No plan to privatise hospital pharmacies

Health Minister John Rahael announced yesterday that he would go to Cabinet with a proposal for "incentives" for pharmacists.

Waiting times for outpatients at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital have increased over the past few weeks due to the resignation of five pharmacists from the North West Regional Health Authority (NWRHA) last month.

The outpatients’ pharmacy at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex also lost four pharmacists over the past two months. The North Central Regional Health Authority has been advising the public to get their prescriptions filled at health centres. This advice has also been given by the South West RHA which has lost several pharmacists and will lose two more at the end of this month.

A pharmacist at one health facility told Newsday: "They are not handling the situation professionally. We come to meetings (with the CPO) and we are wasting our time. It is getting us frustrated. I feel they want to privatise hospital pharmacies."

The pharmacist wondered whether the plan was to use the so-called shortage to eventually close government pharmacies and let the Chronic Disease Assistance Programme (CDAP) take over.

"But not all drugs are free. People think that they can get all drugs over the counter but there are certain items which can only be obtained in the public sector."

The pharmacist used the example of certain medical "suspensions" for babies, heart patients, and cancer patients which are mixed at the EWMSC. She said health centres could not make these products. She said pharmacists still have not been reclassified and are still categorised as technicians.

Newsday learnt that three weeks ago the Health Ministry sent new recommendations for allowances for the pharmacists to the CPO for negotiations with the PSA. They are reportedly "grappling" with the matter and "trying to avoid the Industrial Court."

Speaking to the media after addressing the NWRHA’s health fair, Rahael said negotiations had been going on "for some time" between the CPO and PSA. He said he hoped discussions would conclude sooner rather than later. Rahael said the shortage of medical personnel in the local health sector also extended to pharmacists.

"We need to have more pharmacists in order to reopen those pharmacies which have been closed and also extend the opening hours of our pharmacies at the health centres."

Rahael said 20 of 50 pharmacists recruited from the Philippines should be in TT by the end of this month. Another batch will follow in August.

Questioned what "difference" the Filipino pharmacists would make since local pharmacists were leaving, Rahael said: "What we are trying to do is complement the numbers we have now by bringing in additional pharmacists, and training more pharmacists and also introducing a new programme of assistant pharmacists."

He said 50 assistants will be trained through the Colleges of Science, Technology and Applied Arts of TT. He disagreed with the view that attempts were being made to privatise government pharmacies.