Pharmacy scheme expected to cut waste

The government will be relying on pharmacists' help to curb any wastage emanating from the distribution of free medicines.

Once the Pharmacy Of Your Choice scheme kicks off in a few months' time, the interaction between patient and pharmacist is expected to increase.

Individual attention is more difficult with the system now in place because of the great number of patients that government pharmacists see on a daily basis. But once the scheme kicks off - with the Mosta catchment area targeted for December - pharmacists will be in a position to keep a closer eye on patients' medicine intake.

Health Minister Louis Deguara said the system would enable the Health Division to become more efficient and cut down on wastage.

"We want an efficient system, which is convenient for the patient and at the same time gives us control on consumption and curbs wastage," he said.

He brought the example of asthmatic patients whose need for medication, like inhalers, might be seasonal but who still pick them up when they do not need them for fear of being struck off the register.

Another example is that of pink-card holders, who are means-tested and entitled to all medicines on the government formulary. There might be cases where repeat prescriptions are not needed and the pharmacists will be able to query this.

Speaking during a press conference yesterday, the minister said the current system does not allow for adequate control. It was estimated that pharmacists involved in the pilot project will be seeing an average of 10 patients a day, giving them ample time to exchange information with them.

The division was collecting data to enable pharmacies to stock up, with the stock topped up regularly. Pharmacists will be paid Lm8 a year for each patient that registers with them but the system will remain free of charge for patients.

The minister noted the difficulty in gathering information about consumption by pink-card holders as they sometimes took certain medicines - for example, antibiotics - on a one-off basis. However, it was hoped that by December they would also be able to collect their medicines from their chosen pharmacy.

He said once the pilot project kicks off in December, data from another area will start being collected. It would have been a big mistake to start the system throughout the country before carrying out a pilot project, he argued.

Eventually, the plan is to prolong the validity of prescriptions to reduce the number of times a patient has to go for a renewal of prescription.

Dr Deguara said there were also plans to introduce the role of ward pharmacist in hospital to be responsible for the medicines taken by inpatients.

Meetings were being held with pharmacists to explain the details of the scheme.