Hospital clinical pharmacy services in Vietnam

Abstract

Background Clinical pharmacy is key to the quality use of medicines. While there are different approaches in different countries, international perspectives may inform health service development. The Vietnamese Ministry of Health introduced a legal regulation of clinical pharmacy services in December 2012. Objective To describe the services, and to explore reported barriers and facilitators in implementing clinical pharmacy activities in Vietnamese hospitals after the introduction of Vietnamese Ministry of Health legal regulation. Setting Thirty-nine hospitals in Hanoi, Vietnam, including 22 provincial and 17 district hospitals. Method A mixed methods study was utilized. An online questionnaire was sent to the hospitals. In-depth interviews were conducted with pairs of nominated pharmacists at ten of these hospitals. The questionnaire focused on four areas: facilities, workforce, policies and clinical pharmacy activities. Main outcome measure Proportion of clinical pharmacy activities in hospitals. Themes in clinical pharmacy practice. Results 34/39 (87%) hospitals had established clinical pharmacy teams. Most activities were non-patient-specific (87%) while the preliminary patient-specific clinical pharmacy services were available in only 8/39 hospitals (21%). The most common non-patient-specific activities were providing medicines information (97%), reporting adverse drug reactions (97%), monitoring medication usage (97%). The patient specific activities varied widely between hospitals and were ad hoc. The main challenges reported were: lack of workforce and qualified clinical pharmacists. Conclusion While most hospitals had hospital-based pharmacy activities, the direct patient care was limited. Training, education and an expanded work forces are needed to improve clinical pharmacy services.

Current status of clinical pharmacy workforce, services and clinical pharmacist recruitment in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

“…The median number of CPs in HCMC [2 (Q1-Q3: 1-4)] was lower than the average number of CPs in Hanoi [2.2 (SD: 1.1)] 10 , whilst in China, a clinical pharmacy team in county hospitals requires more than three CPs. 10,22 Considering FTE, the present median was extremely low, at only 0.4 (Q1-Q3: 1-2) compared to 0.77 FTE CP per hospital in Hanoi.…”

“…This questionnaire was developed based on the instruments used in previous studies and customized to the country's setting after being pre-tested by experts. 9,10 In each hospital, the questionnaire was answered by the Heads/Deputy heads of Pharmacy department (HDPs) instead of the CPs themselves. This is because most hospital pharmacists in Vietnam hold multiple tasks besides clinical pharmacy.…”

“…This led to many limitations in clinical pharmacy activities, for instance, the role of CPs has been localized to drug dispensing, compounding and administrative tasks. 9,10 Additionally, clinical pharmacy practices remain scattered due to some barriers such as the shortage of workforce, the deficiency of highly educated professionals, and a lack of interaction with physicians. 10,11 Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), which is located in the South-Eastern region of Vietnam, is one out of two central metropolises and the most populous city in Vietnam (8 598 700 people in 2019).…”

“…9,10 Additionally, clinical pharmacy practices remain scattered due to some barriers such as the shortage of workforce, the deficiency of highly educated professionals, and a lack of interaction with physicians. 10,11 Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), which is located in the South-Eastern region of Vietnam, is one out of two central metropolises and the most populous city in Vietnam (8 598 700 people in 2019). 12,13 This is also one of the biggest healthcare center (485 health facilities, 123 of which are hospitals), which has consistently witnessed a huge number of inpatient and outpatient visits.…”

A Impact of a Pharmacist-Led Educational Intervention on Quality of Life Among Patients With Asthma

“…Together with physicians, pharmacists could monitor the treatment process; provide useful advice on medicine usage and lifestyle changes to asthmatic patients [30][31]. This perception and our result may give more evidence for strengthening Vietnam's clinical pharmacy system, which is still lacking facilities and standard clinical pharmacists [32].…”