GOOD PHARMACY PRACTICE (GPP)

-CLINICAL PHARMACY
BY: RABOSIGO, N
16/11/2016
GOOD PHARMACY PRACTICE (GPP)
 BACKGROUND: International Pharmacy Federation (FIP)
developed Good Pharmacy Practice (GPP) Guidelines in
the year 1992 and sent them to the World Health
Organizations (WHO) which later adopted the standards.
The standards are used to measure the quality of
pharmacy services provided to customers.

 Due to varying conditions of practice from country to

country, the WHO/FIP standards guideline is intended as
framework and each country is required to set its
minimum standards or requirements under suitable
headings.
GOOD PHARMACY PRACTICE (GPP)
 National professional organizations are involved in
developing the specific standards for GPP paying attention
to the needs of health care users as well as the capacity
of national health care systems to sustain the services.

 DEFINITION: WHO defines GPP as the practice of

pharmacy that responds to the needs of the people who
use the pharmacists’ services to provide optimal,
evidence-based care.
CLINICAL PHARMACY STANDARDS
 Definition: According to the WHO guideline Clinical pharmacy
is concerned with the application of pharmaceutical expertise
to help maximize drug efficacy and minimize drug toxicity in
individual patients.

 The Botswana Pharmacy Practice Standards 2002 guideline

defines clinical pharmacy as pharmacy practice that is patient
orientated. It is pharmacy practice that revolves around
developing knowledge and skills that ensure rational therapy.

 Clinical pharmacy can be separated into 2 main components;

Ward Pharmacy Services and Drug Information & Advice.
A) Ward Pharmacy Services
 It deals with general management of medicines in the
ward through provision of advice on safe handling and
formulary management. It is patient orientated and the
pharmacist becomes an integral part of the health care
team of the hospital.
Ward Pharmacy Services
 The pharmacist advice patient on self administration of
medicines in a way optimizing therapeutic out come and
improving compliance.
 They uphold the formulary by ensuring that the newly
prescribed treatments are as recommended by the formulary
thus, promotion of safe and rational use of medicines.
 Do prescription monitoring to ensure the patient receives
treatment as intended by the prescriber, asses and identify
patient and medication risk factors.The prescription is further
evaluated for legality, legibility and completeness.
 Assist in design and implementation of program to identify,
document and report adverse drug reactions.
B) Drug Information & Advice
 This service ensures that appropriate advice is available in
time to meet the requirements of the health care
professionals. The advice includes rational choice of
medications within a particular class in order to aid
formulary review.
 Personnel in drug information aid in selection of
appropriate dosage regimen for an individual patient
especially when managing multiple conditions.
 Provide clinicians with information on pharmaceutical and
therapeutic aspects of medicines.
Drug Information & Advice
Minimum requirements for a drug information service;

 (a)Sufficient space for reference collection and provision of the

service.
 (b) Essential furniture and equipment including a dedicated
telephone, computer and lockable filing cabinets.
 (c) The unit should maintain current reference materials
appropriate to the scope and nature of the service provided.
These references should include books, journals, drug profiles,
relevant formularies and manufacturers' information.
 (d) The unit should have access to at least one secondary
reviewed and referenced literature source.
 (e) A system for consultation with specialists in the
various fields for problem cases is necessary.
 (f) Access to a medical library with an inter-library loan
facility is recommended.
 (g) Adequate personnel for the size of the institution and
the number of enquiries must be employed.
 (h) The personnel must develop and maintain a current
Standard Operating Procedure manual outlining
procedures to the services provided.
 CONCLUSION
 The Princess Marina Hospital pharmacy does not have a
functioning Ward Pharmacy unit. There is no pharmacist
designated to the wards and consequently no pharmacist
participates in ward rounds.The health care teams at the
wards expressed that they would be grateful to have a ward
pharmacist to intervene with their drug related queries.
 Despite that it can benefit a great deal from an increase in
personnel as well as resources needed to facilitate its services,
the Drug Information and Advice unit exists in the facility and
is active.
 The pharmacy management team and stuff have exhibited
sound knowledge on Clinical Pharmacy and acknowledged the
need for Ward Pharmacy. However, due to financial constraints
and a lack of human resources it is not feasible to have Ward
Pharmacy status quo.
 REFERENCES
 Ministry of Health, 2002. The Botswana Pharmacy Practice
Standards, Gaborone, Ministry of Health.

 WHO, 2011. Joint FIP/WHO Guidelines on Good Pharmacy

Practice: Standards for Quality of Pharmacy Services, WHO
Technical Report Series, 310-323.

 WHO, 1996. Good Pharmacy Practice in Community and

Hospital Pharmacy Settings, 3-10.

 South African Pharmacy Council, 2010. Good Pharmacy

Practice in South Africa, Arcadia.