Suchergebnisse

Background: In recent years, a systematic increase in the role and powers of pharmacists has been observed. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that this is a professional group that is extremely necessary for the smooth functioning of the health care system. One of the important powers of pharmacists is the possibility of issuing prescriptions for both patients in the pharmacy and for themselves and their family members. Polish pharmacists obtained extended entitlements in this field in March 2020. Due to the extension of pharmacists' prescribing rights in Poland, it was decided in this study to determine the current practice of pharmaceutical prescribing, and pharmacists' views on their new duties. Methods: The study used the method of a questionnaire, which was distributed to all pharmacists actively working in Poland. During the study, 309 completed questionnaires were obtained that gathered information about prescriptions written by pharmacists, as well as their opinions related to this entitlement. The results of the survey were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: Out of all authorized pharmacists, 75.62% use the new, extended authorization to issue pharmaceutical prescriptions. About half of them believe their prescriptions should be refundable. Only 11.52% of respondents do not use the entitlement to issue prescriptions for themselves or their family members. In addition, it was noticed that those who write such prescriptions most often use the fully paid version. Conclusions: Polish pharmacists use the new entitlements willingly but carefully. The legal provisions governing electronic prescription should be clearer. In addition, the idea of continued prescription should be developed as this is the most common reason that pharmacists issue prescriptions.

Pharmacists play a beneficial role in supplying medicines to patients. Pharmacist prescribing practices were introduced into law in Poland in 2002, permitting pharmacists to prescribe medications in emergency situations and in 2020 the new law allowed to prescribe in all situation where it is needed because of the health risks reasons. Our aim was to analyze pharmacist prescribing practices in Poland and confirm the useful of pharmacists' activity in this area. Additionally, pharmacists were also authorized to issue reimbursed prescriptions for themselves or their family members. Since January 2020, only e-prescriptions are allowed in Poland. A retrospective analysis of the inspection written reports from 842 community pharmacies in the representative region of Poland with a population of two million, carried out in the time period from 2002 to 2016 was performed (2189 prescriptions) to assess the emergency pharmacist prescribing practices in Poland. The second part of the research was based on digital data on pharmacists prescriptions (18,529) provided by the e-Health Centre (a governmental organization under the Ministry of Health responsible for the development of health care information systems in Poland), enabling to conduct the analysis of pharmacist's prescribing from 1 of April 2020 to 31 of October 2020. The analysis gave the insight of the evolution of the pharmacy prescribing patterns. In general, pharmaceutical prescriptions were issued in cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants, in town- or city center pharmacies, and in pharmacies in residential areas. The most common reason for a pharmaceutical prescription was that the patient was running out of a medicine and was unable to contact their physician. Cardiovascular, respiratory, dermatological, and digestive medications were most frequently prescribed. An analysis of pharmacists' prescribing data from 1 April 2020 to 31 October 2020 confirmed the rapid increase of pharmaceutical prescriptions following implementation of the new legislative act during the COVID-19 epidemic.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on the observance and limitation of patients' rights all over the world, including Poland. Material and methods: We analysed in detail the Polish legal acts relevant to healthcare in terms of their impact on the patients' rights. Our analysis is based on the Bill of Patients' Rights that was in force in Poland before the announcement of the state of epidemic (March 20th 2020). The legal acts were analysed by use of the exegesis of legal texts and comparative legal literature rules. Results: The patients' right to family life and presence of relatives during the performance of healthcare services and to additional nursing care has been directly limited. Rights that have been limited indirectly include the right to healthcare services (limited by the use of telemedicine) and the right to dignified death and pastoral care (patients often die alone). The limitations also have an indirect impact on the right to confidentiality and respect for privacy and dignity. Conclusions: Our analysis identified limited patients' rights in Poland without entitlement to pursue claims thereunder.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on the observance and limitation of patients' rights all over the world, including Poland. Material and methods: We analysed in detail the Polish legal acts relevant to healthcare in terms of their impact on the patients' rights. Our analysis is based on the Bill of Patients' Rights that was in force in Poland before the announcement of the state of epidemic (March 20th 2020). The legal acts were analysed by use of the exegesis of legal texts and comparative legal literature rules. Results: The patients' right to family life and presence of relatives during the performance of healthcare services and to additional nursing care has been directly limited. Rights that have been limited indirectly include the right to healthcare services (limited by the use of telemedicine) and the right to dignified death and pastoral care (patients often die alone). The limitations also have an indirect impact on the right to confidentiality and respect for privacy and dignity. Conclusions: Our analysis identified limited patients' rights in Poland without entitlement to pursue claims thereunder.

