Pharmacists accuse Department of Health of ‘stonewalling’ in row over dispensing fees

Pharmacists have accused the Department of Health of acting “in a deeply disingenuous manner” in the run-up to talks on a new fee structure for the sector.

The Irish Pharmacy Union (IPU) described department figures showing a steep rise in State payments to the sector in recent years as incomplete, misleading and “a product of the department’s consistent failure to engage with the sector”.

Fee payments to pharmacists have increased by €113 million a year in the space of four years, according to an internal department memo reported by The Irish Times on Tuesday, which stressed there was “no obligation” on the State to increase fees when they are reviewed later this year.

In response, the IPU said the sector continues to be “stonewalled” despite the Minister for Health being obliged to begin the review process by the end of this month.

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“What these headline figures fail to show is that pharmacies are doing more work than ever before on behalf of the State. Meanwhile, the fees they receive for doing this are no longer viable and today are 24 per cent lower for each medication they dispense than in 2009,” said IPU interim secretary general Derek Reilly.

He claimed the figures cited by the department were “selective” and at variance with published HSE reports. “They relate to only eight drug schemes and do not reflect the overall picture.”

Since 2018, the number of medicines dispensed by pharmacies has increased by 10 per cent yet the fees paid to them per item has fallen by 7 per cent, Mr Reilly claimed.

“The expansion of the Drug Payments Scheme does not represent new income to pharmacies. It has simply transferred private business to being state funded resulting in a substantial net loss of income to many pharmacies.”

Mr Reilly said the sector is “at the pin of its collar” and the increase in workload from the expansion of State scheme is exacerbating the problem. “We once again call on the department to open meaningful dialogue with the community pharmacy sector, rather than spending more time producing internal memos.”