With a total of 96 pharmacists dispensing more than 1.7 million prescriptions each year, KPJ Healthcare Bhd is committed to ensuring that the role of pharmacists across its network of hospitals nationwide continue to evolve in tandem with patients’ needs.
Often misunderstood as representing a traditional health profession, the critical role of pharmacists within the pharmaceutical industry has undergone great evolution over the years.
In addition to daily procurement, quality control, counselling patients and caregivers, and routine management of medicines, pharmacists today are involved in specialized compounding services such as aseptic dispensing for chemotherapy, and even perform prescription interventions and medication therapy management reviews in order to minimize medication errors.
“The role of pharmacists has become increasingly important. We have pioneered numerous pharmaceutical advancements in our hospitals, from safe storage, dispensing, computerized physician orders, outpatient pharmacy modules and overall workflow upgrading, in accordance with best practices in the industry,” said KPJ Healthcare officer-in-charge cum chief financial officer Norhaizam Mohammad during the World Pharmacist Day Celebration 2022 organized by KPJ Healthcare at KPJ Healthcare University College, Nilai.
“The growing awareness of female empowerment in the pharmaceutical profession is indeed commendable, and I believe this plays a key role in enhancing service excellence and quality,” she added.
KPJ Healthcare through its education arm, KPJ Healthcare University College (KPJUC), provides multi-faceted growth for pharmacists via its School of Pharmacy, having produced nearly 1,100 pharmacy assistants for the domestic and international healthcare sector.
The School of Pharmacy is offering four professional programmes, including Master of Science in Pharmaceutical Technology, Bachelor of Pharmacy (Hons), Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Science with Health Sciences (Hons) and Diploma in Pharmacy, with a Master of Pharmacy programme expected to be launched early next year.
A Centre of Excellence for Pharmaceutical Sciences (CoEPS) was established in 2019, focusing on initiatives for academic research to be incorporated in the pharmaceutical industry.
Recently, the School of Pharmacy also secured RM200,000 in external research grants from Aafiyat Group, whereby four clinical research studies will be carried out at CoEPS and KPJ Seremban Specialist Hospital.
Apart from its network of hospitals, KPJ Healthcare’s home-grown retail brand Healthshoppe provides job opportunities for pharmacists at its current four JX Pharmacy outlets, Healthshoppe stores at various KPJ Hospitals and online store KPJShoppe.com.
KPJ Hospitals is set to open up to 26 outlets by 2027 as part of the expansion plan, enabling pharmacists to grow their careers with KPJ Healthcare.
At the height of the pandemic, pharmacists from across KPJ Hospitals and retail pharmacies came together to contribute their expertise and extend much-needed assistance in supporting the healthcare system by coordinating supply chain management at two KPJ-operated mega vaccination centres located at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre and The Mall Mid Valley Southkey in Johor Bahru.
Their dedicated efforts in troubleshooting issues, reporting adverse drug reactions, attending to drug information requests and managing daily statistical reports clearly reflected their critical role in the healthcare industry.
