A 65-year-old heart patient prepared a packed lunch yesterday before heading to St Luke’s Hospital to renew his free medicine entitlement card – he knew he was in for a long wait.

I’m tired but I had to come. I need my medicines

“I came last week and waited from 10 a.m. to 2.30 p.m. I was going to faint at one point; I had to eat something as my blood pressure dropped…

“So today I brought something to eat,” the man said as he pointed to a buttered bun in a paper bag.

The man had coronary bypass surgery some nine years ago and takes about 30 pills a day.

Yesterday he turned up at the card renewal office in Guardmangia at 10 a.m., since he had not managed to get his card sorted the previous week. He picked up ticket number 113.

The long waiting time was raised last week by Labour health spokesman Marie Louise Coleiro Preca, who said patients were waiting for hours to renew their yellow card. She blamed the situation on lack of resources.

A Health Ministry spokesman said there had been a backlog problem since March – when the free medicines listed in Schedule V rose from 38 to 79.

Over the past months there had been more media coverage about free entitlement and so the number of applications increased.

The ministry spokesman said people entitled to free medicine could opt to apply through the post or collect the document themselves from the office at St Luke’s Hospital.

Since March, the number of people arriving at the office has practically trebled, reaching some 300 patients a day (the office opens on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays). About 2,500 applications were sent by post each week.

By 10.30 a.m. yesterday, when The Times went to the office, the atmosphere was loud and stuffy.

People grumbled as they had to wait for hours in the hot room, with some having arrived at 6.30 a.m. Many were there because they had a new medicine added to their free entitlement list so they had to renew the card.

One woman shouted that it was a shame that people with health conditions were made to wait for so long.

Others complained about the inefficiency of the system, as only two people were serving patients.

A 72-year-old with heart problems rested on his walking frame as he explained he had been there since 7 a.m. when his son dropped him off.

He was meant to call when he was done. “I’m tired but I had to come. I need my medicines,” he said.

In a statement the Health Ministry said those who wished to send the application by post could send it to: Medicines Entitlement Unit, Ministry for Health, the Elderly and Community Care, St Lukes Hospital, Guardamanga.