What has been an eventful year for Council in terms of delivering on its mandate, especially as it relates to standard setting and legislative review processes, is coming to a close. As we publish this issue of the Pharmaciae, I would like to reflect on a selection of Council’s work during the year under review – from how the Office operationalised certain aspects of Council’s legislative mandate to the progress made in the review of regulations and improvements to...
As we publish the ninth volume of the Pharmaciae, the current Council is in its fourth year in a five-year term and has made great strides towards achieving its five-year strategic plan. Most strategic objectives are fully achieved, with more work having been done in 2022 to ensure the completion of the five-year mission before end-of-term. In this message, the Registrar/CEO of the South African Pharmacy Council takes stock of some of the milestones achieved in the current year,...
This article presents a summary of selected matters discussed and decisions taken by the South African Pharmacy Council (‘Council’) during its meetings held on 16/17 February, 18/19 May and 27/28 July 2022. Other matters on the operations of the Office of the Registrar and Council are covered in the articles featured in this issue of the Pharmaciae.
Legislation having an impact on Pharmacy and the practice environment is continuously updated in response to changing environmental and other factors. We endeavour to include all legislative amendments and new/proposed legislation and regulations in each issue of the e-Pharmaciae. This edition looks at the legislation published in 2022.
During 2022, the South African Pharmacy Council was invited to participate in the programmes of three conferences organised by the profession and other stakeholders. Council honoured the invitations to engage with the profession and stakeholders at these conferences. This article review Council’s participation in industry conferences over the past twelve months.
Council robustly guards the public’s right to quality pharmaceutical services, while upholding the good image of the pharmacy profession, by investigating alleged unprofessional conduct by registered persons and bringing disciplinary processes against those found to be endangering public health and/or bringing into disrepute the good name of the pharmacy profession. Regulation 26 of the Regulations relating to the conduct of inquiries held in terms of Chapter V of the Pharmacy Act, 53 of 1974, requires that sanctions issued by...
Members of the public and the profession are advised that, as at November 2022, the below list constitute the only approved providers of pharmacy education and training, and the courses approved/accredited by the South African Pharmacy Council.
The Honourable Minister of Health gazetted the Regulations relating to fees payable to the South African Pharmacy Council on Friday, 2 December 2022. The regulations pave the way for the caping of annual fee increases at the rate of headline inflation, as called for by the profession both prior to and during the public consultation process of the draft regulations.
The South African Pharmacy Council registers assessors of pharmacy education and training in line with the Regulations relating to the registration of persons and maintenance of registers (GNR. 1160/2000). Included is the latest list of Registered Assessors as at November 2022.
There have been notable and extensive discussions about COVID-19 over the past two years… “Be safe, mask up, and sanitise” that has become a mantra for people across South Africa as well as globally. But do we really understand how vaccines are being monitored to assess probable side-effects being experienced by pockets of our population? In this article, SAHPRA explores how it monitors vaccine safety and takes stock of the AEFIs reported to date.
Council is calling on all its stakeholders, including registered persons and representatives of registered entities/facilities, as well as members of the public, to participate in its 2022 SAPC Public/Stakeholder Perception Survey and Communication Audit. This survey aims to assess perceptions of service delivery and communication efficiency, amongst others. Its results will help Council review how its services and communication efforts align with stakeholder expectations and, thus, initiate improvements in areas identified as seeking realignment.
Registered persons currently undergoing immunisation and injection techniques courses not accredited by the South African Pharmacy Council have until 31 December 2022 to complete and record these. For courses completed after 31 December 2022, Council will only accept Immunisation and Injection Techniques supplementary training certificates issued by accredited providers. In this article, we unpack the implications of Board Notice 241 of 2022 on the recording of immunisation courses.
Pharmacists, owners and pharmacy support personnel are required to at all times ensure that they observe the law and are ethical in their exercising their various scopes of practice; this includes observing the Rules relating to Good Pharmacy Practice and the Ethical Rules. However, should mistakes happen or the law be ignored, Council may, in terms of Chapter V of the Pharmacy Act, 53 of 1974, investigate and institute a disciplinary process – in order to protect and/or restore...
The #PharmacyMonth hashtag garnered over 1,6 million social media impressions during September 2022; the profession, including provincial departments of health, partook in at least 39 outreach events, and there were at least 28 traditional media activities undertaken by both the profession and the Office of Council as part of the 2022 Pharmacy Month programme.
According to the Pharmacy Inspections and Guide to Compliance manual, the most recent inspection outcome of a pharmacy determines the frequency of subsequent inspections by Council. Depending on the grading achieved, a pharmacy may be inspected annually, once every two years or once every three years. This article provides an overview of the various inspection cycles.
Your Council website login details are as important as your bank account’s personal identification number (PIN). They should not be shared with any third party, for any reason whatsoever. They should be used to access and transact on your secure profile and all associated services only by you, at all times. Actions and transactions concluded on your secure profile are always assumed to be executed by yourself, as such, you remain answerable for all transactions.
Pharmacists are required submit at least six (6) Continuing Professional Development (CPD) entries annually, by 31 December. CPD activities that may be recorded are varied, and includes lessons/skills learnt on the job, through reading practitioner or journal articles, seminars, workshops and training courses amongst others. The CPD regime is outcome based, as such, pharmacists out to record details relating to the CPD activities in order to be compliant.
Been removed from the register of pharmacists for a period longer than 12 months? If you have been removed from the register for 13 months or more, paying the restoration and annual fees is not sufficient for you to be restored to the register. Depending on your period of inactivity, you may, amongst others, be required to work under the direct supervision of a pharmacist for a certain period and pass the pre-registration examination before your name is restored...
The South African Pharmacy Council congratulates the 712 Pharmacist Interns in 2022 cohort who passed the pre-registration examination. The interns achieved an 89,9% pass rate, this is slightly lower than the 2021 pass rate (93%). Three Pre-Registration Examinations were written in March (n=61), August (n=466) and October (n=265) and in total, seven hundred and ninety-two (792) interns wrote the examinations.
The current pharmacy support personnel (PSP) qualifications – National Certificate: Pharmacist Assistant (Basic) and Further Education and Training Certificate: Pharmacist Assistant (Post-Basic) – will be replaced with the Occupational Certificate (Basic and Post-Basic). This article explains the introduction of the Occupational Certificate, enrolment, and the teach-out period of current qualifications.
All processes relating to Pharmacist-Initiated Management of Antiretroviral Therapy (PIMART) are currently on hold, pending the outcomes of a court case and a multi-council task team on PIMART. PIMART was proposed in response to the rising HIV infections nationally, below-target viral suppression and treatment adherence rates, as well as the high number of HIV-related deaths. It intends to add pharmacists with the required supplementary training to the national health manpower currently fighting HIV, thus providing greater access to HIV...
A patient has just presented you with a photograph of a prescription that they have received from their doctor via WhatsApp. Can you dispense based on this prescription? This article explores the issue.
While Council exists to, amongst others, ensure that only qualified and fit-to-practice persons practise the scope of practice of any of the categories of professionals registered with itself, for the benefit of the public and the dignity of the Pharmacy profession, there are also mechanisms within Council to help pharmacy professionals who are at risk of unfitness to practise or who are already unfit to practise to regain their fitness – one such mechanism is the Health Committee of...
The South African Pharmacy Council (SAPC) is happy to present to the profession nine (9) newly appointed and promoted employees, who have undergone rigorous selection processes. They bring with them a diversity of skills, experience and capabilities to help the SAPC fulfil its legislative mandate. In this period, we are also bidding farewell to three (3) colleagues, one of who is retiring while two opted to pursue other paths.
