Pharmaceutical care best practices Implementation and Improvement

Abstract

The new philosophy of pharmacy practice is the patient-focused practice i. e. pharmaceutical care. The purpose of this research is to explore the currently provided pharmaceutical care practices in Khartoum state, Sudan with an attempt of upgrading and improving hospital pharmacy services to reflect the best recommended pharmaceutical care practices. This may help to improve medication use process, patient care and safety, treatment outcomes and ultimately patients' quality of life. The objectives of the study include: situation analysis regarding the current pharmaceutical care practice in selected hospitals in Khartoum state, set up of a model for the introduction of the new hospital pharmacy services, and selection of a hospital pharmacy for the implementation of the model. The method of data collection used was a standard survey questionnaire regarding best practices assessment based on the minimum standard for pharmacies in hospitals. Situation analysis regarding the current pharmaceutical care practice in selected 18 hospitals in Khartoum state was performed. An interview and site visits to the Pharmacy Department at Soba University Hospital were carried out for assessment of the current pharmacy services and exploration of the possibility for selecting it as a model pharmacy for implementation of the suggested new services. The findings indicated that all surveyed hospitals do not comply with the global minimum standard for hospital pharmacies with varying degrees. The overall compliance with best practices was 36.2% ± 11while the noncompliance was 63.8% ± 11. Essential and core practices do not exist; example, unit dose distribution system and intravenous admixture services.