Introducing quality

In the current day and age, detailed knowledge of certain terms such as “Quality control” and “Quality Assurance” which are generally  terms more related to the industry and manufacturing  has become essential  if not  indispensable for  service providers in any sector. In contemporary pharmaceutical practice and with the ever increasing and changing roles of pharmacists, we have a duty to provide the best possible service  to our patients.

Patients have become more and more expectant and receiving a  better quality service from their pharmacist has become the norm, hence, providing high quality service has become a necessity rather than a commodity.

There are numerous definitions for quality , one of  the simpler definitions of quality could be “satisfying all customer needs both stated and implied” but if you try googling  the definition of quality lots of web pages would come up with a lot of definitions which all share that common theme. In other words quality is not something that can be set in a rigid definition, it is simply providing people their wants in a manner that is consistent and able to satisfy them all the time every time which is ever evolving as customers’ needs and expectations are always increasing.

When trying to provide quality, our main concern must be  establishing  a quality management system where  Standard Operating Procedures “SOPs” get implemented.  SOPs are basically a set of rules which when followed accurately would allow the task to be carried effectively every time with the same outcome being guaranteed.

A quality management system is not just concerned with processes that involve interaction with the public but also includes all the processes such as training and human resource management. Improvement in all those aspects would ultimately reflect in a better quality service being provided.

One of the most important concepts that must be established within any given  organization implementing a quality management system is the “ownership of quality” . This means that providing a service or a product of a certain quality is the responsibility of each and every employee within that organization as every role is important and  no role is considered trivial, which is a message that must be sent from  management to all levels of the  organization.