Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Corcoran Kennedy for raising this important matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minster for Health. The Minister values the important role that community pharmacists play in the delivery of holistic patient care in the health service. He has given a clear commitment to commencing a thorough review of the pharmacy contract in 2020. It will address the role to be played by community pharmacies in the context of Sláintecare and consider all aspects of pharmacy service provision, including delivery of a multidisciplinary model of service delivery for patients, ensuring clarity of roles and achieving optimum value for money.

A new agreement that is fit for purpose and seeks to strengthen our primary care system is required. The vision and approach that underpins Sláintecare needs to be mapped out for the community pharmacy sector. This primary care model will be integrated with other health policies that will require the expansion of the scope of practice and the range of public services provided in community pharmacy. Any publicly funded pharmacy service expansion should address unmet public health needs, improve access to existing public health services or provide better value for money or patient outcomes. Accordingly, the decision to provide such services should be evidence based.

The Minister expects to see discussions on a new contract begin early in the new year because he fully believes that community pharmacy contractors have an important contribution to make to realising the future vision for community care, which needs to be enabled by a modern and fit-for-purpose contractual relationship with the HSE.

The Minister addressed the IPU at its national pharmacy conference in May and gave a clear commitment to move beyond the arrangements underpinned by the FEMPI Act 2009 with a view to optimising the role of pharmacists in the years ahead. In the meantime, however, the Minster is obliged to put in place before the end of this year a new framework to maintain a statutory basis for contractor fees, as the existing regulations will be revoked from the end of this year in accordance with the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017.

Prior to the making of the new regulations, the Minister is required to consult the representative body for pharmacy contractors, the IPU. In that respect, departmental officials wrote to the IPU on 10 October inviting it to discussions on the making of the new regulations. Subsequently, meetings were held in the Department on 24 October and 7 November, following which a detailed submission was received from the IPU. That submission is being considered by the Department in the context of the statutory fee-setting process referred to previously. The Minister is due to meet the IPU this week to discuss these matters further.

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