City’s Ikwezi Pharmacy is Grade-A!
04 October 2022
The rating is the highest possible standard that a pharmacy can obtain
from the national Pharmacy Council and Ikwezi’s achievement is nothing to
sneeze at. A small celebration was hosted on Friday, 30 September 2022 to
acknowledge the achievement.
The accolade is the cherry on top of sustained hard work from the pharmacy staff at the Ikwezi Community Day Centre, championed by their Responsible Pharmacist, Lindy Mckenzie.
The main objective of the South African Pharmacy Council (SAPC) pharmacy grading is to monitor the standards of Good Pharmacy Practice (GPP) in pharmacies.
This is done by way of unannounced inspections. The inspections ensure that the public is provided with a quality and comprehensive pharmaceutical service of acceptable standards.
The pharmacy grading is calculated using a weighted questionnaire and such grading determines the frequency of a pharmacy inspection:
Grade A- frequency of inspection shall be every 3 years
Grade B- frequency of inspection shall be every 2 years
Grade C –frequency of inspection shall be every year
Ikwezi Pharmacy went from a Grade C facility in 2021 when Mckenzie took over as Responsible Pharmacist, to Grade A, following an unannounced inspection in July 2022.
Among the improvements implemented were updating Standard Operating Procedures; ordering the relevant reference materials; motivating for the installation of an air-conditioner; ensuring that the pharmacy fridges were connected to the generator and that fridge temperature monitors were installed), and sourcing a replacement pharmacy license after the original was lost in the fire at the CDC in 2019.
'I want to tip my hat to this extraordinary effort by the staff at our Ikwezi Pharmacy, and especially the Responsible Pharmacist for driving the process to make this achievement a reality. They went above and beyond in making the changes that they wanted to see in their work environment, for the benefit of the surrounding communities. They are true ambassadors for the City, and I applaud each and every one of them for the role they played in getting that Grade A status,' said the City's Community Services and Health Portfolio Committee Chairperson, Councillor Ronel Viljoen.
End
Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office
