15/12/2020
Community pharmacies giving families peace of mind.
Community pharmacies in the Western Cape are providing a special service to their customers who receive multiple prescriptions from different doctors with complex dosing instructions. Family members with elderly parents can now have peace of mind that their loved ones will not forget to take their medicine at the right time every day.
Dispensing Technology Solutions (DTS), a local company based in Ottery, Cape Town, provides the solution called Mediblist via a network of community pharmacies in the Western Cape. Mediblist is a chronic medication adherence packing system which is provided by a pharmacy to people living independently or who reside in care homes. The system is designed to improve patient adherence by clearly organising and labelling multiple medications in an easy-to-follow format that provides instant visual reinforcement of what to take and when to take it.
Local pharmacist, Allie Chicktay from Vitacare Rondebosch and Plattekloof pharmacies, provides the service to a number of care homes and customers who are on multiple medications. “Our Mediblist service has picked up during the Covid-19 lockdown period, especially those people who are staying at home. Our customers enjoy the convenience of having their medication blister packed with a treatment plan indicating when to take the medication,” says Chicktay.
Fiona Weir, from Meadowridge pharmacy, says that the service helps her customers to know what their medications are indicated for and which doctors have prescribed them. She says that each blister card holds a week’s medication so they are given four packs for the month.
The service can only be provided by a pharmacist as it requires very accurate and precise work to ensure the correct medication is packed in the appropriate blisters. “The service is provided for a monthly fee from participating pharmacies,“ says Roger Moult from DTS. You can find these pharmacies on www.mediblist.co.za or you can call DTS on 021-2011 540.