Patient safety means a condition in which a patient does not suffer any unnecessary actual harm, nor is exposed to any potential harm related to healthcare. The World Health Organization's recognition of patient safety, as one of the most important factors in determining high quality healthcare, initiated the systematic introduction of changes in the approach to this issue, both globally and on the level of individual healthcare service providers. In order to enhance the quality and ensure the safety of healthcare services provided, national, European Union, and worldwide institutions focus on the introduction of a so-called patient safety culture. The creation of this safety culture would not be possible without the establishment of its legal framework. The purpose of this article is to shed light on the legislative achievements of the European Union within patient safety, taking into consideration acts that summarize the level of implementation of individual recommendations. This study can be useful both for those who focus their scientific interests on the subject of patient safety and those who need concise information on the legislative measures of the Community in this respect, as well as for medical personnel who want to become acquainted with this issue without reading comprehensive legal acts.

Pharmaceutical consumption continues to grow constantly. Unused/expired pharmaceuticals are disposed of to the municipal sewage system or waste disposal. Consequently, many countries have implemented a system of collecting pharmaceutical waste, with pharmacies playing an important role. It is important to educate consumers on rational consumption and the appropriate disposal of unused/expired pharmaceuticals and to identify the level of public awareness. Two studies were conducted in Poland to estimate the problem of collection and disposal of expired/unused pharmaceuticals. The purpose of the Survey I was to identify the scale of pharmaceutical consumption and the way pharmaceuticals are disposed of by various social groups. The Survey II was aimed to identify patients' attitudes regarding expired/unused pharmaceuticals at home. Of the respondents who participated in in Survey I, almost 74% indicated that analgesics were among the over-the-counter drugs they purchased. Group of pharmaceuticals 65% of the respondents purchased were medicines for treating flu symptoms. Almost 68% of the respondents said they usually disposed of expired pharmaceuticals in their household waste or by flushing them down the toilet. In Survey II more than 35% reported that they disposed of pharmaceuticals in the same ways. Of all respondents, ~30% returned their expired pharmaceuticals to pharmacies. Most respondents (over 65%) who participated Survey I indicated that they were aware that pharmaceutical waste can be returned to pharmacies. It should be noted that local governments are currently not obliged by law to work with or compensate pharmacies in the collection and proper disposal of unused pharmaceuticals.

The study aimed to investigate the situation of nurse prescribing, introduced in Poland in 2016, by analyzing the opinions of nurses, expected to be influential on nurses' actual practices, in response to legislative change to enable nurses to prescribe and comparing this with actual nurse prescribing behaviours during the early years of the legislation. The paper fills a knowledge gap and provides baseline data analysis for subsequent research. Nurses' opinions were collected during the period they were preparing themselves for prescribing. That data was compared with data on the character and extent of nurses' actual prescribing practices over the first two years of implementation. The study showed the number of nurse prescriptions increased. Comparing the first and second years of nurse prescribing, the number of nurse independent prescriptions more than doubled. Over the same period, the number of nurse supplementary prescriptions increased almost six-fold. The implementation of nurse prescribing has increased the scope of nursing care, especially in the treatment of the infections, pain and chronic conditions in the elderly.