€500m health centre plan worries pharmacists

TRADITIONAL community pharmacies are at risk if plans for a €500 million nationwide chain of health centres are allowed to go ahead, the body representing independent pharmacists said yesterday.

The Irish Pharmaceutical Union (IPU) also said the health centre concept raised serious ethical issues by creating a linkage between doctors and the pharmacies that stock drugs they had prescribed.

The IPU’s comments came in light of plans by pharmacy chain Unicare’s founder Fergus Hoban to set up a network of health centres that would act as a one-stop shop for patients and would contain doctors, dentists, pharmacies, opticians and other medical experts.