Roles of the Pharmacy Workgroup

A. Roles and Objectives

The Pharmacy Workgroup and Consumer Protection are responsible for providing pharmaceutical services to service recipients, managing medications, conducting consumer protection operations related to community health products, ensuring safety, accuracy, promptness, in accordance with professional standards, and creating satisfaction for service recipients.

B. Service Scope

1. Procurement and supply management of medications and support for secondary-level health facilities
   1. Meetings are held to select medication items in hospitals by the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee (PTC) according to the Ministry of Public Health policy.
   2. Develop a medication procurement plan, control payment systems accurately and appropriately based on academic principles, ensuring adequate quantities of medications for patient care, maintaining an updated medication inventory, avoiding expired or deteriorated stock.
   3. Presentation of useful financial management information.
   4. Efficiently maintain medication storage for stability and efficacy.
   5. Plan medication dispensing for health promotion sub-district hospitals (health promoting hospitals) at four locations.
2. Patient and outpatient services
   1. Organize and dispense medications according to treatment plans in drug profiles, considering correct formats, strength, dosage, compatibility, and adequate supply on appointment days, offering services from 08:30 - 00:30 on weekdays and 08:30 - 20:30 on weekends.
   2. Provide medication and patient care in collaboration with interdisciplinary teams during official hours at disease-specific clinics such as diabetes and hypertension clinics, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma clinics, tuberculosis clinics, warfarin clinics, HIV patient clinics, and mental health clinics.
   3. Participate in meetings with the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee to reserve and maintain emergency medications in patient wards, emergency rooms, and referral vehicles.
   4. Provide pharmaceutical information and education to medical personnel.
   5. Provide pharmaceutical counseling, including drug counseling, high alert drug management, drug utilization evaluation, rational drug use evaluation, adverse drug reaction monitoring, medication error monitoring, drug interaction monitoring, discharge drug counseling, and medication reconciliation.
   6. Check emergency medication quality and monitor near-expiry medications in the emergency room, labor room, inpatient departments, primary healthcare units, and networked health-promoting hospitals.
   7. Implement a daily dose medication distribution system to reduce losses and medication errors.
   8. Review appropriateness of all medication prescriptions, dispense and advise on usage according to academic principles.
   9. Provide medication-related information to medical personnel, patients, patient relatives, and the general public.
3. Consumer protection in public health
   1. Monitor safety and provide knowledge on medicines, food, cosmetics, and health products to the local population.
   2. Have a reporting system for consumer protection activities in public health by continuous coordination with the provincial health office.
   3. Organize consumer protection activities in public health, including campaigns, district-level consumer protection activities with schools and local government organizations in the Fak Tha district.