Pharmacies do not need to be affiliated with any constituted body or organisation to be able to participate in the Pharmacy of Your Choice scheme, the Health Ministry has confirmed.

The clarification came after the Chamber for SMEs and the Chamber of Pharmacists jointly wrote to pharmacies to inform them of the membership requirement to be able to offer the service to POYC clients.

The government has concluded the new POYC service level agreement that will regulate the scheme until 2027. There are some 220 licensed pharmacies.

The two chambers told pharmacies that they were to contribute to a fund for a “legal war chest”, which needed replenishing. According to a letter sent to pharmacy owners, they were expected to contribute €1 per patient towards this fund. There are around 150,000 POYC patients.

They also told licensed pharmacies that it was “incumbent” on the licensee to be a member of the Chamber of SMEs and that if the licensee is a pharmacist the person must be a member of the Chamber of Pharmacists.

Membership of any particular constituted body should never be a requirement for participating in government schemes- Malta Chamber

But the Malta Chamber of Commerce clarified that the scheme was open to all licensed pharmacies irrespective of their membership of a constituted body and that neither was there an obligation for any pharmacy to contribute fees to any entity to be able to participate in the scheme.

The clarification came directly from the permanent secretary at the Health Ministry, Joseph Chetcuti, the chamber said.

The Malta Chamber reiterated its position that membership of constituted bodies – such as membership of trade unions – should never be mandated and that the freedom of association of business owners must be respected at all times.

Membership of any particular constituted body should never be a requirement for participating in government schemes. Business owners should be completely free to choose which representative body to associate with, the chamber insisted.