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NICVD’s chest pain units to be increased to 17 by year-end

By M. Waqar Bhatti
September 27, 2018

Chest Pain Units (CPUs) of the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) would be established across the city where free of charge medicines would also be provided, said NICVD Executive Director Prof Nadeem Qamar.

Speaking to the media on the occasion of World Pharmacists Day, observed at NICVD on Tuesday, Prof Qamar said that at the moment seven CPUs are operating in the city and by the end of this year, the number would be increased to 17, while free medicines would also be provided there so that patients would not have to visit the main NICVD for OPD consultation and medicines.

He said initially the free of charge medicines would be provided at some of the CPUs and later on, at all the units to facilitate patients and to lower the patients’ load on the main NICVD building.

The NICVD chief informed that they were providing free medicines to half a million patients annually, saying NICVD was the only hospital in the public and private sector in the country which was providing free, quality medicines to such a large number of patients.

“We have a team of 50 qualified pharmacists, led by Chief Pharmacist Jibran Bin Yousuf, which is serving the patients with full enthusiasm and striving hard to prevent them from medication errors,” he said, adding that these pharmacists were fully alert to prevent any overdose or any other error which could result in any possible damage to patients’ health.

According to Prof Qamar, NICVD was actually saving money by employing a team of qualified pharmacists as the duration of patient stay had drastically reduced due to interventions by the pharmacists, while they were also helping in infection control which is the biggest cause of patient mortality at healthcare facilities.

In addition to that, NICVD pharmacists are running an anti-coagulation clinic where patients who are given blood thinners are monitored regularly so that haemorrhage and related health issues can be prevented, he informed.

Prof Qamar said the patient load on NICVD was growing with each passing day despite the establishment of Satellite Centres in different cities of Sindh and added that they would soon be having a new OPD building after which NICVD’s emergency room would be expanded to accommodate the growing number of patients being brought to the emergency.

On the occasion, pharmacists associated with NICVD briefed patients and their attendants about their medicines and how to take them to remain healthy and fit.

Chief Pharmacist Jibran bin Yousuf claimed that they were providing free medicines to 800 to 1,000 patients and based on their rough calculations, NICVD was proving medicines worth Rs2 million to its OPD patients daily.

“Today we have established a patient awareness camp at the hospital where we are providing consultancy services regarding medicines while different tests are also being conducted to improve patients’ dosage of medicines as per their health conditions,” Yousuf said, adding that they were following international protocols for dispensing medicines.

In order to reduce medication errors and any possibility of theft, Yousuf said, they have put in place an Electronic Requisition System (ERP), which helps doctors and pharmacists to dispense the right medicines in correct dosages to the patients so that chances of errors could be minimised to a large extent.

“Every year, around half a million people die due to medication errors so we at the NICVD are highly vigilant so that patients could be prevented from accidents and errors related to medicines,” he said.

A patient Arjumand Azhar also narrated his experience of when he had a heart attack and was taken to a private hospital, which instead of providing him first aid, asked his attendants to take him to NICVD to save his life.

“Within an hour on arrival at NICVD, I had my angioplasty after heart attack and I was shifted to the recovery room,” he said. “When I was leaving, I asked for the bill and they told me, “Please have tea and biscuits and leave” as they don’t charge any money from patients anymore.”