This week’s announcement that pharmacists will be permitted to issue prescriptions is a welcome rationalisation. Confirmation of the change by Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly comes in the wake of publication of the final report from an expert taskforce on expanding the role of pharmacies.
The advantages are clear. With rising pressure on GP resources across the country, the initiative should help to address an increasing bottleneck, with people waiting inordinate lengths of time to attend their doctors and receive prescriptions for routine conditions. It makes sense that pharmacists, as highly trained and experienced medical professionals, should be trusted to take on some of that workload. Similar schemes are already in place in a number of countries, including Canada, New Zealand and the UK.
The intention is that, from early 2025, pharmacists will be able to prescribe medication for eight specified conditions. This number will be further extended over the succeeding two years. From this September, pharmacists can also extend the validity of prescriptions from the current maximum period of six months to 12 months.
For patients without medical cards, pharmacists will be free to set their fee, just as general practitioners do. It will be interesting over time to see whether this will lead to meaningful competition or downward pressure on prescription costs. It is, after all, easier to switch pharmacy than to switch doctor.
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The immediate challenge for the Department of Health is to reach an agreement with pharmacists on prescription fees it will pay for patients in the public system. Those negotiations could become fraught, as they are entwined with a long-standing dispute over pharmacists’ current payments from the State. If that were to delay next year’s rollout, that would be deeply regrettable. Still, the initiative represents a modest but meaningful step towards the goal of creating a primary care system that meets the needs of a growing and ageing population with greater agility and flexibility.