ARCHIVED - Valencia pharmacies want to charge for reporting results of Covid tests
ARCHIVED ARTICLE
The move will mean people in Alicante and the rest of the region will have to pay for the test and for the notification service
Pharmacies in the Valencia region want to charge members of the public for notifying the Regional Ministry of Health of positive Covid cases detected by antigen tests carried out in chemists.
The issue over charging for this service is currently blocking the start-up of the initiative, which was agreed last week between the region's three pharmacy associations and the ministry in order to speed up the registration of infections with the health authorities and relieve overcrowded health centres.
The agreement means that antigen tests can be carried out in person in pharmacies and, in the case of a positive result, the establishment will inform the health department, but only with the consent of the infected person.
According to the regional Ministry of Health, providing the service free of charge was a "unilateral and exclusive" decision by the Valencia College of Pharmacists, as "charging for the service is not included in the agreement and was not raised by them in any of the conversations held to set up this service".
But sources at the College of Pharmacists have indicated that people who take an antigen test will indeed have to pay for the test itself and the additional service, although it's not clear how much.
"The Regional Ministry wants us to provide this service without any kind of consideration and the pharmacies have to cover a series of expenses that have already been incurred," they explained.
These costs include adapting computer equipment and the development of programmes that allow each positive case detected to be reported.
As of Monday January 10, around 350 of the 1,242 chemists in the province of Valencia had shown initial interest in the initiative, according to the College of Pharmacists, which added that more are expected to sign up gradually.
In addition, pharmacists also want to be paid for the protective equipment they will have to use for antigen testing.
"What is not possible is that we save the regional ministry a cost and provide a higher quality service to the patient at zero cost," stressed the college.
Further talks between the ministry and pharmacy associations are expected to take place this week to reach a further agreement, with calls from the Partido Popular (People's Party PP) to adopt the same model as in the Region of Murcia, where an agreement has been signed with the association of pharmacists in which 200,000 euros has been allocated to compensate chemists for providing the service.
Spokesperson María José Catalá has also called for free mass testing to be carried out in schools and workplaces, with at least four free tests per person each month.
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