Deputy Steven Matthews has welcomed progress that will allow pharmacists to prescribe medicines for common and minor illness. ‘This is a sensible move’ said Matthews ‘it will reduce pressure on GPs and use the huge expertise and professional training of our pharmacists to help people with medical needs without having to attend a doctor. It will assist people to get the assistance they need closer to home, without having to wait, for long periods in some cases for a doctor’s appointment’.
‘Pharmacists are well trusted in our communities and offer a huge range of services. By expanding their ability to prescribe certain medications it provides an efficient use of local medical services and can also reduce the pressure on GP practices, clinics and hospitals’
‘I met with The Irish Pharmacy Union (IPU) last year and this was something they were seeking but I understand fees for pharmacist will also need to be improved. Their fees were cut in the past and have never been fully restored. This expansion of services now provides an opportunity to address the issue and I’m fully in support of our pharmacists’ requests to restore their fees’.
‘Our Pharmacists are medicines experts, trained to Masters level and subject to a mandatory system of Continuing Professional Development and this move will optimise that expertise.
The use of the appropriate medication at the right time in the right way by the patient is one of the most effective health care interventions available and empowers patients to live healthier lives’ concluded Deputy Matthews.
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