One of the major roles of a health clinic pharmacist is to dispense a valid prescription from the doctor to the patient. Patients can get their medicines, as early as 8am at all government health clinic pharmacies in Malaysia. Every prescription that comes into the pharmacy will be screened thoroughly for the correct medication, dose, duration and indication of the medications. A prescription is then filled and labelled accordingly. In any cases where there is a query for the prescription, efforts will be made to clarify the doubts. Prescriptions that are screened, filled and labelled correctly will then be ready for dispensing. The final check of the prescription will then be done again before dispensing.
Apart from that, medication and compliance counselling will also be done by a pharmacist to improve patient knowledge on medications and their compliance. Medication counselling includes counselling of inhalers, insulin, suppositories, pessaries, and others. In addition, Medication Therapy Adherence Clinic (MTAC) for diabetic patients is another service made possible by the Department of Pharmacy to improve patient knowledge on diabetes. Other MTAC caters for patients with cancer, HIV, problem with the heart, skin, joints, blood, kidney, nerves and breathing difficulties.
Smoking cessation services are also available in most health clinics. In collaboration with the doctors, nurses and medical assistants, the smoking cessation clinic is made possible for patients who are keen to quit smoking. The multi-disciplinary team will provide pharmacological and non-pharmacological advice to the patient; explaining the hazards of cigarettes and the benefits of quitting. A weekly and fortnightly visit to the clinic will further offer appropriate supports to the patients so that the endeavor to quit will become a success.
Apart from that, Methadone replacement/maintenance therapy is available in most health clinics in Malaysia. In Malacca, all health clinics have been running the “Harm Reduction Program” for opioid abusers. The aim of this program is mainly to prevent and minimize blood-borne viral infections (HIV, Hepatitis C, Hepatitis B) due to needle sharing. Doctors will prescribe methadone for the patients and the dosing of methadone by patients will be supervised through “Daily Observational Therapy/ DOT”. Methadone is normally given to replace other opioids such as heroin and morphine in order to reduce the cravings and withdrawal symptoms experienced by patients. Methadone is a synthetic drug that offers very similar effect as heroin or morphine however with no euphoria effect. Methadone is taken orally (by mouth), not like other commonly abused opioids. Hence no harmful injections are required. In government health clinics, the public are welcomed to approach the pharmacists for more details.
From time to time, medications will be ordered from the centralized main store in respective health district office or directly from the appointed pharmaceutical companies. Pharmacists are responsible to ensure that there will be continuous supply of medications for the patients. Frequent stock checks will be done to monitor the stock movement and expiry date of the medications. Stock management is a crucial part of health clinic pharmacist’s daily routine as ordering too little drugs means patients might be given not enough of them while ordering too much means the store would not have enough space to accommodate them.
Now that we know what a government health clinic pharmacist does, remember to approach them for help whenever there is a need.
“Kami Sedia Membantu”
Vanessa Yeow is a pharmacist working in a ‘klinik kesihatan’ in Melaka.
References:
- Kawahara A, 1997.The Role of the Pharmacist in the Health-Care System – Preparing the Future Pharmacist: Curricular Development. Report of a Third WHO Consultative Group on the Role of the Pharmacist [online] Available at : http://who.int/medicinedocs/pdf/s2214e/s2214e.pdf [Accessed 30 October 2014]
- National Institute for Health & Clinical Excellence (NICE), 2008. Smoking Cessation Services [online] Available at:http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ph10/chapter/4-recommendations [Accessed 30 October 2014]
- Joseph H, Stancliff S, Langrod Methadone Maintenance Therapy: A Review of Historical and Clinical Issues. Mt Sinai J Med. 2000;67(5-6):347-64.
- Pharmacy Services Division. Methadone Maintenance Therapy Guidelines. Selangor: Malaysian Ministry of Health; 2010.
- Pharmacy Services Division. Management of Store Pharmacy in Government Hospitals and Health Clinics. Selangor: Malaysian Ministry of Health; 2009.
- Aziz Z, Jet C, Rahman S. Continuing professional development: views and barriers toward participation among Malaysian pharmacists. Eur J SocBehav S. 2013;714-746.
[This article belongs to The Malaysian Medical Gazette. Any republication (online or offline) without written permission from The Malaysian Medical Gazette is prohibited.]