Reports against chemists increase

COMPLAINTS against pharmacists were up from 29 to 35 last year, with 10 of those alleging errors with the dispensing of drugs.

According to the pharmacy regulator, other sources of complaint include alleged “inappropriate supervision” of prescriptions (10), interpersonal issues (7), clinical pharmacy issues (4), along with alleged breaches of the law and the supply of out-of-date medication.

Three prosecutions were initiated against pharmacists last year as a result of complaints, the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland said in its annual report, published yesterday.

With 4,504 pharmacists and 1,628 pharmacies registered with the society, the regulator has called for a greater role for the sector in frontline patient care.

The use of health services could be “improved dramatically” by the introduction of a minor ailments scheme, the society said yesterday.

Society president Brendan Hayes said that the best use of “valuable GP surgery time and medical resources” needs to be examined.

An example of better use being made of pharmacists would be in dealing with minor ailments, he said. “Scotland has an excellent scheme in operation since 2006 with 70,000 consultations a month in Scottish pharmacies, with the average cost of medicines prescribed by pharmacists under the scheme being lower than those prescribed by GPs under the same circumstances.”

Among the dozens of ailments that could, Mr Hayes said, be included in such a scheme, are athlete’s foot, smoking cessation, sore throats, and hay fever.

* www.pharmaceuticalsociety.ie