Hong Kong pharmacists seek bigger role over prescription of drugs

Pharmacists want to play a bigger role in following up on patients' medication needs and managing treatment problems as a way to ease the workload of doctors in public hospitals.

They made their call after the Post investigated medication errors allegedly made by doctors in public hospitals.

Pressure on medical services has been mounting with the ageing population, which prompted the government to increase the number of publicly funded health care degrees.

The annual intake of medical students at the University of Hong Kong and Chinese University, the only two institutions offering medical degrees in the city, will increase from 420 to 470 from the 2016/17 academic year. Current problems, however, will not be eased until that batch of students graduate in 2022.

While the workload of doctors in public hospitals, where shortages are most acute, was unlikely to ease in the short term, passing on medication reviews to pharmacists was a way to reduce doctors' stress, said William Chui Chun-ming, president of the Society of Hospital Pharmacists.

"It usually requires at least 20 minutes to review a patient's medical history, but now doctors spend only around five minutes," Chui said, adding that it took time to check whether a patient was taking other drugs or traditional Chinese medicine, which all affect a doctor's decision about what to prescribe.

He said pharmacists could summarise key points of a patient's medication history in the electronic prescription system for a doctor's reference, as a way to provide a better service and free up doctors' time.