Rogue pharmacies say patients’ needs should trump opening restrictions

Seven pharmacies that have secured an interim court order and operate as they please complained on Thursday about the ruckus being caused by the pharmacists’ association clamouring to have the state step in and regulate operating hours for nights and public holidays.

Pharmacists’ association members have said that as of October 1, they will no longer operate during nights or public holidays due to this decision by the seven pharmacies to open and close as they please based on an interim court order.

According to the seven pharmacies, the legal controversy over restrictive opening hours started back in 2014 and has been continuing to this day.

They said two rulings by the court have already been issued on the issue of working hours, while court decisions have also been issued regarding the compulsory closure imposed on pharmacies during the summer period, which has now been abolished following these decisions.

The regulations requested by the pharmaceutical association, namely the restrictive hours of operation, lead to the mandatory closure of pharmacies during the hours when the market and the public need their services, the group of seven pharmacies say, adding that this hampers the proper functioning and quality of public health.

“It is unthinkable in the year 2024 that a private company cannot choose its operating hours to serve its customers, let alone when it concerns the health sector,” the statement added. “The pharmacist’s primary concern is the patient and how to best serve them,” it added.

The group added that the aim was to allow the patient to freely choose the pharmacies from which to be served and the times that best suit them.

Night hours and bank holidays, the association said, are an obligation due to the nature of the profession and not an opportunity for financial gain.

The importance of night hours and public holiday opening hours, it reiterated, is undeniable as their purpose is primarily to attend to emergencies.

Meanwhile, it emerged that next week a decision will be made by all pharmacists as to whether they will proceed with the preparation of a list of night hours and public holidays for the winter period.

An extraordinary meeting of the Pharmacy Council was held on Wednesday, which met after the announcement by the Pancyprian Pharmaceutical Association to abstain from the night hours and public holidays, protesting against the delay in the court’s decision on their operating hours.

It was reported that some pharmacies have taken legal action challenging the 2022 Ministerial Decree, which sets their permitted hours of operation, and have secured a decree allowing them, pending the outcome of the case, to operate when they choose.

This, the association said, creates problems for other pharmacies when they operate on a public holidays or nights.