Warehouse Pharmacist

SPECIFIC PROCURMENT NOTICE

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST

Republic of Lebanon

Ministry of Public Health

Lebanon Health Resilience Project (P163476)

Consultancy Services for

Warehouse Pharmacist

(Loan No. 87710-LB/ Ref.: LB-MOPH-430442-CS-INDV)

The Lebanon Health Resilience Project (LHRP) is a five-year project funded by the World Bank. The project is designed to support the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) strategy to establish a pro-poor Universal Health Coverage program. The project aims to increase access to quality healthcare services to poor Lebanese identified by the Ministry of Social Affairs (MoSA) through the National Poverty Targeting Program (NPTP), based on a proxy-means testing targeting mechanism. All identified individuals will benefit from comprehensive packages of defined health services delivered at 204 Primary Health Care Centers (PHCCs) selected from the MoPH PHCCs network.

The Ministry of Public Health is seeking to recruit a Warehouse Pharmacist to ensure safety of the medication distribution processes with PHCCs and/or public hospitals.

The MoPH hereby invites eligible Consultants to indicate their interest in providing the Services. Interested Consultants should provide information indicating that they are qualified to perform the Services.

A Warehouse Pharmacist will be selected in accordance with the procedures set out in the World Bank's Procurement in Investment Project Financing Goods, Works, Non-Consulting, and Consulting Services (dated July 2016 and revised in November 2017, August 2018 and November 2020)

Interested Consultants are requested to provide the following information:

• A CV showing relevant similar experience, and previous academic and professional achievement.

Expression of Interest must be delivered electronically to the address below not later than June 09, 2024. The subject of the e-mail should be: “Lebanon Health Resilience Project – Warehouse Pharmacist”.

Ministry of Public Health

Attention: Lebanon Health Resilience Project (LHRP)

Title: Project Management Unit (PMU)

E-mail: [email protected]

Lebanon Health Resilience Project

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Warehouse Pharmacist

1. BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

The Government of Lebanon (GoL) has received financing from the World Bank toward the cost of the Lebanon Health Resilience Project (LHRP). The LHRP is a seven-year project that aims to increase access to quality healthcare services to poor Lebanese and displaced Syrians in Lebanon and to strengthen the Government’s capacity to respond to COVID-19. This project will: (i) provide subsidized packages of essential healthcare services to 210,000 vulnerable Lebanese living under poverty line identified by the Emergency Social Safety Net (ESSN) Project; (ii) strengthen the technical and organizational capacities of the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), Primary Health Care Centers (PHCCs), and public hospitals; (iii) cover the hospitalization bills for COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 claims at private and public hospitals for uninsured Lebanese; and (iv) strengthen the Government of Lebanon’s capacity to respond to COVID-19 pandemic

The Strengthening Lebanon COVID-19 Response Project (SLCRP) is a 2-year project financed by the World Bank. The project will finance payment of hospitalization bills for COVID-19 and related health conditions to public hospitals and eligible private hospitals, using provider payment methods as agreed with the World Bank. The project will also finance the procurement and the deployment of COVID-19 vaccines and the operations that support the vaccination rollout, goods needed for the prevention, detection and case management of COVID-19 and related health conditions for public hospital. The project will support the procurement of new medical equipment or the maintenance of old equipment in public hospitals providing COVID19 and related health conditions medical services.

This position will be based at the MOPH Central Drug Warehouse.

1. JOB OBJECTIVE

The objective of this consultancy is to ensure safety of the medication distribution processes with PHCCs and/or public hospitals. The pharmacist will be responsible for supervising the receiving, warehousing, packing, and distribution of pharmaceutical products. A major challenge involves appropriate storage conditions. Different products can have vastly different requirements in terms of temperature, humidity, and lighting.  The pharmacist will be responsible to ensure that the storage of each product is in line with the specific requirements defined by the manufacturer, thereby preventing product damage, and reducing waste.

1. DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

The pharmacist should be able to effectively manage and support all pharmaceutical operations at the warehouse including but not restricted to inventory control, drug dispensing, reporting, etc. Moreover, the

pharmacist should be to coordinate with other staff at the MoPH Central Drug Warehouse to deliver, monitor, and enhance pharmaceutical services. These services include logistics, quality inspection, and storage and handling.

