May 9, 2017 By Solomon Rogers
Cross section of participants
As part of the rebranding process of the Ministry of Health and Sanitation in collaboration with its development partners to deliver quality health care services in the country, the ministry has pioneered training for substantial number of health care givers including doctors, pharmacy technicians and nurses attached to the Connaught Hospital on the “new treatment chart” at the University of Sierra Leone Teaching Hospital Complex in Freetown.
The training which attracted 15 doctors, 35 nurses and 5 pharmacist technicians was organized by the Systems for Improved Access for Pharmaceuticals and Services (SIAPS), with support from USAID.
In his remarks, Mr. Murtada Sesay said the goal of SIAPS is to strengthen pharmaceutical management systems for ensuring availability of quality pharmaceutical products and rationale use to achieve desired health outcomes.
He said the objectives were to effectively support health facilities strengthened, with their mandate and responsibilities realized through improved organizational structure and management.
Mr. Murtada Sesay informed participants that they work with government and non-government partnerships to strengthen, improve transparency and accountability of pharmaceutical management systems and improve selection and quantification of pharmaceutical
He said they also strengthen supply chain management from district to Peripheral Health Unit, with uninterrupted supply of medicines to ensure through demand driven system.
Giving a background of the programme, the Pharmacist in-Charge of Connaught, James Peter Komeh, narrated how in 2015 they started a pilot programme in wards 7 and 10 at Connaught Hospital and that feedbacks received from user’s charts warranted a comprehensive survey, targeting with Wards 2,3,4,5,6,8,9 and Out Patient Department in the same Hospital.
The survey actually reviewed some 87 charts and 304 drug orders and that 40 out of the 304 drug order did not specify route of treatment administration; wrong doses were detected as a result of wrong transcription from the notes and drugs were not administered on a 24 hours basis.
The main objective of the treatment chart training was to improve on the capacity of health care givers to rationally administer drugs or treatment to promote quality health service delivery in the country.
The is intended to improve care givers and patients interaction; to ensure that the correct prescriptions are used with proper documentation of drugs and to correctly administer drugs and treatment on the new chart.
Unlike the previous administration of treatments and drugs in which prescribers and Pharmacists hardly take responsibility of their interventions, under the new treatment chart, care givers are obliged to take full responsibility of their interventions because each and every health practitioner is required to append his or health signature for every prescription or drug issued to patient.
Nurses are now expected to write dates along the top row and then sign in date column under correct date and specified time to indicate that the medicine has been given. If for any unavoidable circumstance e.g. (allergy) the drug is not administered, the nurse should provide an explanatory note for not providing such treatment.