Practice regulationPatients in the Republic are being put at risk by the Department of Health's ongoing failure to introduce a fitness to practice framework for pharmacists working in the State, it has been claimed.
The body which regulates the pharmacy sector, the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland, says it has for years been seeking a change in legislation which would give it powers to bring pharmacists against whom complaints were made before a fitness to practice committee and, if found guilty, have powers to strike them from the register of pharmacists.
The Medical Council and An Bord Altranais have such powers in relation to the medical and nursing professions.
The registrar of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland, Ms Ann McGee, said there were no proper provisions to discipline or sanction pharmacists under current legislation.
For example, she said, there is nothing the society can do if a pharmacist has a drink problem and is giving out wrong medication to patients. "Patients have been put at risk," she confirmed.
"There would be one particular case on our books causing concern. I have written to various Ministers for Health about a particular case but unfortunately all to no avail. Patients are being put at risk," she said.
She added that the society had been asking the Department for new legislation "for about 40 years".
"The legislation we operate under is woefully inadequate in terms of ensuring appropriate standards of pharmacy practice and disciplining or sanctioning pharmacists. What we need is a new Pharmacy Act," she said.
She stated that while pharmacists were generally very professional, there were times in every profession when people needed to be disciplined. A framework has to be put in place to ensure this can happen, she said.
The powers of the society at present revolve around, for example, being able to prosecute pharmacists for having out-of-date drugs in stock. "But if a pharmacist has a health problem, we can't do anything about it," she said. "It is worrying. We keep being told they are working on a new Pharmacy Act but we have been told that now for years."
Responding to the concerns raised, the Department of Health in a statement said the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland may investigate any complaint brought to its attention in accordance with the provisions set down in the Pharmacy Acts. It acknowledged, however, that these provisions do not accord any statutory power with which to investigate or adjudicate upon matters of fitness to practice.
It again stressed it is working on a change in legislation. "The Department is currently preparing a memo for Government seeking approval to consolidate and modernise current pharmacy legislation. Among the issues to be addressed in the new Bill is the lack of fitness to practice provisions in the current legislation," it said.