Pharmacy is a special store. Starting with the drugs that are sold here (not all of them are available for free sale - many require prescription permission from the attending doctor), to employees (you will not find sellers in the pharmacy - pharmacists work here). Accordingly, the tasks and functions of pharmacies will be special - characteristic of this independent type of institution.
What kind of system is this?
A pharmacy is a specialized organization of a healthcare structure whose activity is the manufacture, packaging, analysis and sale of medicines and related products.
The institution is considered not a store, but an offshoot of the healthcare system. Hence the main function of the pharmacy is pharmaceutical assistance to the population. In other words, not only are drugs sold here, but it is also possible to get advice on a particular drug.
Varieties
The functions of pharmacies will vary by type of institution. According to the main classification, all these organizations are divided into two groups:
- Manufacturing medicines. Production is carried out according to prescriptions of doctors, standard prescriptions for sale within one jur. faces (both with a doctor’s prescription and without it). Such pharmacies can also sell finished medicines. What specifically refers to this? Pharmacies with a production department, drugstores with the right to manufacture drugs.
- Realizing only ready-made medical supplies. Specific categories are a drugstore without the right to manufacture drugs, a drugstore, a drugstore, ready-made drugstores.
Another classification. Depends on the forms of management characteristic of a particular state. Pharmacies can stand out here:
- Private
- Collective ownership. Examples: cooperatives, limited liability companies, joint-stock organizations, etc.
- Utility.
- State.
Regardless of the forms presented, the pharmacy must have a license to conduct its activities in the sale (or manufacture and sale) of drugs. To do this, she must comply with the requirements established by law - organizational, qualification, etc.
The main objective of the organization
Both the pharmacy of social prices and pharmacy outlets with a wider specialization have the same main task. This is the implementation of drugs, both ready-made and self-received, medical supplies and other specific products.
The objects of implementation are as follows:
- population;
- medical, preventive institutions attached to the supply;
- other organizations.
Pharmacy Features
The functions of the pharmacy itself are divided into several categories. Let's consider them separately.
Medical functions of a pharmacy (as a healthcare institution):
- Providing medical assistance to visitors.
- Dissemination of sanitary-hygienic knowledge among the population (sanitary-educational work).
- Pharmaceutical custody.
- Information activity, training of specialists, workers.
- The social function of a pharmacy is a vacation for certain categories of the population (according to state law) of medicines free of charge or at a certain discount.
- Providing the buyer with all the necessary information on the use and home storage of purchased medicines.
- Providing information to employees of the medical, educational, social (social security) sphere about the drugs available in the sale, their purpose.
- The provision of emergency medical care.
- Consulting visitors to ensure responsible self-medication.
Production Functions:
- The manufacture of drugs.
- Carrying out packing and packaging work.
- Harvesting plant materials for medicines.
- Quality control of manufactured products.
- Implementation of drugs (by prescription and without a doctor) and medical facilities for the population.
- The manufacture of medicines according to prescriptions of doctors, the requirements of healthcare organizations.
- Production of intra-pharmacy blanks according to the approved requirements.
Commercial (trade) functions of a pharmacy:
- Purchase of medical products, medical products.
- Incoming quality control of the supplied preparations and products.
- Storage and placement of medicines related products.
- Sale of medicines to the population in cash, by bank card.
- The implementation of preventive, medical institutions medications by bank transfer.
- Sale of related products: vitamin complexes, mineral waters, herbal preparations, disinfectants and personal hygiene products, baby, diet and medical nutrition, cosmetic and perfume assortment.
Functions of a pharmacy
We examined the tasks and functions of pharmacies as an institution in general. Now we turn to the details.
Functions of pharmacies:
- Prescription medication. In addition to narcotic, potent, toxic, psychotropic drugs.
- Sale of hygiene products, herbal medicines, other medical devices.
- The manufacture of medicines - according to the prescriptions of the doctor and for intra-pharmacy procurement according to the approved requirements.
- Release to certain categories of citizens of specific medicines at a discount or free of charge.
- Providing the public with advice on the use, storage of purchased drugs (reference pharmacy).
- Providing workers with social, healthcare, and educational services with information about new products and medicines on sale.
- First aid.
Functions of a pharmacy kiosk and pharmacy store
Turning to the help pharmacy, you learned that it refers to a similar formation. Therefore, the organization is authorized to perform only the following functions:
- The sale of over-the-counter drugs.
- Sale of personal hygiene items, herbal products, medical supplies.
- Providing the public with information on the proper use and storage of purchases.
- Consultations about medicines in pharmacies - prices, availability, analogues and so on.
- First aid.
Pharmacy network
This is the main supplier of medicines, drugs to the population. It consists of the following elements - these are pharmacies:
- self-supporting;
- interhospital;
- preventive, medical institutions;
- pharmacy branches, kiosks and points.
In turn, the pharmacy network of medical organizations is divided into several categories:
- Hospital facilities of the general, mixed type.
- Specialized medical organizations.
- Psychiatric hospitals.
- Clinical, educational medical institutions.
The main components of the network will be self-supporting and pharmacies of preventive and medical institutions. We will get acquainted with their functions in detail.
Functions of self-supporting pharmacies
Here we can highlight the following:
- Providing the population with trouble-free and high-quality assistance in the form of dispensing the necessary medicines according to prescriptions - both made directly at the pharmacy and delivered ready-made from pharmaceutical enterprises.
- Sale of medications allowed for over-the-counter holidays, items for patient care, a sanitary-hygienic assortment, medical instruments, medical nutrition and water, optics, etc.
- Provision of medicines and medical instruments to attached medical institutions.
- Procurement of raw materials for own production.
- Sanitary and hygienic education of the population.
- Informing medical workers about the medicines available in the assortment, new supplies.
Functions of pharmacies of medical, preventive institutions
The functions of pharmacy organizations of this type are as follows:
- Preparing, dispensing, or selling dressings, medical instruments, and hygiene products.
- Control over the institution’s need for new drugs, medical supplies, etc.
- Acceptance of drugs, medical equipment and instruments from relevant enterprises.
- Accounting for narcotic, poisonous drugs, alcohols, acids, etc.
- Control over the use of material support.
- Timely replenishment of stocks.
- Control over the release of medicines, dressings, tools in specialized clinics.
You are aware of the main task, the main categories of functions of all pharmacy organizations. In addition, the reader now knows about the functions of pharmacies of specific types.