Pharmacies in Abu Dhabi to be rated

ABU DHABI — All pharmaceutical facilities in the emirate will be graded and their rank publicly displayed by the end of the year, following an initiative that aims to stimulate healthy competition and motivate behavioural change.

Under the ‘Jawda’ (quality) programme by the Health Authority – Abu Dhabi (HAAD), pharmacies in Abu Dhabi will be audited three times a year and the facilities in Al Ain and the Western Region will be visited by the HAAD inspection teams twice a year.

Each facility will be audited and graded according to a number of checklists designed for each cluster — inpatient, outpatient and drug store. These include staff communication and infrastructure, dispensing and labelling systems, narcotic substance storage and records, medication reliability, customer service and their compliance with the regulation.

Dr Atef Mohamed Elshaer, Health Quality Auditor at HAAD explained that each pharmaceutical facility will be rated against their peers or those that are “comparable in size and functionality.”

Based on the audit results, a pharmacy will be graded as Excellent, A (upper one-third of its peers), B (middle one-third of its peers), C (lower one-third of its peers) or D (below minimal standards).

A rank poster explaining the ranking system and the facility’s grade certificate will be displayed visibly in an acrylic transparent pocket at each facility. Twice a year, at the end of every cluster audit cycle, each facility would receive their respective rating. The pharmacy’s grade can also be viewed online at a later stage when Jawda’s website goes live. “Everybody has different ways of choosing a pharmacy but the major factor is (going for) the best quality in the market,” Dr Mohammad Bader Al Seiari, Director of Health System Compliance at HAAD pointed out at the launch of Jawda on Monday.

“To empower patients’ decisions, HAAD launched Jawda to provide the public with simple, fair and trustworthy information to make decisions regarding their pharmacy of choice. It is quite simple: better informed people make better decisions,” he stated. According to Dr Elshaer, the first phase of the audit showed that majority (68 per cent) of the pharmacies is within the ‘acceptable range’ of ABC. Six per cent was rated ‘Excellent’ while 26 per cent was on D or non-acceptable.

olivia@khaleejtimes