The Pharmacy Store of Bharatpur Hospital is Running Against the Law

Hospital pharmacists have been agitating for a week demanding to be a pharmacist

“For the production, sale, distribution, dispensing, storage or export-import of any medicine, the production and sale of the medicine should not be done without sufficient manpower and other necessary means as required for such work.”

This is the provision made by Section 28 of Chapter 7 of the Drugs Act 2035.

Not only the Drugs Act but also the Drug Sales Distribution Code 2071, National Health Policy 2071 and Hospital Pharmacy Service Guideline 2072 state that there should be mandatory provision of skilled pharmacist manpower in the process of estimating, purchasing and distributing medicines in hospitals.

That is, there must be a skilled pharmacist in the pharmacy and pharmacy storage branch of any hospital.

According to the legal provisions, non-pharmacists are not allowed to take responsibility for the hospital’s pharmacy and pharmacy store. If there is a non-pharmacist present, it is considered illegal.

But the pharmacy storage of Bharatpur Hospital has been operating under the responsibility of AHW for years contrary to the provisions of the same policy, code and directive.

The Ministry of Health and Population had appointed Sabin Lamichhane as the Pharmacy Supervisor from Pokhara to Chitwan in December 2077 BS.

The field of keeping pharmaceutical and other commodities of the hospital, including the commodity records of medicines, arranging the security of the goods, providing the commodities for the operation of the hospital as per the need falls under the purview of the pharmacy supervisor.

Sabin Lamichhane, who has been given the responsibility of pharmacy supervisor, has been deprived of the responsibility of pharmacy store and has been limited to selling and distributing drugs. He says that he has been given the responsibility of the head of the pharmacy and focused only on the sale and distribution of medicines.

He said, ‘The Ministry of Health has sent me here with the responsibility of pharmacy supervisor. The responsibilities of the pharmacy supervisor include pharmacy stores, drug sales and distribution stores. But I’m only here to sell and distribute drugs. ‘

Ignoring the study report

At present, Bharatpur Hospital has 21 pharmacists working under permanent, contract and development committee. It has been seven months since Lamichhane was posted to the hospital.

Pharmacists allege that the hospital administration violated the rules by handing over the responsibility of the pharmacy store to a disqualified person. He says that there is a shortage of various medicines in the hospital as there is an unauthorized person in the pharmacy store.

He says, ‘There are people in the pharmacy store who have no knowledge. That is why there is a problem including lack of medicine. There have been many complaints from patients. ‘

So much so that they formed an eight-member ‘Sub-Committee on Observation and Report Preparation on Goods and Services Procurement System, Pharmacy Management, Storage and Supply Management System’ under the coordination of Hospital Development Committee member Keshav Devkota.

Lamichhane said that a sub-committee has been formed to study the procurement system of goods and services, pharmacy management and operation, storage and supply management in the central level hospitals.

The sub-committee studied at Veer Hospital, Civil Servants Hospital, Shaheed Ganga Lal National Heart Center and BP Koirala Memorial Cancer Hospital. It was concluded that the work of storage, sale, distribution and management of medicines in these hospitals was done by the pharmacists and the responsibility should also be given to the pharmacists.

One of the nine findings and recommendations of the study report prepared by the Hospital Development Committee, physicians and staff was to make the role of pharmacists more responsible and effective in the storage, sale, distribution and management of medicines.

The report was handed over to the Medical Superintendent of the hospital, Dr. Jagannath Tiwari on March 13, 2077. Dr. Tiwari was the head of the hospital when the report was prepared and understood. It took almost three months to understand the report prepared by the committee. But the findings and recommendations of the report have not yet been implemented.

And so the movement began

According to the staff, the report prepared by the development committee and the staff of the hospital has been ignored. Lamichhane says that the hospital administration has been ignoring their repeated requests to implement the findings and suggestions.

He said that the suggestions and findings of the study report conducted by the development committee and the staff of the hospital have not been implemented. We have repeatedly called for the implementation of the findings of this report. ‘

Demanding that there should be a pharmacist in the pharmacy store of the hospital, he repeatedly drew attention. Urged the hospital. But there was no hearing. Dr. Shailesh Basel, the coordinator of the movement and the clinical pharmacist of the hospital, said that they were forced to join the movement as no solution could be found even after repeated requests and attention.

He said, “We have repeatedly drawn the attention of the hospital administration. But there was no hearing. They have only given assurances. So we were forced to go for a peaceful movement. ‘

They have not obstructed the services of the hospital. He has been serving with a black bandage on his hand for a week in protest. They have been in a peaceful agitation since May 22 with a six-point demand.

6 Point Demand

Wherever there is medicine, the letter of the universal slogan of pharmacist should be implemented
The visit study report submitted to the PMS for pharmacy management should be implemented immediately
The hospital does not need a non-pharmacist in the responsible position of the pharmacy store.
Responsibility should be given immediately as per the work description of the pharmacy manpower specified by the Ministry of Health and Population
Experts should be appreciated according to the concept of right man in right place
The pharmacy of the hospital should be run in accordance with the laws, policies, rules and procedures of the government related to the operation of medicine and pharmacy.

The seventh level official contract (ministry) Basel, who is coordinating the movement, has been transferred to the Department of Drug Administration. He says that he was transferred to Bharatpur Hospital in six months despite a two-year contract. He asserted that his confession had been obtained through torture and that his confession had been obtained through torture.

“It’s been six months since I came to this hospital. I have a period of 2 years. But I was transferred with the connivance of the staff. But wherever I am, I will fight for the rights of my profession, ”he said.

Nepal Pharmacy Council writing to the hospital

The Nepal Pharmacy Council, which is the guardian of pharmacists across the country, is preparing to write to Bharatpur Hospital.

The council is writing to the hospital to provide information about the hospital’s pharmacy guidelines while operating the hospital pharmacy, the hospital’s perception and the current operating method. Council registrar Sanjeev Kumar Pandey said that correspondence would be sent to the hospital by Sunday.

He said, “Hospital pharmacy is a discipline within the jurisdiction of the council. According to the Nepal Pharmacy Act 2057, the pharmacy should be run in a systematic, scientific and legal manner. We are currently in correspondence with the hospital pharmacy. ‘

Registrar Pandey said that the hospital pharmacies can be operated only in a systematic, scientific and legal manner. It is preparing to ask for detailed information about the prevailing law in Bharatpur Hospital, Hospital Pharmacy Directive 2072, manpower related arrangements and how the hospital pharmacy is operating.

I have translated this swasthykhabarpatrika Nepali content into English. If there is any error, I would like to apologize.