Letters | Sunday, 08 February 2009

PRINT THIS ARTICLE

The ‘Schedule Five’ system

Everybody is aware of the bad state of our national health service. Everyone also knows that there is a shortage of doctors, nurses and paramedical staff.
Ways and means of tackling this problem clearly require both an increase in the actual number of these people and also increasing their efficiency. I elaborate on just one point, which can increase the efficiency of doctors in the primary healthcare service, whose optimised service is essential to decrease the number of people having to be treated at the hospitals.
The schedule 5 (yellow form) system that we currently use basically consists in a consultant specialist filling out a special form, which eventually leads to the issue of a yellow card (in certain cases with a special permit) for the prescription of free medicinals that are listed on the fifth schedule.
From that point on a patient periodically goes to his own health centre or doctor who fills prescription forms with details, and often multiple medicines. Considering this is done repeatedly every three months for about a third of the population of our country, the paperwork is very time consuming for general practitioners. Such time can be utilised in more valuable clinical care and reduce the huge queues at the health centres during morning hours and throughout the day for private GPs.
I expect the government medical authorities to take the initiative and optimise primary health doctor’s time, amongst other things, by removing this paperwork burden (the pharmacy of your choice scheme got stuck!) by utilising ready printed stickers or papers given to the patients as these would only need a quick signature.
What developed countries have been doing for 15 years should be adopted by us, at least by now!

Dr Etienne Grech
Fgura

Any comments?
If you wish your comments to be published in our Letters pages please click button below.
Please write a contact number and a postal address where you may be contacted.