Procurement reform resulted in 26 weeks without out-of-stock medicine

A commitment to improve the list of free medicines provided by the government has resulted in 26 weeks without any medicine out of stock, junior health minister Chris Fearne said.

The improvement in the procurement sector meant that, during 2015, client availed themselves of six months with all medicines available. During the other months, the number of out-of-stock medicine was five or less.

Speaking during ONE Radio’s Rizultati, Fearne said the issue used to affect hundreds of persons every day. In 2009, the list of out-of-stock medicine during a particular week soared to 690.

“Out-of-stock medicine is no longer an issue,” he added.

Fearne said that the positive results achieved were thanks to the commitment of workers within the Central Procurement and Supplies Unit (CPSU), pharmacists and pharmacy of your choice (POYC) workers.

In 2014, the government introduced the publication of the POYC Unit's Out of Stock Information List every week. At the time, the POYC’s stock list amounted to around 700 pharmaceutical items with over 115,800 registered patients benefitting from the POYC Scheme.

An Enterprise Resource Planning exercise took place to identify and curb wastage, while making effective and efficient use of all available resources across the entire national health services' (NHS) entities.