Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 226: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if her Department has considered initiating a public information campaign to alert members of the public to the dangers of accumulating large amounts of out of date medicines in their homes; if her Department has had discussions with doctors, nurses and pharmacists representatives on the issue of over prescription of medicines; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5634/07]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context

In general, local pharmacies will accept reasonable quantities of waste medicines from members of the public and will arrange to include them with out of date stock for which the pharmacist has an existing arrangement in regard to disposal. The former Health Boards, from time to time, organised publicity campaigns urging people to return medicinal products to their local pharmacy for safe disposal and it is assumed that the Health Service Executive will continue this practice.

I am aware that there are a number of issues of concern with regard to the prescription of medicines, including the issue of antibiotic use and the use of antidepressants in the treatment of persons with psychiatric illness. There are a number of processes in place which are designed to ensure that medicines are prescribed and used as effectively and efficiently as possible. Since the mid to late 1990's most of the major teaching hospitals operate a clinical pharmacy service and post graduate diploma and MSc courses in Clinical Pharmacy.

Other initiatives include:

Stock management at ward level using pharmacy technicians

Pharmacist availability at ward level

Pharmacists review of patient charts

Provision of drug information services at national and local level

Pharmacists involved in training healthcare staff on prescribing policies

Generic prescribing policy in hospitals

Specialisation of pharmacists

Pharmacist involvement in multidisciplinary teams and ward rounds

The appointment of risk managers

No blame reporting of medication errors (pilot schemes)

Nurse prescribing (pilot scheme)

Up to now it has been largely up to individual hospital management teams to decide the extent to which they incorporated medicines management initiatives and to seek funding for these activities. It is expected that under the new management structures which are being introduced in the Health Service Executive that a more coordinated approach will be possible which will improve the efficient use of medicines.