By Wendy John
SIBU, Dec 2: Sarawak’s first drive-thru pharmacy service located at Sibu Hospital was launched today, a move which aims to solve the lack of parking space at the hospital compound.
The event was officiated by Ministry of Health Malaysia (MOH) Pharmaceutical Services senior director Dr Ramli Zainal.
According to Dr Ramli, the drive-thru pharmacy (FPL) is one is the MOH’s pharmacy Value Added Services (VAS) to provide patients with a variety of medicines. The FPL will be extended to all hospitals in Sarawak if the one in Sibu is successful and has a positive impact.
“Our hospital is always crowded with patients, so this is one of the facilities we provide to our patients to facilitate the administration of medication.
“This counter is actually for patients with chronic illnesses receiving their medication on a monthly basis. Through this service, patients will be able to get their medication faster and at the same time reduce congestion problems,” he told reporters after the launch.
He said that 39 chronic patients were currently registered for the drive-thru pharmacy, but hopes that more people will register in the future.
While he advised registered patients to come according to their medicine collection schedule, other patients or beneficiaries could register at Sibu Hospital Outdoor Pharmacy to be able to use these facilities.
“Patients will need to register at the Outpatient Pharmacy Counter (Room 36) with a new prescription from the Sibu Hospital Specialist Clinic. Once the registration is successful, the patient will be given a pharmacy card,” he said.
“This service cannot be offered to patients with prescriptions containing psychotropic drugs, specialty beverages and non-commercial eye drops,” he said.
In addition, Dr Ramli also said that the location the drive-thru facility was easily identified as it was just next to the Sibu Hospital canteen.
Opening hours for the drive-thru facility is from 8.00am to 5.00pm every Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays, Saturday and Sunday). — DayakDaily
