Dr Moza Al Hail (second left) with Dr Abdul Rauf Pallivalapil (third left), Assistant Director of Pharmacy; Binny Thomas (left), Clinical Pharmacy Specialist, and Wessam Mohammed El Kassem, Assistant Director of Pharmacy. Pic: Salim Matramkot/The Peninsul
DOHA: In a new initiative to enhance patient safety, Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) is preparing to start a new drug information centre this month, which will eventually open around the clock and also have a hotline.
The pharmacy helpline aims to help answer questions that patients may have about any type of medicine that they have been prescribed or bought through online or purchased at retail pharmacies.
It will also assist healthcare professionals in any queries related to medicines, said Dr Moza Al Hail, Executive Director of Pharmacy Department at the HMC.
“We are preparing to open a drug information centre in the Hamad bin Khalifa Medical City. This centre will have several hotlines and aims at answering questions and assist patients, doctors as well as nurses on anything related to medicines. Initially, it will open until 3pm every day and eventually expand as 24-hour services in proceeding months,” Dr Al Hail told media persons recently.
“Also people who buy herbal or natural medications like vitamins online can call the drug information centre and find if the medicine is safe to be taken” she added.
However, at present, a contact number is available for the patients and for any enquiries the patient can call the pharmacist at any time and enquire about the medicine that they have been prescribed or they are doubtful about.
Whenever medicine is being prescribed to an outpatient, the first thing the pharmacist does is to verify the order for appropriateness of dose and indication. Pharmacists will also check several aspects such what medicine the doctor has prescribed, patient’s medication history, his previous allergy status etc, in case of any discrepancies the pharmacists contacts the doctor and informs him and rectifies wherever necessary,” said Dr Al Hail.
“The pharmacist at the window will counsel the patient about the medications. Every aspect of safety and everything about the medicine will be discussed. The pharmacist will talk about when the medicine has to be taken, how to be taken, what time it should be taken, which kind of medications as well food should not be taken concurrently and if the medicine is safe in pregnancy and what to do in case if one misses a dose or take an overdose,” she added.
Another recent development implemented by the Pharmacy Department is the automated pharmacy system. It is implemented as part of pharmacy strategy.
Following a pilot project, Outpatient Robotics’ automate the dispensing process inside the pharmacy at several facilities of HMC including the new Medical City hospitals. This system ensures patient safety by delivering the right medications to the right patient, in addition to that, it will reduce waiting time. The automation solutions are available for inpatient services at all hospitals.
