure their impact.

Material and methods The study was carried out in an 86 bed hospital (non-COVID-19 use) dependent on a 652 bed university hospital (with care for COVID-19 patients), located in a different location, from 11 March, when the WHO declared the pandemic, to 21 June 2020, ending the state of alarm. The activity was compared with the same period in the previous year. Outpatient pharmaceutical care unit (OPCU) patient surveys were conducted to measure impact. The staff was temporarily reinforced with a specialist in the hospital pharmacy.

Results The following implementations were carried out:

• Opening of OPCU, with 886 dispensations to 448 patients, compared with 34 dispensations to 9 patients the previous year. 60 surveys were conducted, where 60% of patients expressed that had they had to travel to their usual hospital during the pandemic, they would not have collected their medication. Furthermore, 93% of patients said they felt safe in their visit to the new OPCU. Satisfaction evaluation was excellent (average 10/10).

• Medicalisation of a 165 bed nursing home.

• Referral of day hospital patients. 570 dispensations were made to 191 patients compared with 154 dispensations to 44 patients in 2019.

• Transfer of the oncology hospital ward. Total stays increased from 3253 in the previous year to 4326 (33% increase).

• Creation of a specific respiratory emergency service, where SARS–CoV–2 positive cases were referred to the referral hospital.

Conclusion and relevance Among the new circuits, opening of the OPCU stood out because of the avoidance of a large number of trips to a ‘dirty’ hospital in another town, the improvement in adherence and for the great organisational effort in a very short period of time. The different measures allowed the non-COVID-19 activity to continue, minimising the risk of contagion for patients. The health crisis due to SARS-CoV-2 has been a challenge and the hospital pharmacy has shown a great capacity for adaptation.

Conflict of interest No conflict of interest