Auditors to CCMC: Always Conduct Physical Inventory

State auditors have advised the city officials to always conduct physical inventory on their stocks of drugs and medicines at the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) or those with the City Health Department to ensure that these will not be wasted.

COA found out that the CCMC has no physical inventory of stocks of medicines and drugs creating doubts on the existence and correctness of the P43 million listed in the book balance for  Drugs and Medicines Account last year.

COA Cluster Director for LGUs Delia E. Monte de Ramos said that the inventory account of drugs and medicines at the CCMC showed a balance of P43.7 million as of December 31, including the P37.6 million-worth of drugs and medicines recorded under the account of four accountable officers.

Monte de Ramos said section 124 of COA Circular 2002-003 states that the local chief executive shall require periodic physical inventory of supplies and properties. The guidelines also show that physical count of items by type shall be conducted twice a year.

The inventory report shall be made and it will be submitted to the resident auditor assigned in the said local government unit not later than July 31 and January 31 of each year, for the first and half semesters, respectively.

“With no physical inventory of drugs and medicines being conducted periodically, concerned personnel commented that it is already difficult to match actual quantities on hand against accounting records because of the long period of time on which no inventory had been conducted,” the state auditors said.

It was stated that the physical inventory of stocks is a procedure that is being undertaken to ascertain the existence of assets and to determine the validity of the corresponding balance of the stocks compared to the figures in the books.

CCMC officials assured the state auditors that they will create a committee which shall be tasked to conduct frequent physical inventory and reconcile the discrepancy between the physical inventory report and those with the accounting records.

COA suggested that there should be constant inventory of stocks of drugs and medicines to be conducted like what the private hospitals are doing “so that the causes of the discrepancies would be easily pinpointed and immediately addressed.”