In the wake of the new Pharmacy Practice Regulations 2015 being implemented by the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) from January 15 this year, the Kerala State Pharmacy Council (KSPC) plans to support registered pharmacists to start independent Pharmacy Counselling Centres (PCC) in order to provide pharmaceutical care to the needy patients or their caregivers.

Such pharmacists will be known as ‘pharmacy consultants’ or ‘drugs counsellors’ and the Centre will operate as a place for patient counselling. KSPC is the first state pharmacy council in the country to take immediate step following the new pharmacy practice regulations to start Pharmacy Counselling Centres in order to upgrade the profession of pharmacy to the status of those in the USA and UK.

As a first step, five PCCs will be opened in five districts of the state, and the nature of work and the charges of services will be decided in consultation with the Pharmacy Council of India. The next meeting of Kerala Pharmacy Council will deliberate on how to support the Centre. However, the initiative will remain as the sole responsibility of the ‘drugs counsellor/pharmacist’ and it will act as a Solo Pharmacy Counseling  Centre for patient counselling of all drugs, medical devices and drug related issues, said B Rajan, president of Kerala Pharmacy Council.

“The pharmacy practice regulations 2015 will bring revolutionary changes in the field of pharmacy profession. It will get an independent professional status like medical and other para-medical services. At the moment, a large number of drugs are coming into the market every day and various kinds of diseases are also emerging. The PCI has started a high potential pharmacy course, Pharm D which is an international level programme. These Pharm D graduates are full-fledged pharmacy professionals and their potential can be availed of by the society for good healthcare to the patients. The pharmacy counseling centres will help for independent pharmacy practice”, Rajan said.

He said as per the regulations a registered pharmacist can undertake a pharmaceutical assessment of every prescription presented for dispensing. Pharmaceutical assessment is defined as the point at which a registered pharmacist applies his knowledge to establish the safety, quality, efficacy and rational use of drugs treatments specified by a prescriber.

Regarding practice of pharmacy, the new regulation says that, “Subject to the conditions and restrictions laid down in these Regulations regarding practice of profession of pharmacy by persons possessing approved pharmacy qualifications, every person whose name is for the time being entered in the register of the state in which he is for the time being residing or carrying on his profession or business of pharmacy shall be entitled to practice as “Registered Pharmacist” and engage in the practice of profession of pharmacy and to recover, in due course, the respect of such practice ad expenses, charges or any fee to which he/she is entitled in lieu of his/her discharging duties as defined by the PCI from time to time.”

Patient counseling means the oral communication by the pharmacist of information to the patient or caregiver, in order to ensure proper use of drugs and devices.