Dedicated pharmacy school is needed to avert community pharmacy 'crisis' 

'We cannot expect other countries to fill the gaps of our education system any longer,' according to Irish Pharmacy Union president Dermot Twomey. Stock picture

A dedicated pharmacy school is needed in Ireland to stave off the growing shortage and dwindling of numbers of qualified staff, the union representing the profession has said.

The Irish Pharmacy Union (IPU) had already in recent weeks warned of community-based chemists forced into “shorter opening hours, closures on weekends and bank holidays” due to a dearth of qualified staff, and has now said a school is needed to combat what it calls an “impending crisis”.