Do you think pharmacists just dispense and catch medicines? Not!
In addition to pharmacies, they are also active in outpatient clinics, wards, communities and other places, which play a vital role in safeguarding the safety of public medication.
25 September marks the 15th World Pharmacists Day, with the theme "Pharmacy: Promoting Health Systems". On the same day, the 2023 Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao World Pharmacists Festival Conference was held in Guangzhou.
01.
From grasping medicine to guiding medication
Pharmacists have a "new role"
At the meeting, Xu Qingfeng, member of the party group and deputy director of the Provincial Health Commission, secretary of the party group and director of the Provincial Bureau of Traditional Chinese Medicine, extended festive congratulations and sincere greetings to the majority of pharmacists, saying that pharmacist work, as an important part of the diagnosis and treatment activities of medical institutions, is an important link to promote rational drug use, improve medical quality, and ensure the safety of patients.
"It is hoped that the majority of pharmacists will continue to innovate their pharmacy service models, strengthen their professional capacity building, and help the high-quality development of health and health." At the same time, local units should further strengthen the construction of pharmacist teams, explore the establishment of standardized and standardized pharmacy talent training systems that meet the characteristics of pharmacists, protect the legitimate rights and interests of pharmacists, and expand the development space of pharmacists. ”
In recent years, Guangdong Province has been in the forefront of off-label drug management, pharmacy outpatient clinic, surgical pharmacy, and pharmacy popularization, and off-label medication management and pharmacy outpatient clinic have also been written into the "Physician Law of the People's Republic of China" and "Shenzhen Special Economic Zone Medical Regulations" respectively.
"At present, the role of pharmacists has changed, pharmacists are not limited to reviewing prescriptions and dispensing drugs, but also go out of pharmacies, clinical, hospital, patient-oriented, community, and people to carry out reasonable and safe drug use." Speaking of pharmacy clinics, Chen Jisheng, chief pharmacist of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, said that the opening of pharmacy clinics can allow pharmacists to go deep into the clinic and form a treatment team with doctors and nurses, jointly play a professional role in patients' medication, and give guidance, individualized adjustment and medication monitoring to patients.
Pre-prescription review plays a key role in ensuring patient medication safety. Chen Jisheng introduced that with the pre-review of prescriptions in various hospitals, most of the irrational drug use has been intercepted through the big data system before the patient pays, and the rest is communicated by pharmacists and clinicians for manual intervention.
02.
Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao pharmacists "linkage"
Create a business card of the pharmaceutical industry in the Greater Bay Area
The conference specially invited the Hong Kong Pharmaceutical Association and the Macao Pharmaceutical Association to participate together, hoping to better enhance the public's attention and recognition of pharmacists through the cooperation and linkage of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and at the same time promote the exchange and development of the pharmacist team in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao.
"The goal of Great Health is to provide a full range of health services covering the entire care process, with a focus on health management and chronic disease management. Among them, pharmacists play a very key role. Wu Ailin, secretary general of the Macao Pharmaceutical Association, said in an online video that pharmacists have played an important role in ensuring public health, can provide guidance and consultation to people in need, and can also go out of pharmacies and cooperate with different institutions to provide disease screening, first aid, nursing and other services for more people.
Shen Mingda, president of the Hong Kong Pharmaceutical Association, said in an online video that to achieve the transformation of research results, a mature team is required, including lawyers, accountants, financing experts, etc. in addition to scientific researchers. Looking forward to the future, he said that he hopes to work with friends in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to do a good job in scientific research, pharmaceutical supervision and pharmaceutical approval, so that it can become a business card of the pharmaceutical industry in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
"The implementation of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Pharmacy and Equipment Connect policy will enable Hong Kong and Macao compatriots to obtain the same medical devices and medicines as Hong Kong and Macao when they return to the mainland for medical treatment, and also enable mainland patients to use drugs that have not been imported and have better effects." At the same time, under the policy, pharmacists in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area can interact academically and professionally to serve patients. Wu Junyan, director of the Department of Pharmacy of Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital affiliated to Sun Yat-sen University, said.
▲ Wu Junyan
In recent years, Guangdong Province has improved the quality and expanded the scope of the "Hong Kong and Macao Pharmaceutical Equipment Exchange", and has designated a total of 19 medical institutions in two batches, and as of the end of August 2023, a total of 73 batches (47 varieties) of Hong Kong and Macao drugs and devices have been approved to be introduced, serving more than 3,000 patients.
03.
The pharmacist came to the door to answer the doubts about medication
The first batch of home pharmacy services in Tianhe were praised
"It is inconvenient for the elderly to go to the hospital for examination, and the pharmacist's door-to-door service can help the elderly at home to answer the doubts of medication, which makes us feel at ease!" A resident from Liede Street, Tianhe District, expressed satisfaction and gratitude for the pharmacist's door-to-door service.
77-year-old Aunt Zhou suffered from high blood pressure for 11 years and coronary heart disease for 2 years, took 6 drugs for a long time, and was diagnosed with "otoliths" due to dizziness at the beginning of the month, and the doctor prescribed 3 more drugs when she was discharged. Aunt Zhou wanted to know whether certain medicines needed to be taken at the same time, and whether taking multiple drugs at the same time would cause harm to the body. After the pharmacist came to the door, combined with Aunt Zhou's hospitalization information, recent physical examination report and other materials, he carefully explained the purpose of the new drug, corrected the wrong dosage, and marked the duration of each drug and the indicators to be monitored in the future on the medicine box, and sorted it out into a medication guidance sheet for Aunt Zhou.
"Many residents have irregular medication phenomena, such as imprecise drug dosage, unqualified drug storage, mixed use of drugs containing the same ingredients, etc., among which the elderly often coexist with multiple diseases, and the situation of multiple drugs is more prominent." Wei Meidan, deputy chief physician of the Department of Pharmacy of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Southern Medical University, said that irregular medication may cause serious problems in the body, but the early intervention of pharmacists will allow these problems to stop in time.
Since August this year, Guangdong has carried out the "Pharmacy Service into 10,000 Homes" activity in the province, organizing a team of family pharmacists and family doctors to take the initiative to go out of the hospital and into 10,000 homes to provide home pharmacy services for families of key groups such as the elderly, pregnant women, children, and patients with chronic diseases. In order to improve the sense of drug acquisition and satisfaction of the masses, Tianhe District of Guangzhou actively carried out the "Pharmacy Service into 10,000 Homes" activity, taking the lead in exploring the development of home pharmacy services for local residents.
Mo Binbin, pharmacist in charge of the Zhede Street Community Health Service Center in Tianhe District, introduced that the service relies on the home pharmacy service mini program, which can provide residents with online medication guidance, appointment door-to-door service, daily medication reminders, etc. After the family pharmacist comes to the door, he assesses the physical condition of the residents, issues medication guidance sheets and sorts out the residents' family medicine boxes.
▲Medication guidance sheet issued for patients
It is reported that in December 2018, the Third Affiliated Hospital of Southern Medical University and the Tianhe District Medical Institution Drug Alliance jointly established the Tianhe District Pharmacy Alliance, and launched the Tianhe District Home Pharmacy Service Project in May 2021. At present, the Southern Medical College has assisted the district home pharmacy service team to carry out a total of 1261 home pharmacy services.
Reporter | ZHANG Zhiying
Edit | Yang Yu Editor-in-charge | Zhang Xiuli
Correspondent | Yue Weixin
Produced by Guangdong Health Online All-media Team