Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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112. To ask the Minister for Health his plans to amend legislation under the Health Information and Quality Authority medicines management guidelines October 2015 on self-management of medication applying to patients and service users of an organisation (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13249/18]

Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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HIQA’s Medicines Management Guidance, published in October 2015, was developed with the aim of guiding service providers in the provision of high-quality, safe and effective care for people living in residential settings. The guidance aims to assist service providers to meet regulations and implement national standards.  

The purpose of medicines management is to reduce medicine-related incidents, adverse events and inappropriate prescribing among vulnerable people who may be at risk. These people may be considered at risk due to the nature of their illness, the characteristics of the medicines they are taking and the complexity of their medicines regime. 

I understand that the HIQA Guidance indicates that residents may choose to self-administer medicines with or without help and support from staff, where the risks of doing so have been comprehensively assessed, and that the assessment should consider the resident’s wishes, the amount of support needed to independently use medicines, the resident’s cognitive and physical abilities, and other factors. I also understand that any changes to this risk assessment must be recorded and arrangements for self-administration of medicines kept under review.

The Medicinal Products (Prescription and Control of Supply) Regulations 2003, as amended (S.I. 540 of 2003) set out the controls applicable to the prescription and supply of medicines to the public.

In relation to service users of care services that are unable to administer medicines due to a physical disability, Regulation 4A(1)(a) provides that one person may administer to another a non-prescription medicine. Furthermore, Regulation 4A(1)(c) provides that a person may administer to another person a prescription-only medicine, in accordance with the directions of a registered medical practitioner or dentist.

These Regulations do not affect the autonomy or capacity of individual users of care services to self-manage their medicines. Consequently there are no plans at present to amend the Regulations.