90% of Irish in favour of pharmacists providing routine medicine - study
Almost 90 per cent of Irish people support enabling pharmacists to provide routine medicines to medical card patients without a GP's prescription, according to a national survey by the Irish Pharmaceutical Union (IPU).
More than half of those surveyed said they often relied on a pharmacist's advice to solve their healthcare problems, with 90 per cent suggesting that pharmacies should offer increased services such as blood pressure and cholesterol testing.
Currently, medical card holders have to attend their local GP - even when their ailment is minor - to receive a prescription, according to Darragh O'Loughlin, a pharmacist in Tuam, Co Galway.
"The system as it exists at the moment means that a person with a cold sore and who needs Zovirax to treat it has to wait 24 or 48 hours for a doctor's appointment.
"The faster a cold sore is treated, the less likely it is to come up, but with this system, the cold sore will come up and a doctor's time will have been used up," he said.
Mr O'Loughlin said the medical card system was introduced 35 years ago, at a time when fewer medicines were available over the counter and there was less strain on GPs.
He added that a new "minor ailment scheme" would ease waiting lists for GP services around the State.
Dermot Jewell of the Consumers' Association of Ireland said that "cutting out the middle man" for the consumer was always something to be welcomed, but he reasoned however that "self diagnosis" posed grave risks and potential dangers for patients.
Mr Jewell said that it would be necessary to establish a clear and transparent process and to understand and discuss the "limitations" of introducing a scheme whereby medicines could be made available without prescription.
"There are concerns, but that's not to say that it isn't time to look at ways and means of improving the service . . . It's not a black and white issue because there are negatives and benefits associated with it," said Mr Jewell.
IPU president Michael Guckian said the national survey highlighted the widespread support for enabling pharmacists to become more actively involved in the provision of advice and the direct provision of routine medication without a doctor's prescription.
According to the newly published survey, one in five adults take two or more medications at the same time, with those in lower income groups accounting for 60 per cent of that figure.
The IPU pointed to a "worrying" statistic showing that 23 per cent of those taking prescription and non-prescription medicine are concerned that they are not taking their medication correctly.
"Anyone who is unsure as to whether they are taking their medication correctly should seek advice from their local pharmacist, who is a medicines expert," Mr Guckian said.
"It is important that patients, who take more than one medicine at a time, review matters regularly with their pharmacist to ensure the medicines are being taken correctly and they are getting the best health outcome," he added.
Mr Guckian reasoned that there remained a reluctance by health authorities to think "outside the box" in meeting the needs of patients.
If a new system was introduced to make more medicines available without a prescription, it would operate in a similar way to the current Drugs Payment Scheme, whereby customers sign a form stating the products purchased.
