Family doctors have been warned by the Medical Council of the potential pitfalls of locating on the same premises as a pharmacy.
Such arrangements are not forbidden by the council, but its president, Dr John Hillery, said yesterday that any suggestion that a doctor's behaviour was influenced by such arrangements would be fully investigated and could lead to the holding of a fitness-to-practise inquiry.
The council said while the co-location of GP surgeries and pharmacies at one premises was convenient for patients there was "potential for abuse".
There was a danger, it said, that a pharmacy could use the presence of the GP surgery to endorse its premises, that there was the potential for the pharmacist's stocking policies to influence the GP's prescribing patterns, and there was a danger that the GP would refer patients to the pharmacist.
"It is important that registered medical practitioners considering this should be aware of their ethical obligation to provide clinical care independent of commercial interest," it said in a new position paper on the issue.
Furthermore, a doctor who had a financial interest in a private clinic, hospital or pharmacy to which he/she was referring patients had a duty to declare such an interest to patients.
"Such doctors must take exceptional care to prevent their financial interests influencing their management of patients."
Last night the Irish Pharmaceutical Union, which represents 1,600 community pharmacists, said it was disappointed with the Medical Council's "weak response to an important issue for patients".
Dr Karl Hilton, its president,said there should be no business relationship of any kind between a doctor and a pharmacist.
He said the sixth Shipman report stated "where prescribing and dispensing functions are carried out by the same person or within the same commercial or professional entity, there is a potential for the loss of professional objectivity or even abuse".
He said health centres with pharmacies on site were developing rapidly around the country, and the Medical Council had largely ignored the point made in the Shipman report.