CDAP now available at Couva hospital

CHRONIC Disease Assistance Programme (CDAP) pharmacy are now available at the Couva Adult and Children’s Hospital, now renamed the Couva Medical and Multi-Training Facility (CMMF).

In a statement yesterday, the Health Ministry said citizens can collect their CDAP medication at the CMMF’s pharmacy. The opening of this service marks the first phase of the CMMF’s operationalisation.

Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh first spoke about this at a news conference at the ministry’s office in Port of Spain on June 3. “That is the part (of the hospital) where the public can walk in.”

He explained that this facility will not only be dedicated to dispensing CDAP drugs to the public. Deyalsingh said it will also provide proper counselling to CDAP patients on the use of their prescribed medication. It will also conduct research on people’s attitudes towards taking their medication.

The CMMF’S pharmacy services also includes patient medication therapy management. Patients will have the opportunity to receive one-on-one counselling with specialists who will explain the contents of CDAP prescriptions and discuss ways to ensure that patients comply with their medication regime. This walk-in service operates at the CMMF, Monday to Friday from 8 am to 4 pm.

In addition to pharmacy services, referred patients will receive diagnostic imaging services at the CMMF through the public health system. Deyalsingh also mentioned this last month. These services include ultra sound, x-ray, mammography, computerised tomography imaging, magnetic resonance imaging and fluoroscopy. The ministry said the CMMF is positioned to be a “game changer in the public health arena with medical staff operating in a modern facility, with the latest technology and patients receiving cutting-edge health care in a comfortable environment.

The CMMF was constructed under the former People’s Partnership government but never commissioned.