Hospital pharmacists are worried that a new Bill, due to be debated in the Dáil this week, could make it illegal for them to dispense medicines directly to patients in the community.
At present, a number of hospital pharmacies dispense drugs directly to outpatients for conditions ranging from cancer to HIV but the Hospital Pharmacists Association of Ireland (HPAI) has warned that under the new Pharmacy Bill only pharmacies that are registered will be able to dispense medicines to the public.
Its president, Veronica Treacy, said that under the Bill only community pharmacies would be registered or regulated. There was no reference whatsoever to hospital pharmacies in the Bill, she said, which made her members worried that it may no longer be legal for them to dispense drugs to people in the community.
"We want hospital pharmacies to be regulated within this Bill," Ms Treacy said.
"From the hospital pharmacists' point of view, we want to ensure that the safety of all patients is protected and not just those who get their medicinal products in retail pharmacies."
Furthermore, she said, while the Bill referred to a fitness to practise regime for pharmacists, there were no standards in the Bill against which hospital pharmacists could be judged, which was also of concern. "This is something we want."
Ms Treacy's association, which represents the majority of the 400 hospital pharmacists in the State, had made these points to the Department of Health before the Bill was published earlier this month and it was therefore very disappointing that they had not been included, she added. The department had mentioned that another Bill at a later stage would deal with hospital pharmacists, but given that it had taken so long to get any new pharmacy legislation, there was concern the next Bill could be some considerable time off.
Asked about these concerns, the department, in a statement, claimed that the new pharmacy Bill will regulate the registered pharmacist, regardless of the setting they are in, and will enable all registered pharmacists to continue to dispense as before, in line with their qualifications and standards of professional practice.
"The department has not stated that hospital pharmacists will be unable to dispense, as the Bill treats all pharmacists equally, regardless of where they practise. It is not necessary to have separate legislation to cover pharmacists who practise in the hospital setting for the purpose of dispensing.
"However, the department has agreed to consider the points raised by the HPAI in regard to the practise of pharmacy within hospitals, in the context of the second Pharmacy Bill."