\u201cMedicines play an important role in preventing and treating illnesses. However, if not used properly, medicines can cause harm and that\u2019s why it\u2019s important that both patients and healthcare professionals take responsibility for using medication safely,\u201d says Hannes Clapton, Pharmacy manager at Life Midmed Hospital.<\/p>\n
In using medication safely, Life Healthcare recommends that you:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022Firstly, understand why you are taking the medicine,<\/p>\n \u2022You should also know how and when to take it,<\/p>\n \u2022Advise your pharmacist about any allergy you may have and any other medicine that you are taking,<\/p>\n \u2022You should always ask your pharmacist if you are unsure about anything regarding their medicine.<\/p>\n \u2022Also be sure to ask for information about common side effects to expect when taking the medicine,<\/p>\n \u2022Never share your medication,<\/p>\n \u2022Safety information with regard to storage and then disposal of unused or expired medication is also important. Ask your pharmacist.<\/p>\n \u201cUse Medicine Safely\u201d is the SA Pharmacy Council\u2019s theme for this year\u2019s Pharmacy Week, and one which Life Healthcare fully supports. Aligned to the theme is a \u2018traffic robot\u2019 poster campaign which highlights the three traffic robot colours to signal different aspects of ensuring medication is used safely.<\/p>\n Red, entitled \u201cSTOP, ask yourself\u201d urges the patient to ensure they understand why they are taking their medicine; orange, entitled \u201cASK your pharmacist\u201d recommends the patient ask the pharmacist for safety information regarding administering and storing their medicine; and green, entitled \u201cGO, and get well\u201d offers advice to the patient on the safe use and disposal of their medicine.<\/p>\n Pharmacists and safe use of medicine in hospitals<\/p>\n Pharmacists have always played a pivotal role in the procurement, supply and management of medication in our hospitals, leading cost containment of pharmaceuticals and supporting sustainable healthcare. Their contribution is critical in ensuring safe medication use, significantly contributing to the provision of quality patient care and optimal outcomes.<\/p>\n Hospital pharmacy has also evolved over the past decade in South Africa, from mainly being dispensary based, to where pharmacy services are becoming available at ward level and at the patient\u2019s bedside. This has created a platform for pharmacists to directly provide their knowledge and expertise on medication, and participate in the multidisciplinary healthcare teams caring for patients.<\/p>\n \u201cAs pharmacists we have a professional responsibility to ensure the safe and effective use of medicine, and an important role as a key source of medicine information both to patients and to other members of the healthcare team\u201d says Pragna Patel a Life Healthcare pharmacy manager. This is echoed by Chido Chauke, a pharmacy manager with a personal passion for clinical pharmacy, who adds that \u201cthe clinical care responsibilities of pharmacists are expanding, creating further opportunities for hospital pharmacists to use their knowledge and skills to promote optimal efficacy, safety and stewardship in the use of medicines\u201d.<\/p>\n The role of pharmacists in ensuring medication safety is in the best interest of our patients at Life Healthcare hospitals and aligns so well with the Pharmacy Week theme, which encourages the safe use of medicines, because our focus is on the patient\u2019s care and wellbeing,\u201d says Hannes Clapton.<\/p>\n Please look out for Life Midmed Hospital\u2019s awareness activities from 12 – 16 September.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Life Midmed Hospital celebrates National Pharmacy Week, 5 to 11 September 2016 and encourages the safe use of medicines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1848,"featured_media":55896,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"hasGravity":false,"cxt_article_byline":"","cxt_disable_google_ads":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news-headlines"],"category_labels":{"Category":"News","SubCategory":"Local news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1848"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55888\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}