Elderly to receive medicines directly at home

A service level agreement signed with the GRTU and the Chamber of Pharmacists will lead to elderly receiving their medicines at home.

The home delivery of medicinal products was a Labour electoral pledge and it is thought that some 40,000 people are expected to benefit from the deliveries.

The agreement was signed today between the Ministry for Health, the GRTU and the Chamber of Pharmacists.

Junior health minister Chris Fearne said the agreement signed today was the first of its kind.

"While strengthening the pharmacy of your choice system, the agreement will also introduce a medicine delivery system for the elderly," he said.

Under the new delivery system, anyone over 70 can opt for home visits from pharmacists or their representatives.

"The new system will prove to be both convenient for the elderly, and it will allow pharmacists to verify that patients are indeed taking their medications as prescribed," Fearne said.

He added that the World Health Organization estimated around a half of patients didn't take medications as prescribed.

Health Minister Konrad Mizzi said the system had been thought out to strengthen the relationship between the elderly and their pharmacists.

"The elderly will therefore decide whether they want the home visits or not and they can change this arrangement whenever they desire to do so," he said.

Mizzi added that a pilot project would be taking place in Rabat and Paola for the first quarter of 2016.

"The project will help us to assess what is the best model to follow," Mizzi said, adding that the agreement also stipulated an extension of the POYC system, which started in 2007, to 2019.

He added that the government had managed to ensure that no medications were out of stock for 16 weeks this year and that the new agreement hoped to continue building on these positive developments.

Mizzi further explained that the agreement would also give pharmacists more power to manage their stocks and order straight from the suppliers, according to their patients' needs.