Pharmacists prescribing for minor ailments 'would help solve A&E backlog'

Pharmacists believe that they should be allowed to prescribe for a range of minor issues including urinary tract infections (UTIs), dermatitis, conjunctivitis, shingles and even pain management. File photo

Pharmacists have accused the Government of letting patients suffer on trolleys by failing to allow them prescribe for minor ailments such as conjunctivitis and urinary tract infections.

Expanding the services that local pharmacies can provide would cut down on around one million GP visits each year, which in turn would give doctors extra capacity to care for those with more severe needs and would prevent patients from attending Emergency Departments.

Pharmacist Sheena Mitchell said she has been "driven to rage" watching the trolley crisis over the Christmas period, which she said could have been significantly reduced if the role of pharmacists had been extended.

"How many people need to die on hospital trolleys? We are letting people suffer because of inaction. A clear, simple evidence-based solution has been handed to them," said Ms Mitchell who has written to both Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Health Minister Stephen Donnelly on the issue.

The Irish Pharmacy Union (IPU) has been calling for an expansion of the services since 2014. Pharmacists believe that they should be allowed to prescribe for a range of minor issues including urinary tract infections (UTIs), dermatitis, conjunctivitis, shingles and even pain management.

"Pharmacies can triage those patients and send the patients who need the clinical expertise of a GP to the GP," Ms Mitchell said.

Kerry-based pharmacist John Brassil pointed to previous initiatives, including the vaccination programme, that have worked well. "I've yet to meet the person that disagrees with the argument that more could be done in the pharmacy to take pressure off the system," he said.

"But, it's still very slow at happening. Every time you think that you could do something very, very straightforward it's met with a roadblock."

I would say nearly every facet of healthcare is underutilised in the community and ultimately results in blocked up EDs with people who don't need to be there and then the people who do need to be there can't be seen.

Kathy Maher of the IPU stressed that the underpinning ethos of Sláintecare is that people are treated at the lowest level of complexity in the community.

"There's nowhere closer to a patient's home and no healthcare professional closer than their pharmacist. It's frustrating because I know what we can do and I know the scope of practice we can offer to patients and I'd love to see as a profession our scope of practice expanded.

"Doctors, by their own admission, are absolutely on they're on their knees, they are really under pressure. It seems timely and appropriate for a really hard look to be taken out implementing something like a minor ailments scheme or or triage service that eases pressure off the GP system."