That person in the well-starched white laboratory coat who just takes a look at the piece of paper you hand over to him, hand picks some items from a shelf and hands them over to you, telling you a few words you hardly ever have time to listen to? That person whose role in the healthcare team you struggle to identify for which reason you could probably do without?
This write-up is an attempt to provide some answers to the headline question and sensitize the general public on the pharmacists’ role, contribution to healthcare and thus worth.
The ongoing strike by the Government Hospital Pharmacists Association (GHOSPA) for reasons which are not the focus of this article and so will not be touched on has lent itself to a large amount of anti-pharmacist opinion from some members of the general public. Surprisingly, often times than not, some of society’s elite who would have been expected to help correct these erroneous impressions have themselves fomented this worrying perception.
These opinions, I believe may have a little to do with the setting for the provision of this professional service particularly in the community; in a ‘shop’. A consulting room with its restricted access and privacy provides a distraction-free environment for patients to build up a relationship with their doctor. The public perception however is that because the pharmacist works in a shop (majority of which have private consulting areas now), they are less important, less professional with some even not realizing that pharmacy is a profession. I often hear some people remark that anyone can practice as a pharmacist, all you need is to have worked in a pharmacy long enough whatever your level of education. That is a real shame! Granted that, the relatively low numbers of pharmacists in the country currently well below the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) recommendation of a ratio of 1 pharmacist per 2000 population has meant that there is a need for support staff (whose efforts are well appreciated) to assist in the delivery of optimal pharmaceutical services, the status quo regarding the qualifications of a pharmacist has not changed.
The Pharmacy Act, 1994 (ACT 489) still maintains that a person professing to be a pharmacist to have a minimum of a four year degree in pharmacy, have undergone a one year pre-registration internship and passed a professional qualifying examination. It is therefore disheartening that, in the eyes of many members of the public, the pharmacist is nothing but a glorified pill counter.
The pharmacist is a member of the healthcare team directly involved in patient care by ensuring the safe and effective use of medications. This, he or she does through an understanding of the composition, chemical and physical properties of drugs, biochemical mechanisms of action of drugs, therapeutic roles, side effect profiles, potential drug interactions, and monitoring parameters. The professional interpretation and communication of this specialized knowledge to patients, physicians and other healthcare providers are central to the provision of safe and effective drug therapy.

The current practice of pharmaceutical care, defined as the responsible provision of drug therapy for the purpose of achieving specific outcomes that improves a patient’s quality of life means that the need for pharmacists cannot be overemphasized. This involves the process through which a pharmacist cooperates with a patient and other professionals in designing, implementing, and monitoring a therapeutic plan that will provide specific therapeutic outcomes. These outcomes may be the cure of a disease; elimination or reduction of a patient’s symptoms, arresting or slowing of a disease process or preventing a disease.
A daily activity of most pharmacists is the filling of prescriptions and dispensing of medications which many have come to associate as the sole work of a pharmacist. Pharmaceutical dispensing is often portrayed as merely being the process of giving a drug product to a patient. Dispensing is however not just a mechanical physical process but rather a complex comprehensive approach. In dispensing, a pharmacist exercises independent judgment to ensure the medicine is safe and appropriate for the patient, as well as that it conforms to the prescriber’s requirements and contacting the prescriber when in doubt. In conforming to this, the pharmacist takes into account the dose, frequency and route of administration, duration of treatment, the presence or absence of other medicines, the patient’s illness, medication history, and other relevant circumstances.
The final stage of the dispensing procedure is where the patient receives counseling on their medications as well any advice that may be of benefit in maximizing their therapeutic effectiveness. For patients taking repeat prescriptions, counseling provides the opportunity for the pharmacist to inquire if the patient is taking the medicine correctly, if the medicine is having the desired outcome or if there are unwanted effects. It also offers the opportunity to detect any errors. Some medicine information leaflets may mention certain diseases or side effects which could cause confusion or even alarm among some patients and the pharmacist here works through the leaflet with the patient in order to relate its contents to their individual circumstances.
This comprehensive approach has decreased medication errors, increased patient compliance in medication regimen, improved chronic disease state management, strengthened the pharmacist-patient relationship and largely decreased the long term costs of medical care.
Pharmacists in this country are often the first point of contact for patients with health inquiries. Here, pharmacists play a significant role in assessing medication management in patients, and in referring patients to physicians. These roles include, but are not limited to assessment of patients with undiagnosed or diagnosed conditions, providing pharmaceutical information, providing patients with health monitoring and advice, treatment of common ailments and disease states and education and counseling of patients.
Pharmacists are also involved in the purchase, manufacture and quality testing of medicines, ensuring that medicines are stored appropriately and securely, supervising the work of less experienced and qualified staff, keeping up to date with, and contributing to research and development, providing guidelines for drug use within the hospital and implementing hospital regulations, providing information on expenditure of drugs, preparing and quality-checking sterile medications, for example intravenous medications and a whole lot of other duties.
There are increased numbers of drug therapies, a more knowledgeable and demanding population and deficiencies in the healthcare system which has increased the demand for the skills of the pharmacist the world over and it remains up to the nation to make use of the potential of its pharmacists in alleviating some of its unmet public health needs.
So who at all is the pharmacist? Pharmacists are professionals, uniquely prepared and available, committed to public service and to the achievement of the goal of providing pharmaceutical care wherever they find themselves. The roles of the pharmacist I have laid bare, their worth? You decide!

Kwaku Anane Sarpong
Pharmacist
pakas89@yahoo.com/ 0277741348