The Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) has set up a Medicine Formulary Unit to enhance service delivery at the hospital.

The formulary will provide the safest and best medicines for patients in line with the hospital’s objective of providing excellent and efficient services to clients.

A formulary is a list of medications available for use at a hospital or health system, and includes the dosage forms, strengths and package sizes of each of the medications on it.
Diligent management of this list has both patient care and financial implications.

Inaugurating the unit yesterday, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the hospital, Dr Opoku Ware Ampomah, said with the dependency on technology steadily increasing in all spheres, it was important for medical practitioners to also use same to be innovative in the provision of healthcare delivery.

That, he said, would enable them to formulate the best medicines for the health of those who required healthcare service, as well as to ensure that the best medicines were provided for patients.

The formulary will be supervised by a 13-member Drug and Therapeutics Committee (DTC), which will be chaired by Dr Yaw Ofori-Adjei, with Dr Daniel Ankrah, a Director of Pharmacy; Dr Audrey Anno, Dr Joycelyn Dame, Dr Dzifa Dey, Dr Titus Beyuo and Dr Appiah-Korang Labi acting as members.

The rest are Dr Asare Offei, Mrs Chrysolite Egyirakwa, Mrs Oksana Corquaye, Mr Charles Ofei-Palm, Mr Anthony Osei and Mrs Esther Christiana Tetteh.

Clients, staff interest

Dr Ampomah said the formulary was to provide a more reliable, cost-effective and efficient service to clients.

"At the end of the day, the ultimate goal is to provide service that is cost-effective, reliable, friendly and sympathetic to customers and patients, and which is safe. This must also provide a good working environment for the staff," he stated.

Dr Ampomah said at the heart of the plan was the human resource of the facility and pledged a holistic view of development to tackle the ills of the institution.

He pledged to introduce incentives for hard work and to instil discipline among staff to offer the best care for patients and clients.

He admitted that there were inequalities at the nation’s premier teaching hospital related to salaries, promotions and forms of unfair treatments pertaining to their work and vowed to tackle them.

"I will tackle the gaping hole of inequality at Korle Bu head-on and reward hard work," he stated.

He also noted that the unsung heroes of West Africa's largest health facility who had toiled and worked hard in stealth would be duly rewarded when the hospital celebrated its centenary in two years time.

Committee

Dr Adjei said members of the committee considered it a duty to serve and lead the charge of making the formulary an effective part of KBTH’s services.

He bemoaned the significant amount of irrational use of medicines, assuring that the formulary would tackle the problem head-on.

Dr Adjei further indicated that there was the need for the citizenry to understand and appreciate how drugs were prescribed and used.

"Many a time, we realise that patients are not adequately managed for their pain," he noted.