PHARMACISTS HAVE maintained that a list of pharmacy outlets which the Health Service Executive has said will continue to dispense drugs and medicines to patients under the various State community schemes from next week is completely inaccurate.
The Irish Pharmacy Union said last night that it had been contacted by up to 150 pharmacists who said they had been included in error on the HSE’s list which was published yesterday.
However the HSE said last night that while there had been some changes to its list, a review carried out last evening had showed that 854 pharmacies would continue to operate the community drug schemes despite a move by pharmacists to withdraw in protest at a reduction in their fees by the Government.
The pharmacy union suggested that this figure could actually be closer to 400 outlets.
The HSE said it had been contacted yesterday by 21 pharmacies to confirm they had served valid termination notices and that they should not have been on the list published.
However, it said that it had also been contacted by a further 23 pharmacies withdrawing their termination notices.
Meanwhile, Fine Gael said last night that Taoiseach Brian Cowen had to intervene in the pharmacy dispute and appoint a mediator in order to ensure that patients continue to have access to medication.
The HSE said it would be updating its list of pharmacies open for business under the State drugs schemes on a daily basis.
It said that in order for pharmacists to terminate their community pharmacy contractor agreement they had to submit a valid 30-day termination notice.
“The termination of a community pharmacy contractor agreement is a significant decision and it would be incorrect for the HSE to accept anything less than completely unambiguous correspondence as a valid termination notice,” it said.
Pat O’Dowd of the HSE’s contracts office said: “When it comes to such a major decision, there is a significant difference between correspondence which expresses dissatisfaction with the new arrangements or an intention to do something and a valid termination notice. “The list published is based on the information we had available to us. We can only act on valid information. We cannot act on intentions.”
The IPU said that the list of pharmacies continuing to operate the State schemes which was published by the HSE included one outlet which had closed more than three months ago as well as another which did not have a contract to dispense under the community schemes.
Several pharmacists whose outlets were published in the HSE list contacted The Irish Times yesterday to say they had received acknowledgments from the health authority of their withdrawal from the schemes.
Adrian Conlon of Raheny in Dublin said he had received a registered letter from a senior HSE administrator confirming receipt of his letter of withdrawal but that he was still on the list published yesterday.
James Cassidy from Donegal said he had sent a number of identical letters on behalf of his outlets to the HSE giving notice of withdrawing from the schemes. He was also listed in yesterday’s HSE advertisement.
The pharmacy union said that the HSE’s contingency plan to supply medicines under the schemes had been “totally undermined” by inaccuracies in its list.
Pharmacy union president Liz Hoctor said: “Days before the August 1st deadline, patients’ anxiety has been increased by the misinformation contained in today’s HSE newspaper ad. The onus is on the Minister to provide a safe and workable alternative to patients to access their medicines, as she and the HSE assured us would be done.
“If the HSE cannot get a list of pharmacies right, how can they dispense medicines safely to people all over the country.”
The IPU said it had published on its website a list of 1,100 pharmacies that have told the HSE that they will not be participating in the community drug schemes.