A pharmacist has stood by her claims that patients who called at the Health Ministry were receiving free medicines before other patients.

In a statement, Denise Ellul referred to a joint statement issued last week by the ministry, the Chamber of Pharmacists and the GRTU claiming there was no discrimination in the distribution of medicines.

She said that during a meeting with the permanent secretary at the ministry in the presence of the CEO of the Pharmacy of Your Choice (POYC) scheme the latter confirmed that patients who contacted the ministry seeking medicines were asked for their personal details and other information about their medicines entitlement.

This in itself as an admission that the medicines were sent to the patients and not the pharmacies as otherwise the patients' details would not be requested. What would be needed was the name of the pharmacy of the patient's choice. The IT system showed what medicines needed to be delivered to the pharmacies and what stock they had.

Patients who contacted the ministry were also informed when the stocks would be available (even before the pharmacists), giving them an advantage over other patients, especially when there were not enough medicines to go around.Ms Ellul said no one expected the problem of shortage of medicines to be solved overnight, but no one expected discrimination.

She said her intention was not to get involved in politics but to give vent to the frustration felt by patients.

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