The Development of Modern Drugstores for Packaged Non-Dangerous or Non-Specially Controlled Drugs (Type 2) to Comply with The Good Pharmacy Practice (GPP) Standards in Udon Thani Province

Abstract

According to the Notification of Ministry of Public Health on Good Pharmacy Practice (GPP) Criteria in Type 2 Drugstores, all Type 2 drugstores need to be compliant and pass the assessment for license renewal. The objectives of this research were to survey the situation of Type 2 drugstore entrepreneurs’ knowledge & understanding and readiness according to the GPP criteria, and the results from implementing the development guidelines with participation. Methods: This participation action research (PAR) for developing all 40 Type-2 drugstores in Udon Thani Province used the PAOR cycle in 4 steps: Planning, Acting, Observing, and Reflecting. The data on consistency between self-assessment of entrepreneurs and officers were collected by using the GPP assessment form in 5 categories. The data were analyzed by using the Kappa statistics, and the mean comparison between before and after receiving the development guidelines was performed by using paired t-test. Furthermore, qualitative data were gathered through focus group discussions to collaboratively determine the guidelines through validation of data triangulation, and content analysis was used for data analysis. Results: According to the self-assessment, knowledge and understanding of Type 2 drugstore entrepreneurs were different from the officers at the fair consistency level to the inconsistency level. Regarding the drugstore readiness according to GPP criteria, Category 3 of personnel was at the highest readiness level while Category 4 of drug quality was at the least readiness level. The problems mostly found were entrepreneurs’ incorrect knowledge and understanding about the assessment criteria and drug laws, and difficulty to access necessary information. Accordingly, the guidelines for development were determined to 1) arrange meetings for participatory development of the drugstores according to the GPP criteria, 2) support documents, and 3) arrange an online channel for giving advice through Line Official. After exchanging opinions in the focus group, the entrepreneurs agreed for the development guidelines to be in the same standards throughout the province, and the drugstores would manage to be compliant within 2 months. The results of the development showed that the drugstores’ mean score of each category and the total mean score of 5 categories increased with statistical significance (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The drugstore development with participation in all steps can create understanding, exchange opinions together, and closely give advices through the online systems. As a result, all Type 2 drugstores are successfully compliant to the GPP criteria. These development guidelines can be further applied effectively in other contexts of areas.