‘Leadership’ from Government is needed to guide pharmacies through medical shortages, a Dublin pharmacist and podcast host has said.

It comes as Health Minister Stephen Donnelly was successful today in seeking Cabinet approval to extend the prescribing powers of pharmacies.

Pharmacists can now extend prescriptions up to a maximum of 12 months for patients - if they feel it's appropriate.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly at Government Buildings, 07-03-2023. Image: Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie

Minister Donnelly now wants pharmacists to be able to prescribe more medications.

“What it will allow is for pharmacists under a set of very clear criteria to prescribe for patients,” he told Newstalk.

“One of the ones I would like to see is the oral contraception pill and have an expert task force working away on that.”

On The Pat Kenny Show today, Sheena Mitchell called for a new Chief Pharmacist Officer role to be established in Ireland.

“Before we extend to any additional services, we need to be funded for the services we are doing which will allow us to make community pharmacy an appealing profession for pharmacists qualifying now,” she said.

“We need to streamline e-health, we need to streamline our administration and we need to have a Chief Pharmaceutical Officer appointed who can help steer the department.

“There is no voice in the department to inform them on best protocols for medical shortages and what not and here is so much that needs to happen that won’t happen without leadership.”

Late-night hours

Ms Mitchell said very few pharmacies in Ireland have late-night opening hours.

“Yesterday I did a survey on 70 pharmacist friends of mine and 69 open on Saturday,” she said.

“Most open 9pm to 7pm from Monday to Friday and only three open past 7pm – me being one of them.

“There seems to be a lot of variances between urban and rural areas.”

Unsafe

Ms Micthell said, as a pharmacist operating in Dublin, it's unsafe to help people after hours – even in an emergency.

“My own business is in Milltown Total Health Pharmacy in Dublin 6,” she said.

“Because it’s an urban area I can’t provide that service for safety reasons, I opened the door after closing hours one day and was held at knifepoint.

“So, we have very rigid rules about our opening hours and security as a result of that.”

There are currently around 2,000 pharmacies in Ireland.

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Main image: Medicine prescriptions in a pharmacy. Image: fStop Images GmbH / Alamy Stock Photo