Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)

I am supportive of an expanded role for pharmacists in the delivery of services at primary care level. Any such expansion of service should be cost-effective, promote the best use of health care resources, be evidence-based, be part of a structured framework of patient care and demonstrate direct benefits to patients.

I am pleased to say there are currently a number of developments taking place in community pharmacy practice; namely, reviews of medicine use, the introduction of private consultation areas in pharmacies and the involvement of pharmacists, both community and hospital based, in ongoing work to implement the recommendations of the report of the commission on patient safety and quality assurance.

With respect to reviews of medicine use, the HSE is currently undertaking a pilot initiative involving pharmacists and GPs working with primary care teams. It is expected that a report on the pilot will be produced by the end of the year. The pilot will take place during the months of June, July and August.

From November 2010 all pharmacies will be required to have a private consultation area in accordance with the Regulation of Retail Pharmacy Businesses Regulations 2008. The purpose of this is to facilitate patients who may wish to have a private consultation with the pharmacist to discuss medication-related issues in private and to receive advice and counselling in an appropriately professional and private manner.

I recently facilitated a meeting between Dr. Barry White, national director of quality and clinical care at the HSE, and the Irish Pharmacy Union to discuss the developing role of pharmacists in public health services and how community pharmacy can contribute to initiatives being undertaken by Dr. White to implement multi-disciplinary treatment guidelines for the management of patients with chronic diseases.

Pharmacists in both community and hospital pharmacy are involved in ongoing work to implement the recommendations of the report of the commission on patient safety and quality assurance, particularly in the area of drug safety, to ensure that medicines are used safely - both high-risk medicines and among high-risk patients - and to improve access by patients to high-quality Irish information on medicines.

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