Marco Cossolo, president of Federfarma, comments on Fanpage.it on the new provision of the Meloni government, included in the Simplifications bill: the new ‘service pharmacy’ will be able to carry out vaccinations, swabs and analyzes which until now were only found in hospitals or local health authorities. But to complete the change, funds will also be needed.
The Simplifications bill approved by the Meloni government at the end of March is arriving in Parliament. It could take months before it passes through the House and Senate, but the green light should arrive in time to put it into practice next year. In the text, among the various articles that touch on the most disparate areas – tourism, navigation, cremation procedures, schools – there is one that aims to change the role of pharmaciescompleting (or almost) a journey that began several years ago.
With the approval of the bill, in fact, it will become possible to receive a series of new services in the pharmacy: carrying out vaccinations, tests or swabs, but also choosing your own family doctor. The new “service pharmacy” should play a different role, as a real defense of the National Health Service. To realize this project, however, the most important part is still needed: the money allocated by the government, in the next budget law or in a specific regulation.
What can be done in the pharmacy
Marco Cossolopresident of Federfarma, commented on the provision to Fanpage.it, giving a positive opinion and underlining that if the text becomes law in its current form for those who go to the pharmacy “many things will change. For example, citizens over the age of twelve will be able carry out all the vaccines included in the vaccination plan, not just the anti-Covid ones and the flu vaccine”.
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THE planned services from the text there are many: rapid analyzes (such as those for blood sugar, hemoglobin, urine and the like) and diagnostic tests for antibiotic resistance, as well as the procedure for choosing or changing your family doctor or pediatrician among those affiliated with them. If two or more pharmacies coordinate, they will be able to provide these services jointly.
In addition, there will be the possibility of using dedicated spaces: these will carry a green cross and the “services pharmacy” sign, they will be rooms separate from that of the pharmacy itself (but in the same area). As underlined by Cossolo, “there would be greater safety for the citizen, because the law requires that those premises meet the same hygienic-sanitary criteria as the pharmacy”. Some commercial businesses are already using additional spaces, especially since – during the pandemic – the practice of vaccination and swabs in pharmacies has spread.
Now the government has to find the money
An important part of the Simplifications bill, especially from the point of view of pharmacy customers, is that “an obsolete provision will be eliminated, according to which these services can only be paid for by the citizen. An outdated rule, given that in fact vaccines Covid were being done paid by the National Health Serviceas well as flu vaccines,” Cossolo recalled.
In essence, with the new bill it could be officially ensured that some pharmacy services are paid for by the State, and therefore free for those who receive them: “Obviously, however, a financing in the budget law“. The law itself does not have the funds to put this innovation into practice, but simply changes the rules to make it possible. It therefore remains to be seen whether in October, when it will have to draw up the budget law for next year, the The Meloni government will be able to find the funds to finance the health services of pharmacies. The risk is that if this does not happen, pharmacies will become a place where carrying out certain procedures is more convenient, but also more expensive.
The new pharmacy “is no longer an experiment”
“The role of pharmacies is changing,” Cossolo summed up. “This provision is consistent with the entire path taken by both this government and previous ones: the pharmacy used as garrison territorial of the National Health Service and as a protagonist of the new healthcare, centered on the territory and not on the hospital”.
The “service pharmacy” is nothing new: the rule dates back to 2009, “even if the experimentation began in 2018”, underlined the president of Federfarma. Now, however, “talk about again experimentation It doesn’t really make sense. After the Covid ‘test’ any experiment can be considered concluded and overcome. The service pharmacy must enter within the Lea and be considered an integral part of local healthcare”.
Even for this step, a law is not enough: funds allocated by the government are needed, and also a “new one convention for local pharmacies” in which to include all the new additional services. The last one dates back to 1998, formally expired in 2001 and has been awaiting an update for years. But it will only be possible to talk about it after the approval of the Simplification bill.
Tags: services explained pharmacists
