The cash-strapped Health Services Authority has admitted that some of the medications it has procured for the treatment of patients have been going to waste, but efforts are being made to address the situation.
Chief Executive Officer of the Authority Darlene Carthy Baptiste made the admission at a public meeting in Sea Cows Bay where one resident claimed she has personal knowledge of the waste.
“I know in the past, there are medications that are not used… I personally think that there is lot of wastage in, not only in medication, but perhaps in time,” the resident said.
She also asked whether there is now a timely circulation of medications from clinics and other areas where they are not being used to Peebles Hospital.
In response, Carthy Baptiste admitted: “We have not been timely with the circulatory of drugs, and there have been some wastage.”
She however stated that the Authority’s Chief of Medical Services is working with the Manager of Pharmacy in an attempt to develop a formulary – an official list giving details of prescribable medicines.
Carthy Baptiste also stated that the situation will be improved with the full implementation of Health Information System (HIS).
“The real time inventory list in the health information system will actually know where drugs are, give us alerts when the drugs are about to be expired, and form part of our procurement of drugs; making sure that we get the latest dated drugs that come into the system before they even get here.”
The concern about wasted medicine came even as Carthy Baptiste disclosed that the Health Authority owes its suppliers in excess of $2M for a number of services and goods including medications.
“The vendors are not as happy with us as they were in the past because we don’t have the ability to pay them on a timely basis. So it’s a trickle-down effect,” she said.
The head of the statutory body also reiterated that the agency has been facing financial challenges partly resulting from some patients’ refusal to pay what they owe for services they had accessed.
The amount owed to the Authority – counting from as far back as 1999 – is said to be nearly $28M. It includes $6.1M for off-island placements.
