Thato Mathabathe

Thato Mathabathe is a Pharmacy Dispensing Units (PDU) Operations Manager at Right-ePharmacy (ReP) who oversees operational onsite functioning of (PDU) sites and stakeholder engagement at various levels. After spending time as District Pharmacy Advisor in the rural setting of the North-West province, Thato gained knowledge of the challenges of implementing quality healthcare in impoverished communities with limited resources. Thato’s career has predominantly been in the civil society/NGO sector, specifically in health systems strengthening, health systems innovation piloting, and implementation.

Thato’s experience does however branch into other health sectors such as the private and public hospital and retail health sector. In his current role as PDU Pharmacist Operations Manager, Thato has an oversite role of running 5 PDU sites ensuring compliance to all relevant legislation, supporting research efforts, identifying and driving ongoing innovations, and overall efficient operation of the ReP PDU sites.

Thato is also responsible for putting in place effective reporting systems, compiling and implementing SOPs, supply chain management, dispensing system design, UAT testing, and ongoing patient recruitment. Thato’s primary focus is the implementation of the Parcel Collection Unit (PCU™/ Collect & Go) pilot in the Free State which encompasses a central dispensing unit (CDU) prepacking medication and complex logistics technology to deliver packages to smart lockers for patient collection in peri-urban and rural settings. Currently, Thato is advocating for medicine access expansion to key population groups through the use of pharmacy innovation solutions that aim to increase the convenience of medicine collection within the public health care space.