PCI should have conducted feasibility study & situation assessment prior to introduction of Pharm D in India: PS Bhagavan

The Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) should have conducted a feasibility study, situation assessment and gap analysis prior to the introduction of Pharm D course in the country. For a mega programme like Pharm D, healthcare providers and the Medical Council of India should also have been consulted on the viability of this course and whether the role of a clinical pharmacist would be relevant in a hospital environment, opined PS Bhagavan, former deputy director, Karnataka Health and Family Welfare Department.

 

Doctors are not recognising the role of a pharmacist in healthcare practice even as the job of a clinical pharmacist is to ascertain whether the prescribed medications are meeting the patients health needs, he added.

When a dedicated six-year course was devised to fit into the healthcare system, it was necessary to stimulate the demand for the course to ensure supply of Pharm D professionals, Bhagavan told Pharmabiz.

 

The intent to create a pool of clinical pharmacists was to avoid medication errors and put in place an Evaluated Evidence based Therapeutic System (EETS). The know-how to counsel the patient on the drug and give the feedback on the therapy compliance to the doctor could prevent considerable non- compliances in treatment protocols, he said.

 

Stating that the Indian medical practice sans documentation, Bhagavan who was also the ex-registrar of the Karnataka State Pharmacy Council pointed out that most prescriptions do not even indicate diagnosis but mere medication names. This is absurd because if any untoward incident happens after the drug therapy, there is no accountability and cannot be traced back to the doctor.

 

Another situation is that for in-patients, there is no connectivity with the doctor going by his schedule and it is here that the healthcare providers need to understand that clinical pharmacists would fill this gap.

Moreover, with the access to so many formulations, it is humanly impossible for a doctor to go through the details of the drugs to assess whether these are advisable for a patient’s condition. There are also instances where companies pressurise doctors to prescribe the drug when it may not be actually helpful for the disease. This is where we see that a clinical pharmacist could genuinely assess the need for the drug. Therefore, every hospital should have a team of clinical pharmacists to support the scores of doctors and medical consultants. The need of the hour is the presence of a clinical pharmacist to maximise his expertise in the healthcare system, said Bhagavan.

 

Since the fate of Pharm D graduates at the dead end, the only way out would be for the government to revisit the origin of the course and convene a meeting with all the concerned to discuss and resolve the issue, said Bhagavan.

Source: http://www.pharmabiz.com/NewsDetails.aspx?aid=115909&sid=1