Out-of-stock medicines’ list to be uploaded weekly
Dynamic published list gives patients indicative guideline to make better use of government’s free pharmaceutical services
The health ministry is introducing the publication of the POYC Unit's Out of Stock Information List every week.
The ministry said this was in line with its commitment towards transparency, responsibility and accountability and ensure patient-centric reforms.
ACCESS THE LISTS: Central Procurement and Supplies Unit site and the Pharmacy of Your Choice site.
The POYC Unit has a Stock List of around 700 pharmaceutical items and, to date, there are over 115,800 registered patients benefitting from the POYC Scheme.
"The published list is dynamic, and it is intended as an indicative guideline to assist our patients to be able to make better use of government's free pharmaceutical services," the ministry said.
The ministry said it had managed to drastically reduce the Out of Stock List from over 100 stock items by less than half.
An Enterprise Resource Planning exercise will also identify and curb wastage, while making effective and efficient use of all available resources across the entire national health services' (NHS) entities.
The ministry said that it had also centralised entitlement data; phased in IT infrastructure within key areas of the NHS that now enable audit trailing of pharmaceuticals; generated a pharmaceuticals' stock requirements for 2014, to track their usage across the NHS and ensure their monthly adjustment; set up an NHS team to pre-empting out-of-stock situations; and allow the NHS to submit an annual pharmaceutical demand to suppliers to facilitate procurement.
"Against this backdrop, and irrespective of the nature of the out of stock situation, the ministry is assiduously pursing all practical and effective leads to mitigate any adverse factors that patients in the POYC Scheme may experience as a result of delayed deliveries of pharmaceutical products," the ministry said.