Pharmacists decry lack of consultation in e-prescription introduction

The Malta Chamber of Pharmacists has criticised the lack of consultation with the representatives of pharmacists about the potential move towards electronic prescriptions, announced on local media yesterday.

The chamber continued by welcoming the move but adding that “people who are truly 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,” ought to have been consulted about the matter.

 They added that although the Chamber had been invited to participate in the Ministry for Health working party on e-prescriptions in 2013, the Chamber would have expected to continue to be consulted on developments in this respect.

A press release issued by the chamber pointed out that the Chamber had issued its concerns and recommendations going beyond the generation of a doctor's prescription via computer and extending to the content of the prescription per se, and the modus operandi in the POYC system, where the e-prescription system is expected to be introduced.

“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,” the statement reads, adding that such a move would help professionals at the receiving end to be well versed in the new application and avoid any glitches from the start.

“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.”

This, the Chamber argues, could ultimately be the reason for loss of precious time that could be better spent in giving a patient pharmaceutical care.

The Chamber added that it was also disappointed that data is held by the POYC 'back office' and that as a result, pharmacists still have no access to linking the medicines their patients are taking to their 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.”