The Ghana Pharmaceutical Society in commemoration of the World Patient Safety Day which falls on Thursday, September 17, 2020, has called on relevant stakeholders in health to ensure safe working procedures, safe working environment, and improved working conditions for health professionals.

In a press statement released to mark the day, the society said the commemoration calls for a collective action by all stakeholders to also improve patients' safety.

The PSGH posited that the steps needed to assure the safety and safeguard the health of all healthcare professionals have been long overdue.

The statement signed by its president, Benjamin Kwame Botwe, the PSGH noted that specialized occupational health services and insurance coverage against occupational injuries and diseases should be availed to healthcare professionals including pharmacists.

It also stated that the safety of patients cannot be possible without the safety of the healthcare provider and also emphasized that managing risks to pharmacists is a foundational step to assuring patient safety.

Read the PSGH press statement marking World Patient Safety Day below:

PRESS STATEMENT ISSUED BY THE PHARMACEUTICAL SOCIETY OF GHANA (PSGH) ON THE OCCASION OF THE 2020 WORLD PATIENT SAFETY DAY

Background

The Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana (PSGH), like all other key stakeholders in health, recognize patient safety as a global health priority. We strongly believe that the safety of the patient is inseparable and perhaps indistinguishable from the provision of high quality pharmaceutical care across all practice settings. That is why we are delighted to endorse the establishment of the World Patient Safety Day. The theme for this year’s celebration “Health Worker Safety, a Priority for Patient Safety” is very timely, considering that the COVID-19 pandemic has aggravated the healthcare associated risks that confront health workers all over the world.

The Pharmacist and patient safety;

The global effort to achieve Quality Universal Health coverage by 2030 can only be fruitful when there is affordable access to safe, effective and quality medicines and health products. Globally, about 40% of patients are harmed in primary and outpatient healthcare, mostly by preventable errors related to diagnosis, prescription and the use of medicines. This clearly reiterates the indispensable role of the pharmacist, who is the expert on medicines, in ensuring patient safety.

Patient safety is not possible without the safety of the Pharmacist

World Patient Safety Day calls for concerted action by all stakeholders to improve patient safety. However, patient safety cannot be improved without the safety of the healthcare provider. Managing risks to pharmacists is a foundational step to assuring patient safety. In Ghana, the pharmacist to population ratio is about 1:15000. This is far below the WHO recommendation of 1:2000. This, coupled with other institutional and economic challenges means that pharmacists are faced with a number of workplace hazards, which were particularly amplified during this COVID-19 pandemic. Pharmacists in their line of duty may be exposed to psychosocial risks (such as high work load, stress, emotional and verbal abuse from aggrieved patients), biological hazards (such as the novel coronavirus, other infectious diseases and associated stigma), chemical hazards (from exposure to chemicals used in laboratories and manufacturing or compounding procedures), ergonomical hazards (due to poor quality infrastructure design and lack of safe working tools and environments).

Call to action

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), around 12.2 million people, mostly in developing countries, die from non-communicable diseases while still of active working age. Moreover, 7 in 10 active workers, including health professionals do not have insurance packages to protect them against work-related diseases and injuries.

Consequently, the PSGH believe pragmatic measures that assure the safety and safeguard the health of all health professionals are not only imperative but long overdue. Implementing system changes and practices are crucial to improve safety at all levels of health care.

On the occasion of World Patient Safety Day, we call on all relevant stakeholders of health to ensure safe working procedures, safe working environment and improved working conditions for health professionals. Specialized occupational health services and insurance coverage against occupational injuries and diseases should also be made available to all health professionals including Pharmacists in all sectors. .

Thank you