The hospital pharmacy has evolved over the past decade in South Africa. It used to be mainly dispensary based, but today pharmacy services are becoming available at ward level and at the patient’s bedside.
Our clinical practice pharmacists now provide medication information and input at the coalface, to assist in ensuring medication safety for patients. This has created a platform for our pharmacists to share their knowledge and expertise on medication directly, and to participate in decision-making as part of multidisciplinary healthcare teams caring for patients.
Globally, pharmacists are making the transition from a transaction-based, commoditised dispensing model to a relationship-based, consumer-centric and collaborative model.
Team-based healthcare is the provision of health services to individuals, families, and/or their communities by at least two health providers. These individuals work collaboratively with patients and their caregivers to accomplish shared goals within and across settings. The goal? To achieve co-ordinated, high-quality care.
Clinical pharmacy is a specialised function performed by pharmacists within a hospital environment. Our clinical pharmacy team evaluates patient medication treatment to help ensure that each patient receives the most appropriate evidence-based treatment. The goal is always the best possible clinical outcomes.
Our Life Healthcare vision, aligned with international hospital best practice, is that clinical and clinical practice pharmacists (ward pharmacists) form an integral part of the multidisciplinary health care team. This team consists of physicians, nurses, dieticians, microbiologists and other healthcare professionals.
The pharmacists play a supporting role in guiding and evaluating patient medication treatment to provide the best quality care for all our patients. The value of their in-depth knowledge on pharmacology and pharmacotherapy has proven essential in this multidisciplinary environment.