Saturday, 22nd March 2008
Privatising the delicate sector of free medicines
Early this year I read a letter regarding shortage of Eltroxin tablets in the private sector. This medicinal product is crucially required for people suffering from certain chronic thyroid conditions. Another letter on the same drug was published last February. Yet another letter which appeared on March 12 showed the same preoccupation from another writer who is "constantly going from chemist to chemist trying to buy these tablets".
One has to take into consideration the fact that these poor patients are willing to buy their tablets at all costs (in other words, are not expecting them for free) but in spite of all this, they are still encountering great difficulties!
Several health centre pharmacies are planned to be gradually phased out in the near future in order to give way for the new pharmacy scheme until finally, even the procurement of medicines will be taken over by the private sector. The different phases for implementation for the new pharmacy scheme were thoroughly explained in an article published on a local medical journal by Mary Ann Sant Fournier, president, Malta Chamber of Pharmacists.
Once this scheme fully sets in, I wonder whether one will at least have the chance of getting his/her tablets from another pharmacy. I also wonder how a pharmaceutical importer can at the same time own one or more private pharmacies.
After so much was said about government pharmacies, I am glad to hear that they still stock the Thyroxin tablets. One also has to remember that in a government pharmacy you are never charged for the waiting room service and you may still have to wait for a while in a private pharmacy.
If there were instances when government dispensers failed to give the appropriate patient advice, this was usually attributed to the sad fact that these poor employees were always left to work under great pressure of work. If patients who go to these pharmacies every two months find it unbearable to wait in the queue, one can therefore imagine how these dedicated workers feel each day they work!
Finally, I would like to remind readers that on The Times of July 12, 2007, a key person involved in the negotiations of the new pharmacy scheme believed that a "token payment by patients" might be a possibility to cut down on wastage.
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Comments
The comment about 'a token payment by patients' in order to cut down on wastage is quite interesting. In view of the government's promise of free health services etc., this would fly contrary to what was promised.
A way around it, without breaking any promises and still control waste, is to introduce a 'dispensing fee' which the patient pays. Although not thoroughly familiar with the government/pharmacists agreement, I think that the pharmacists are being compensated by the government for their dispensing services.
If the dispensing cost is paid by the patient, or at least part of it, the medicine remains free but the patient will be paying a nominal fee for having the privilege of picking up the medicine from a nearby pharmacy rather than having to take one or two buses to travel to a government pharmacy.
Therefore, instead of the government having to pay the pharmacists, the dispensing fee will cover part or all the cost involved.