A discursive presentation of community pharmacies: Premises, storage, staff, documentation and legal compliance

• Published in: Heliyon Vol. 9; no. 12; p. e23112
• Main Authors: Aziz, Muhammad Majid, Alboghdadly, Amany, Rasool, Muhammad Fawad, Shaalan, Marwa S., Goresh, Hind Khalid, Najjar, Muath Fahmi, Alshawwa, Samar Zuhair
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2023; Elsevier
• Subjects: Community pharmacy; Documentation; Legal requirements; Medicine storage; Premises; Safety; Staff; Medicine storage; Staff; Documentation; Safety; Legal requirements; Premises; Community pharmacy
• ISSN: 2405-8440; 2405-8440
• DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e23112

This study aimed to assess compliance with legal requirements, safe medication storage and staffing standards in community pharmacies in Punjab, Pakistan. We conducted a three-step cross-sectional study using observations, questionnaires and face-to-face interviews in 544 systematically-selected community pharmacies. We used descriptive statistic and one-way ANOVA to assess the data. Only 23 (4.2 %) pharmacies had accurate area and only 3.9 % had appropriate walls. In total, 23.3 % had glass-fronted shelves and 38.2 % had a glass door. More than half (53.8 %) had separate narcotics shelves and 43.0 % a separate shelf of expired medicines. Less than half (47.5 %) of the pharmacies were able to maintain hygiene. About 36.2 % of the pharmacies segregated different types of product. Drugs were protected from direct sunlight in most (61.3 %) pharmacies, but the refrigerator was working properly in less than half (43.4 %) and only a very small number (2.4 %) had an alternative power supply for the refrigerator. Only 37 (6.8 %) were able to maintain an appropriate room temperature. The vast majority (93.0 %) displayed a valid drug sale license, but a qualified person/pharmacist was only present in 4.8 %. The average number of employees was 4.2, and more than 71.0 % of staff had 10–12 years of formal education. Only 0.2 % of employees could explain term “PRN”, although 57.3 % explained “IV” correctly. About 22.8 % replied correctly about the room temperature but the vast majority (97.6 %) did not know about cold chain temperature. The location of the pharmacy (p-value = 0.045) affected its performance. Noncompliance with legal requirements, unsafe drug storage and limited human resources reflect the poor enforcement of drug laws in Pakistan. The findings suggest that there is a need to strengthen inspection and management of community pharmacies.