Nearly one third of pharmacists are considering resigning as they are being driven to “breaking point” by red tape. 

It is one of the many issues incoming Irish Pharmacies Union President Tom Murray is grappling with.

Speaking on The Pat Kenny Show, Mr Murray said the sector is struggling due to an excessive red tape and a lack of investment.

“The administrative burden is the amount of red tape required to produce services for patients at Irish pharmacies at the minute is absolutely incredible,” he said.

“90% of pharmacists the IPU surveyed told us they’re facing burn out and breaking point.

“The regulator did another survey and 30% of pharmacists - particularly young pharmacists - were thinking of leaving the sector.”

A sign of pharmacy store. Photo: Isabel Infantes / EMPICS Entertainment.

Mr Murray said one issue that often comes up is the need to print out patient’s prescriptions when they arrive from a doctor.

“A prescription doesn’t become a legal document until we print it,” he said.

“Then we have to print two documents, stamp it and endorse it before we go about processing the prescription.

“Currently, 1,700 community pharmacies print 78 million prescriptions a year - which is absolutely incredulous.”

Pharmacists at the Life Pharmacy in Rathmines in Dublin, 19-03-2020. Image: Niall Carson/PA Archive/PA Images

Mr Murray said the sector had had a  “lot of conversations” with the Department of Health on the issue of red tape over the years but nothing has been done to rid the sector of the “archaic” duty to print off prescriptions.

“If you walk into any pharmacy now, you can ask to see their ‘yellow back room’ where we have sacks and sacks and sacks of yellow bags of paper, which are just bringing buildings down necessarily,” he said.

“The HSE have the right to come and do those audits and request a copy of the month’s bundle of prescriptions which is what they would have done prior to the pandemic anyway.

“What we would say is there’s a change in legislation needed - and it’s a very minor change - where the Minister can say that a document doesn't have to be printed and a prescription is legal in its email format using the secure servicing systems between the HSE and ourselves.

“It can still be absorbed into the pharmacy computer and it can still be audited by the HSE.”

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Main image: A pharmacist at work.