Effective medicine control for Platinum Health pharmacies

Abstract

Effective Medicine Control is the essence of pharmaceutical service delivery and of financial management in Platinum Health Pharmacies. Platinum Health Pharmacies implement medicine control measures to enhance and optimise service delivery. As Platinum Health Pharmacies deliver a pharmaceutical service as business associates of Anglo Platinum, it serves the same workforce. The requirement of the pharmaceutical service delivery for Anglo Platinum is timely, appropriate and available medicine. Therefore, Platinum Health Pharmacies need to adhere to set criteria, those of ?Good Pharmacy Practice in South Africa? as applied to the control, procurement and prescribing of medication. The ordering and receiving of necessary medication forms a significant part of the criteria, as this is the source of medication to pharmacies. The subsequent management of medication as inventory and control over recall, storage, excess and disposal of expired medication serves the same purpose. Effective dispensing and distribution methods are therefore mandated to ensure timeously availability of correct medication. Finally, the success of effective medicine control is defined by the accuracy of the stock take ascertaining the results of managerial methods of medication. Platinum Health Pharmacies recorded an overall adherence level of 85 percent to the above mentioned criteria. This is a good indication of a strong, reliable and experienced pharmaceutical workforce that delivers an outstanding pharmaceutical service and is capable of maintaining effective medicine control. Although few shortcomings were identified, it is nevertheless recommended that Platinum Health Pharmacies plan the improvement of their risk management plans, and identify quality improvement projects in areas of medicine procurement. The implementation of key performance indicators, relevant to stock control, is also recommended. These, put into effect will assure optimisation of effective medicine control for Platinum Health Pharmacies, maintaining the benefits of cost containment and cost effective pharmaceutical service delivery.