The pharmacist will be responsible for the following:            

• Receive and supervise the incoming pharmaceutical products and ensure quality and standards of products and supplies are as per the regulatory requirements.
• Coordinate with PHC department in assessing the needs of PHCCs and draft orders as per the relevant legislation and national guidelines.
• Ensure pharmaceutical products and supplies are stored in the correct manner as per standard policies and procedures.
• Ensure safe drug disposal practices for expired drugs and packages to prevent contamination and protect public health and safety.
• Arrange for distribution of the pharmaceutical products and supplies to various destinations by supervising warehouse staff in sorting, packing, dispatching; and tracking of products.
• Coordinate with the PHC Department at MoPH in the provision and monitoring of delivered services, which include distribution and tracking of medications and supplies, and recalls.
• Ensure the warehouse temperature levels are set at standard levels by keeping a daily track sheet.
• Analyze inventory levels, manage the inventory system, verify accuracy, and identify immediate inventory inaccuracies. For that purpose, the pharmacist will use the existing Logistic Management System.
• Implement and oversee the management system to ensure that rejected, damaged, and expired inventory is disposed of in accordance with established standard disposal procedures.
• Maintain standards of health and safety, hygiene, and security within the workplace, ensuring compliance with relevant regulations and promoting a secure and well-maintained environment for all staff.
• Ensure that drugs are properly stored to prevent contamination and stacked to allow for inspection and cleaning of storage areas.
• Identify each lot of drugs/products with a well-defined and traceable code through the existing Logistic Management System.
• Communicate with suppliers, supervisor, staff, and PHCCS to resolve any problems and/or concerns related to expired drugs, faulty requests, storage requirements etc…
• Gather and evaluate data from the warehouse records and archives to generate and maintain monthly records for inventory, medication consumption, lists of needed medications and supplies, etc.
• Conduct medication management needs assessments and identify priorities. This includes proper storage, adequate dispensing, efficient tracking, record keeping based on inventory requests from PHCCs and other health care facilities.
• Actively participate in multidisciplinary reviews to raise awareness and educate members of the Warehouse team (pharmacists, assistants and warehouse staff), on pharmaceutical related issues such as medication use and safety, drug dose monitoring, most current drug-related guidelines and evidence-based research, etc.
• Develop an operational plan for improving activities related to the pharmacy warehouse. These activities include storage as per guidelines for each drug category, maintaining a tracking record for drug categories, and addressing contamination threats at the warehouse.

• Contribute to the acute and chronic medication management programs conducted by the PHC department.

1. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

The pharmacist will report to the PMU’s Project Manager and MOPH/Head of the Central Drug Warehouse. He/She is expected to work closely with the PMU staff in collaboration with MoPH/Central Drug Warehouse staff.

Deliverables

Timeline

Monthly progress report: daily activities and functions performed and achieved

15 days after the end of each month

Semi-annual progress report: monthly activities and functions performed and achieved

Semi-annual

Other deliverables

As required

Deliverables must be submitted to the PMU Project Manager. Deliverables must be reviewed within 15 working days of submission.

A time sheet should also be submitted indicating the number of hours for each working day to track and document attendance.

1. DURATION

The contract period is for one year, extendable upon satisfactory performance and mutual agreement. The first six (6) months will be considered as probationary period, based on which the consultant’s performance will be evaluated. The contract may be terminated with no remedy if the performance was evaluated as not satisfactory.

1. QUALIFICATIONS

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in pharmacy/Pharm D

Knowledge and Experience

Minimum of 2-3 years experience with knowledge of relevant MOPH laws and regulations.

• Adequate knowledge about safe disposal and management of expired drugs and packages.
• Adequate knowledge of warehouse processes and logistics in the supply chain sector.
• Good knowledge of pharmaceutical products and supplies.

• Communication and collaboration with PHCCs regarding medication requests, needs, and recalls.
• Experience with warehouse inventory, auditing, and handling nonconformities.

Skills

• Good skills in Microsoft Excel.
• Ability to understand and follow organizational procedures.
• Good teamwork.
• Good monitoring and reporting skills.
• Communication skills in Arabic and English.
• Works under pressure and responds appropriately to changing needs.