Efficient and effective management of medical products can improve important public health outcomes and reduce expenditures. The hospital has two well stocked pharmacies manned by pharmacy technologists. The CCC pharmacy stocks ARV drugs, drugs used in treatment of common OiIs in HIV/AIDS and therapeutic food supplements. The main pharmacy serves the rest of the hospital including the inpatient and the outpatient. Drugs used for the outreach clinics are also obtained and controlled from these two pharmacies.
Pharmacy has a relatively well-run procurement and supplies system. Policies and procedures are in place to guide aspects of the function (e.g. ordering and receiving of supplies, storage and security of medicines and pharmaceutical supplies, quantification of medicines, expiry tracking, etc.). Pharmaceutical items stocked are good quality generics, purchased from certified pharmaceutical companies.
The pharmacy team has the responsibility of ensuring
- Constant availability of quality, cost effective medicines and non medical pharmaceutical supplies
- Adherence to good professional practice
- Checks to ensure that medicines do not expire
- Ensuring rational drug use
- Counseling and enhancing patient safety
Pharmacy has the support of Drug and Therapeutic Committee which has formulated Standard Treatment Guideline (STGs) and a formulary list to rationalize prescribing and control medicine use. This ensures that our patients have access to the essential medicines that they need, that are safe, effective, and of assured quality, and that are prescribed and used rationally.
Accurate and current stock records are essential to good inventory management since they are a source of calculating needs. To maintain optimum standards in the storage and distribution of medicines and medical supplies, monitoring and review is done. This includes random checks to verify stock levels, maintenance of cold storage, observing the FIFO/FEFO guidelines etc.
One of the best practices in place in the hospital is pharmaco-vigilance – a science and activities related to the detection, assessment, and understanding and prevention of adverse drug reaction or any other medicine – related problem.