Pharmacists are facing a “tidal wave” of political interference in the pharmacy-of-your-choice scheme, according to their representatives.
Dispensaries said they were repeatedly being bypassed by patients whose medication had been out of stock for several weeks.
The patients are lobbying health officials who, pharmacists claim, were making arrangements for medication to be sent to the pharmacies where they were usually served.
“These patients are asking health officials to provide them with medication, which isn’t available within the Pharmacy Of Your Choice scheme.
These patients are asking health officials to provide them with medication
“This is then being sent to pharmacies for specific patients. Meanwhile, other patients are being told the same products are out of stock.
“This happens in waves but at the moment we are experiencing a tidal wave of interference,” a spokeswoman for the Chamber of Pharmacists said.
A number of pharmacists claimed some medication was being provided exclusively for patients who spoke to particular officials at Mater Dei Hospital and the Health Ministry.
The spokeswoman noted that the interference had been a problem even under the previous administration but had now reached fever pitch.
“We raised the issue many times but got no feedback. There is a persistent problem of a lack of consultation in health,” she said, describing the system as a “political football”.
Questions sent to the Health Ministry remained unanswered at the time of writing and attempts to contact Health Minister Godfrey Farrugia also proved fruitless.
On his part, former health minister Joseph Cassar said he was unaware of interference in the scheme while he was in charge of the sector but declined to comment further.
Opposition health spokesman Claudio Grech expressed his dismay at the situation.
“Needing to contact someone in government to get the medicine you are entitled to is yet another confirmation that the out-of-stock crisis is far from over and that only cosmetic measures are being implemented,” he said.
Such practices, he added, were also very harmful to the well-being of the community pharmacists, who were now being placed in a very difficult position.
A number of pharmacists described their problems due to the situation.
“Certain medicines have been out of stock for some time but, somehow, I received individual medication packages. Sometimes, I’m told they are for individual patients,” a pharmacist who preferred not to be named said.
Another said he was verbally threatened by an irate patient who accused him of dispensing medication that had been sent specifically for him.
“I told the patient that the medication he wanted wasn’t available but he kept insisting he had spoken to someone at the hospital and was told it would be made available.
“He called me a liar and thought I was simply refusing to give him the medication he required,” she said.
Another said: “I had a patient who kept insisting that medication had been sent specifically for him.
“I didn’t know this was the case. No one told me. This has happened to me a few times this year.”