BY OJELABI ABIOLA TENIGBOLA/Associate Editor
Pharmacists, under the aegis of the Lagos State Health Service Commission (HSC), have been advised to keep improving themselves by being innovative and creative, rather than being contented as average Pharmacists, towards enhancing service delivery and hospital growth.
The advice was given by health experts at a two-day Strategic Leadership Retreat for Pharmacists organised by the Lagos State Health Service Commission at the Orchid Hotel, Lekki, Lagos.
Delivering her address at the event held under the theme: “Sustaining Quality Healthcare Delivery Through Resilient Processes, Innovation and Continuous Skills Transfer”, the Chairman of the Commission, Dr. (Mrs.) Atinuke Onayiga said the world is moving on, and Pharmacists, as professionals, cannot afford to lag.
In her words, “The field of health, worldwide, is becoming more dynamic and rapidly advancing that it will be out of place for Pharmacists, in our hospitals, to remain stagnant, and not constantly think out of the box for things that could enhance their job deliveries, for the sake of patients, as well as hospital growth and development.”
Speaking further, Dr. Onayiga implored participants to put their gift of being Pharmacists to optimal use and apply lessons learned at the retreat in their daily activities for the benefit of their various units to ensure positive changes take place in hospitals.
“Go back to your various units and put into practice the knowledge gained so that the retreat won’t just be a mere talking shop”, she charged the Pharmacists.
Similarly, the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Ademuyiwa Benjamin Eniayewun said, “You must know the business of pharmacy, and the social entrepreneurship aspect of it, not just being involved with things of drugs alone but also making use of in-built skills for improved performance. You have to be dynamic and vibrant, too, in practising your profession rather than remain static, as that cannot help hospital growth”.
He encouraged them further to develop the power of negotiation with manufacturers, to agree upfront on drug costs, to safeguard against inflationary price hikes so patients can have value for their money, as well as be proactive all the way.
According to him, “Pharmacists can’t afford to work in silos; they must collaborate and cooperate to leverage more on their profession, as things are changing and evolving worldwide and pharmacists have to catch up. You must design solutions by yourself and sell the idea to Management; you must also engage and collaborate for success and best practice”,
Eniayewun, therefore, advised them to build sustainability and make the Health Sector a social business so that it can stand on its own.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Director of the Pharmacy Services Department at HSC, Pharm. Segun Onakoya enjoined participants to use whatever they learned from various presentations by experts to effect positive changes in their Unit, adding that topics were carefully chosen to enhance quality and vibrant services in hospitals.
The event, organised for 70 Heads of Pharmacy Departments and Pharmacy Managers drawn from all the 32 General Hospitals in Lagos, was also attended by members of the Health Service Commission (HSC).
