Country Focus

THE POLISH PHARMACEUTICAL CHAMBER:

STRUCTURE AND MISSION
Janina Pawlowska, MPharm

he Polish Pharmaceutical Chamber (PPC) is open to all community and hospital pharmacists in Poland and currently has approximately 14,000 members. The president of the PPC is chosen by delegates from 20 regional pharmaceutical chambers at a general meeting and serves for four years. The president suggests candidates for vice presidents, who have to be approved by the chamber council. The president coordinates the work of several national pharmaceutical departments, as well as the work of the two vice presidents.

Each of the vice presidents also oversees the work of several national departments (see flowchart). The president proposes candidates for directors of these departments, and they also must be approved by the chamber council. The central office of the PPC is managed by 11 socalled presidium officers, including the president of PPC, the vice presidents, a secretary, treasurer and directors of some departments, including the director of Hospital Pharmacy Affairs. The presidium meets every month and prepares the agenda for sessions of the PPC council, which meets every three months.

Every departmental director under the PPC scheme presents that departments schedule for the following year and, at the end of the year, gives a report of the departments activities to the chamber council. Department directors also organise courses within the regional pharmaceutical chambers to update professionals on pharmaceutical laws regarding drugs and other healthcare products. Directors also regularly prepare written reports and update official guidelines for hospital pharmacy directors on these topics. The director of the Department of Hospital Pharmacy Affairs is Janina

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Pawlowska, MPharm. Other members are: Zofia Rogowska-Tylman, MPharm; Adam Wasowicz, MPharm; Elzbieta Peczlewicz-Gral, MPharm (liaison with European Association of Hospital Pharmacists). The Department of Hospital Pharmacy Affairs sets annual objectives and corresponding tasks for professional pharmacists in Poland and, along with the other departments, presents them to the PPC president for comment and approval. Every year regional chamber presidents and members of the Department of Hospital Pharmacy Affairs organise a session with representatives of the Ministry of Health to describe the current problems and challenges within hospital pharmacy in Poland. Suggestions are presented for federal regulation and guidelines on pharmacy practice and drug distribution. The pharmacy affairs department is regularly informed about Parliamentary issues that concern hospitals and hospi-

tal pharmacies and is often invited to present feedback to members of commissions. The department is also frequently invited by state authorities to participate in consultations on matters related to drug administration in hospitals and safety aspects of pharmacotherapy in general. In October 2006, the department organised its first national conference, which focused on the role of hospital pharmacists in Polands healthcare system. Hospital managers and other members of the healthcare team, as well as representatives from the Ministry of Health, were in attendance for the following lectures: Rational Antibiotic Therapy, The Role of Pharmacists in Clinical Drug Investigations, Adverse Drug Effects Monitoring. The director of the Department of Hospital Pharmacy Affairs takes part in other conferences, symposiums and meetings and gives lectures focused on rational and safe pharmacotherapy in

hospitals. In 2006, she delivered the lecture Safe Patient at the national conference Quality Assurance in Health Care, an annual event with the participation of hospital directors, doctors and representatives of the Ministry of Health. She also delivered lectures at two medical information and statistics conferences around drug-related problems in hospitals and hospital pharmacy and its place in the greater hospital structure. The director of the pharmacy department is also cooperating with the National Healthcare Institute and the Ministry of Health on a programme called Save Antibiotics, which concerns antibiotic therapy problems. She also acts as the PPCs representative on the team of experts that prepares continuing education courses at the Centre of Medical Postgraduate Education.

Author
Janina Pawlowska, MPharm

Volume 12 2006/6

EJHP is the Official Journal of the European Association of Hospital Pharmacists (EAHP)

www.ejhp.org

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