'Pharmacy of Your Choice' scheme expansion suspended due to shortage of staff
System hastily launched for electoral reasons - MLP
Staff shortages at the government's central pharmacy have halted the expansion of the Pharmacy of YourChoice scheme, a high ranking health official has confirmed. Ray Xerri, the officer in charge of the scheme's planning and implementation, told The Sunday Times that more staff were needed to continue the scheme, which is currently operating in 68 pharmacies.
"We still need around 17 people," he said, adding that though the current 28 staff members were good and flexible, there was a limit to how much they could do.
The scheme was seen as a breath of fresh air by patients who faced long queues at government pharmacies whenever they went to pick up medicine provided by the NHS.
Dr Xerri has been complaining about staff shortages for months. Last November he said the lack of human resources had pushed the preparations for the launch of a pilot project behind schedule.
He reiterated his concern last May, during a visit to a Rabat pharmacy by parliamentary secretary Joe Cassar, who had said the scheme was expected to be extended to the whole of Malta and Gozo by next March.
But when asked whether this timeline was still realistic, a spokesman for Dr Cassar merely said that a stock-taking exercise was currently underway to evaluate the first months since introduction.
Asked when the government was expected to increase the number of staff members so that the expansion could continue taking place, the spokesman said a request for more staff had been made.
Mario Debono, who represents pharmacy owners within the Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises, said the slowdown - which he described as necessary - would only delay the scheme by around a month. Mr Debono said the government was actively trying to recruit graduate pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, but this was not an easy task.
Chamber of Pharmacists president Maryanne Sant Fournier said the scheme needed to be evaluated, especially since it was a radical change which integrated community pharmacists' practice in the primary health care system with regard to the dispensing of NHS medicines.
Labour health spokesman Karl Chircop asked the government to explain the reason for the temporary suspension, saying that this was detrimental to patients' health while creating problems to affected pharmacists. He claimed that the system had been launched hastily for electoral reasons and the government was not ble to manage the logistical problems.