| Summary: | It has been alleged that the distribution and consumption of
medicine by the government medical services is unsatisfactory.
One complaint is that wastage of state medicine
occurs. To counter these claims the government has made
several changes to the way in which medicine is dispensed to
certain patients in South Africa. One way of distributing
medicine to state patients is through the services of district
surgeons and district pharmacies. This method of distribution
has drawn the hospital pharmacist into the public sector. It
has also given a whole new dimension to the hospital
pharmaceutical business.
On 3 April 1989 the Executive Director of Hospital Services
gave permission to the Kalie de Haas Hospital in Potchefstroom
to provide prepacked medicine to eighteen district surgeons in
the Western Transvaal. The medicine is stored and distributed
under strict control to those patients who are in the care of
the Transvaal Provincial Administration. On 10 April 1990
this service was supplemented when provision was made for the
district pharmacist to dispense prepacked state medicine to
patients of the district surgeon.
The general purpose of the study was to investigate scientifically
the dispensing of medicine to district surgeons and
district pharmacies by the pharmacy of the Kalie de Haas
Hospital during the period from September 1990 to December
1991. Special attention was given to the following aspects:
- The expiry date on stock during this period.
- The identification of problems in the ordering of stock by
the district clinics.
- Problems of control that might be experienced by the
district pharmacists.
- An analysis of costs according to the consumption pattern.
During the period from September 1990 to December 1991 a
survey was made of the expiry date on medicines at eighteen
district clinics in the Western Transvaal. Attention was paid
to the cost of the medicine required, the expiry date of the
medicine, the various disease conditions and the way in which
each clinic ordered medicine. Inspections were conducted on a
rotational basis to determine the nature and extent of
pharmaceutical services provided by the district clinics.
The investigation exposed the existence of a direct link
between the demand for medicine required for a specific
illness and the expiry date on that medicine. It has also
been determined that the current measures employed by the
district clinics when ordering stock are inadequate and do not
eliminate wastage. The results indicate that a large proportion
of the hospital pharmacist's time is devoted to logistical
tasks and the packing of stock while relatively little
time is spent on medicine control at clinic level.
It can be conducted from this investigation that alternative
methods of control over all aspects of the dispensing of
medicine should be implemented. An altered control structure
based on the actual costs of medicine dispensed per patient,
as indicated by his/her prescription, is recommended. It is
anticipated that the proposed control measures will bring
about a saving on the cost of medicine for hospital
authorities. === Thesis (MPharm (Hospital pharmacy))--PU vir CHO, 1993.
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