18th August 2016
PRESS RELEASE
The Malta Chamber of Pharmacists, whilst welcoming the move toward electronic prescriptions as announced in the media yesterday, regrets the lack of consultation with the representatives of Pharmacists who truly are on the frontline (definitely not ‘the front office of POYC Unit’) of health care day in day out in the community pharmacies providing a pharmaceutical care service to all patients visiting their pharmacies, including registered POYC patients.
Whilst the Kamra was invited to participate in the Ministry for Health working party on e-prescriptions in 2013, wherein Kamra’s submissions were made and went beyond the generation of a doctor’s prescription via computer, the Kamra would have expected to continue to be consulted on the developments in this respect; not least, on the content of the prescription per se, and the modus operandi in the POYC system where the Kamra understands will see the introduction of the electronic prescription.
The forum for such presentation and discussion is the existent POYC Standing Advisory Committee (SAC) which has not had the computer generated prescription subject on its agenda prior to launching.
This so that the professionals at the receiving end would be well versed in this new application and so that any glitches could be avoided at inception.
It is a moot point that a prescription is a comunique between the prescriber and the pharmacist about a patient. While all good will has been shown by pharmacists since time immemorial, pharmacists have long been submitting to their medical colleagues and the authorities concerned their dilemmas when trying to decipher most handwritten doctor’s prescription which can be the reason for loss of precious time which could be better spent in giving a patient pharmaceutical care.
It is also regretted that to date and as stated in the media, data is held by the POYC ‘back office’ and albeit the Kamra has made strong representations on this matter, pharmacists still have no access to linking the medicines their patients are taking to their patients’ bio data.
The Pharmacy of the Patient’s Choice is not just a medicines delivery point in the community, but the patients first and /or last point of call in his or her access to healthcare; pharmacists are healthcare professionals well deserving to be heard and have their needs addressed in this context. In the final analysis, Pharmacists have their patients’ well-being as their priority.
Executive Council
Kamra tal-Ispizjara ta Malta
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