Overview

Just as drug therapy is becoming ever more sophisticated, so is the preparation and administration of drugs.

In 1990, a bigger pharmacy adopting an open concept with areas for patient counselling was constructed, allowing for quicker and more efficient dispensing of drugs.

In 1993, the Department embarked on the computerisation of its inpatient pharmacy operations with the implementation of the 'PharmaSys' system. This system maintains patients' medication profiles and allows for simultaneous retrieval of outpatient and inpatient information, thereby aiding pharmacists in instantaneous handling of queries on patient medication. Through "PharmaSys", workflow and procedures are also streamlined to provide a new level of efficiency.

In 2004, ‘PharmaSys’ was changed to ‘iPharm’ system. This system allows better management of patients’ medication records. Recently, ‘iPharm’ has also been upgraded to a new server, so as to accommodate the increasing patient load.

As part of the Department's ongoing efforts in ensuring quality patient care, it also implemented a Quality Assurance Programme in its laboratory. This involved the adopting of the Good Manufacturing Practice recommendations in quality assurance and documentation of work processes. Besides this, we are going “paperless” with our outpatient prescriptions to reduce the hassle and the waiting time of patients for medications. At the same time, we are looking into how to make the medication use process safer for patients – through counselling, patient medication profiling, medication reconciliation, educational leaflets on medicines, alternative medicines and health supplements. We endeavour to employ IT to achieve these goals where relevant.