Dispensing Care at the Dispensing Counter in the Conditions of a Czech Pharmacy

Overview

Evaluation of 108 cases when the pharmacist found a need to intervene into prescription verified the use of internationally employed system of classification of pharmaceutical interventions in the conditions of the Czech pharmacy of the basic type. The so-called dispensing care at the counter was provided by five participating pharmacists (out of seven working in the pharmacy) for a period of six months. The most frequently identified problems included: inappropriate use of medicaments – overdose, use at unsuitable time (28.7 %), a need to inform the patient (17.6 %), potentially ineffective therapy (12.9 %), drug interactions (7.4 %), suspected and potential undesirable effects of prescribed medicaments (7.4 %), and insufficient compliance (6.5 %). Solution of problems with medicaments was most frequently: a change in dosage (25.9 %), recommendation to consult the physician (24.1 %), and professional counselling on pharmacotherapy (23.1 %). The pharmacotherapeutic group identified as the one most frequently requiring a telephone consultation of the pharmacist and the physician was antibiotics, including antibacterial chemotherapeutic agents.

Key words:
dispensing care – intervention of the pharmacist – drug problems – prescription – counselling