HMC Begins New Appraisal System for Pharmacists

The Pharmacy Department at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) has introduced a new appraisal system for pharmacists that assesses individual staff capabilities to provide the highest quality medicinal services.

The appraisal system, jointly designed with HMC's Human Resources Department, is based on the Model Standards of Practice for Canadian Pharmacists and aims at benchmarking staff performance at HMC's pharmacies against international standards.

Dr. Mozah Al Hail, Executive Director of HMC's Pharmacy Department, said the newly adopted performance appraisal system helps to improve overall performance, detect points of weakness, and forms a basis for staff performance improvement plans.

“The system incorporates the latest international standards applied in pharmacist performance appraisal. Compared with the old system, the new one is more accurate, fair, comprehensive, and clear. It promotes competition and innovation amongst staff, and puts more focus on measurable performance standards for patient care," she said.

A workshop aimed at familiarizing the supervisory and managerial staff with the new performance appraisal system was held at the Doha Hilton Hotel, with 50 supervisors and pharmacy managers from the Corporation's Pharmacy Department in attendance.

The training day focused on the importance of conducting proper appraisals of pharmacists based on the internationally recognized standards of the profession, and highlighting the impact of this practice at corporate and individual levels.

The workshop also featured a citation of the major components of the system and how they should be applied, as well as outlining the differences between the old and new appraisal systems. Case studies to assess professional competence of pharmacists were also reviewed.