Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)

I cannot fail to take the opportunity to speak further on the issue I raised with the Minister at committee yesterday around the emergency supply scheme, where somebody from a virtual clinic, or leaving as a previous inpatient of a hospital, has 24 hours to get to their GP if they are a medical card holder and will receive only a seven-day supply of medication. There is a very real opportunity for our pharmacists to be more involved in this scheme. It is absolutely bonkers, to be quite frank, that you would have only 24 hours. It also does not reflect the reality of the prevalence of virtual appointments and the lack of need for forms to be filled in triplicate at this point. There has to be a better way of doing it, and a very important part of that would be our pharmacy network.

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