Supply of free medicines
The government's intention of introducing the Pharmacy of Your Choice scheme for the collection of pills was mainly to alleviate hardship on those availing themselves of such service. Unfortunately, however, sometimes it is resulting in the opposite...
The government's intention of introducing the Pharmacy of Your Choice scheme for the collection of pills was mainly to alleviate hardship on those availing themselves of such service. Unfortunately, however, sometimes it is resulting in the opposite effect. The mechanics of the system, in some cases, are making it worse than the previous bad system.
In one instance, pills by the name Trifluoperazine 5 mg could not be supplied due to lack of availability, now for a period exceeding two consecutive months, from a particular pharmacy in Naxxar. This has meant that some pills on a prescription could be collected from the "pharmacy of one's choice" but the out-of-stock pills had to be collected from a government pharmacy at a health centre.
To compound the problem, the required special form, referred to as "the out of stock form" was not available at the pharmacy indicated above.
When customer care was contacted and a suggestion was put forward to the effect that steps should be taken to transfer available pills, such as Trifluoperazine (5mg ), from pharmacies in health centres, the reply was, and I quote: "All I can say is that these pills are out of stock". Such an attitude of customer care!
Would the authorities concerned and the parliamentary secretary look into the problem and provide a solution to minimise the unnecessary hardship for all concerned, especially for senior citizens like myself?