THE CONSENSUS STATEMENTS FOR THE PRACTICE OF HOSPITAL PHARMACY IN KENYA

The following consensus statements were adopted at the Pharmaceutical Society of Kenya Annual Scientific Conference held in Mombasa, 29th May - 1st June 2009.

The overarching goal of hospital pharmacists is to optimize patient outcomes through the judicious, safe, efficacious, appropriate and cost effective use of medicines.

Specific Objectives

Procurement
1. The procurement process must be transparent, professional and ethical to promote equity and access and to ensure accountability to relevant governing and legal entities.

2. Procurement must be supported by strong quality assurance principles to ensure that poor quality medicines are not procured or allowed into the system. Proper storage to ensure maintenance of quality in the whole supply pipeline is mandatory.

Influence on prescribing
1. Hospitals should utilize a medicine formulary system (local, regional, and/or national) linked to standard treatment guidelines, protocols, and treatment pathways based on the best available evidence.
2. Hospital pharmacists should be involved in all patient care areas to prospectively influence collaborative therapeutic decision making.

Preparation and delivery
1. Hospital pharmacists should assume responsibility for the control of medicines stored throughout the hospital.
2. Hospital pharmacists should support the development of policies regarding the use of medicines brought into the hospital by patients, including the evaluation of appropriateness of herbal and dietary supplements.

Administration of medicines
1. Hospital pharmacists should ensure that medicines are packaged and labeled to ensure identification and to maintain integrity until immediately prior to administration to the individual patient.

2. Hospital pharmacists should develop simple rule-based approached to advancing patient safety: for example, when a large number of dosage units are needed to give a dose (more than two tablets, vials e.t.c) the prescription should be verified prior to administration.

Monitoring medication use
1. A Reporting system for adverse drug reactions should be established and maintained, and the necessary action should be taken to minimize identified risks. Reaction reporting should be sent to regional or national pharmacovigilance programs where these are available.
2. Pharmacists’ clinical interventions should be documented & regularly analyzed to improve the quality and safety of medication practice.  

Human resource and training
1. Hospitals should maintain human resource information systems that contain basic data for planning, training, appraising, and supporting the workforce. Data should be collated at a national level to improve human resource strategy.

2. The training programs of mid-level pharmacy human resources (technicians or the equivalent) should be nationally formalized, harmonized, and credentialed for the attainment of defined competencies within a defined scope of practice.

Adopted from: Consensus statements for the practice of hospital pharmacy practice reached during the Global Conference (GC) on the Future of Hospital Pharmacy, August 30–31, 2008, in Basel, Switzerland. Click Here for details.