Pretoria - The A-grade rating achieved by a Tshwane metro-run pharmacy is testimony of its capacity to handle Covid-19 vaccines, Health MEC Sakkie du Plooy has said.
The pharmacy at FF Ribeiro Clinic at Sammy Marks Square has for the second consecutive time been credited with an A-Grade status by the South African Pharmacy Council.
The accolade meant that the pharmacy has scores between 90% to 100% in terms of their overall performance after it was inspected by the entity.
Pharmacies with the A-Grade were assessed after every three years and the last time the municipal pharmacy underwent the inspection was in 2017.
According to Du Plooy, the A-Grade status demonstrated "the City’s readiness to properly handle the expected Covid-19 vaccines".
"What we do is make sure that we store the medication correctly whenever we receive it. Our people do the logistics and administration in such a way that it deserves to be awarded this grade for compliance with the SA pharmacy council standards," he said.
The inspectors looked at whether the facility complied with the relevant legislation in terms of dispensing of medical prescriptions and provision of pharmaceutical care, among other things.
Du Plooy sang praises to a team of pharmacists for their hard work, dedication and professionalism.
"This achievement is because of the quality of the pharmacists that we are using in the City of Tshwane. We are very proud of the quality of our pharmacy department," he said.
The pharmacy was the main depot used to supply medications to other municipal-managed pharmacies at more than 20 clinics.
In 2017, the pharmacy embarked on a training programme to provide quality on-the-job training for deserving community members after it was approved by the council as a training site.
Du Plooy said: "In co-operation with the Foundation for Professional Development, a tutor programme was launched and National Youth Service and Extended Public Works Programme (EPWP) workers were placed at some clinic dispensaries to provide administrative assistance."
The City selected qualifying individuals from the EPWP workers, who underwent training as basic pharmacist assistants.
"The foundation assesses each learner for eligibility, which includes their maths competency. Once qualified, they are trained as basic pharmacist assistants and then as post basic pharmacist assistants. The qualified assistants then have a recognised qualification that allows them to be employed anywhere in the country," Du Plooy said.
Pretoria News