Primary Care Center Pharmacy Manpower New Guidelines in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

In 2012, General administration of pharmaceutical care (GAPC) started applied strategic planning of pharmaceutical care in Saudi Arabia. Pharmacy human resources development and strategic implementation goal with emphasis on primary care pharmacist; it was one of major biller of strategic planning. It had stated in Strategic Goal 2: “Develop and implement pharmaceutical care human resources”; with had stated “Initiative 2.1: Plan and Implement of workforce in pharmaceutical care departments at all health care setting”, and had mentioned “Project 2.1.1: Update of workforce standard of pharmaceutical care departments annually at all health care setting” [1]. In the 2000s, the pharmacy manpower standard requirement for primary care center consisted of one pharmacist and one pharmacy technician only, and 40 working hours/week with an additional 16 hours divided over several weekends in one month for specialized primary care centers. After ten years their many increases in general population in Saudi Arabia from 24 to 30,77 million on the year 2007-2014. Also, increases in numbers primary care centers 2037 to 2281 centers over the period five years 2009-2014 and distributed over all twenty-one regions in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, increases of many patients visits, increases in many diseases either quantities or severities [2,3]. Moreover, GAPC expanded pharmaceutical services quantitative and qualitatively, with emphasis pharmacy practice and clinical pharmacy programs for adult and pediatric patients overall primary care centers in Saudi Arabia [4]. Pharmacy, manpower task force committee, was established in 2012 and headed by the author with expert pharmacists working several years at GAPC. The committee was formulated to update the guidelines of pharmacy manpower including primary care pharmacist. They reviewed primary care pharmacist and workforce at several pharmacy societies, pharmacy institutions in overall the world. For instant; World Health Organization (WHO) workforce guidelines through International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) [5]. American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) [6-8] and American Society of Heath-system Pharmacist (ASHP) with several universities and human resources referenced in the United States of America (USA) [9-12]. Also, Royal of Pharmaceutical Society, universities and human resources in the United Kingdom (UK) [13,14] and Hospital and Community pharmacy institutions in Australia and Canada [15-17]. The author is not familiar with any literature about pharmacy manpower or workforce at primary care center pharmacies in Saudi Arabia or Gulf region countries. Moreover, it is hard to find any published studies of pharmacy manpower or workforce at primary care center pharmacies in the Middle East countries. The primary care center pharmacy manpower or workforce can be calculated based on several factors as following but not limited to; country general population, type and statistics of common diseases, a number of primary care centers and rate of expanding in the future. Type of primary care centers, primary care center services, primary care center pharmacy workload, the supply of pharmacists and pharmacy education. Type of pharmaceutical care offers to the patients and public sector, quality of primary care center pharmaceutical care, expanding of pharmacist role at a primary care center. Previous shortage of staff and a number of retired pharmacists in the primary care