The number of out-of-stock medicines at Mater Dei Hospital has shrunk from 204 in August 2013 to 32 in November 2014 whilst in POYC out-of-stock medicines have been reduced to four from the 105 in December 2012, the Secretariat for Health said.
“This shows the marked improvement that has characterised the past months. There were times, under the previous administration, when out-of-stock medicines peaked at 130,” the secretariat said in reaction to a story in Times of Malta which appeared yesterday.
The secretariat said a sequence of innovative mechanisms for addressing issues related to out-of-stock medicines had been adopted, focusing on medicines commonly in use. This process showed that 20% of POYC medicines were used by 80% of the 124,000 patients; an exercise that came a long way to also help identify the 64 medicines most in use. These items are now closely monitored by POYC and Central Procurement and Supplies Unit (CPSU) to avoid shortages in as far so as possible.
“The government is committed to equipping the CPSU within the Department of Health with all the essential resources to address shortages. In so doing, it has, amongst others, sought to separate normal work from urgent work showing that this government has taken real action when tackling out-of-stock medicine. Needless to say, the dedication and hard work of the teams in CPSU and POYC has made all this possible,” the secretariat said.