PRIVATE CLINICS AND DISPENSARIES (Dispensation of poisons and dangerous drugs by unqualified personnel)

Madam Chan Choy Siong asked the Minister for Health whether he is aware that in some clinics and dispensaries owned by doctors, the dispensing of poisons and dangerous drugs is carried out by unqualified personnel without the direct and personal supervision of the medical practitioner or qualified pharmacist, and whether he is contemplating steps to control the further employment of unqualified personnel in dispensing poisons and dangerous drugs.

Mr Yong Nyuk Lin: Mr Speaker, Sir, under existing law - to be precise, section 7 (4) of the Poisons Ordinance, Cap. 146 - doctors may both prescribe and dispense medicines, or have medicines dispensed under their supervision. In some advanced countries such as the United Kingdom and Scandinavia, doctoring is, however, kept separate from dispensing. Such a situation is possible only when there is a sufficient number of qualified pharmacists available. In Singapore, at present, the number of doctors in private practice is 460, whereas the number of pharmacists in private practice is only 88.

As the School of Pharmacy of our University of Singapore is now graduating annually about 20 to 25 pharmacists who are Singapore citizens, it will not be possible, for the present, to consider separation of dispensing from the function of doctoring, because such a restrictive practice, if implemented, whilst benefiting qualified pharmacists directly will, however, result in unqualified personnel now in the employ of doctors to lose their jobs, and worse still, the cost of services for treatment of patients may also rise in consequence.

Madam Chan Choy Siong (Delta): (In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, just now the Minister for Health has given a reply to my question. But I would like to inform him that understandably if the Government were to implement certain laws, then certain unqualified but experienced people employed by doctors would be out of job. I would like to ask him whether he can make use of any law to prevent any future happening of this sort; in other words, while the present employees will not be affected, the practice will be stopped in future, so that unqualified people may not be employed in dispensing drugs. Of course, under any restrictive law, the pharmacist graduates may benefit, but we can perhaps see to it that in future there will not be any more unqualified people dispensing drugs.

Mr Yong Nyuk Lin: I wish to assure the hon. Member for Delta that the question of looking after the interests of qualified pharmacists in Singapore is very much in the mind of the Ministry. In fact, we are having very close relationship with the School of Pharmacy authorities as well as the Malayan Pharmaceutical Association.

It is felt that this is not quite the time to decide on restrictive practices. We are aware that there are a few graduates who have not been fixed up in employment. But this, I think, must take some time because I do not think it should be regarded as a right by any graduate automatically to move into a job after graduation.

As I have said earlier on, I can assure the Member that as soon as we feel that it is the right time to stop the employment of unqualified personnel, we shall do so. We are, in fact, making efforts to get pharmaceutical firms to employ qualified personnel as and when licences are being renewed. And because of this, a number of qualified pharmacists have, in fact, been employed.