The R.K. Khan Hospital Pharmacy Decongestion Project: An Innovative Partnership in Service Delivery.

In its quest to improve service delivery and reduce congestion, the busy R. K. Khan Hospital Pharmacy has embarked on a unique partnership with community organizations whereby 13 community facilities including community halls, temples and churches, are being used as venues for issuing chronic medicines to patients. Patients receive their initial supply at the hospital and are then referred to a facility mos convenient to them to collect their repeat medicine. They only return to hospital after six months on their review dates. Almost 24000 patients per month are currently utilizing this service. Medicines are pre-dispensed, transported and controlled by pharmacy staff. It has resulted in a win-win situation for both patients and the hospital. Patients benefit by receiving their medicines quickly and conveniently from centres close to their homes instead of queueing for hours at the pharmacy. The hospital benefits since congestion is significantly reduced.