THE REGULATOR for the pharmacy sector has established a new group to examine how services provided by pharmacists to patients can be expanded.
The group will look at whether pharmacists can become more involved in areas such as screening patients for certain medical conditions, managing those with stable long-term conditions and dealing with minor ailments.
The registrar of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland (PSI), Dr Ambrose McLoughlin, said the role of pharmacy in public healthcare was growing internationally, and there was a need to focus more on what pharmacists could bring to patient value, especially in health promotion and prevention.
"This group will examine if pharmacy can deal more effectively than other parts of the health system with many patients' concerns through health promotion and screening for certain chronic conditions, e.g. fingerprick testing for diabetes with referral to GPs when indicated; managing patients with stable, long-term conditions, e.g. cardiac patients and patients suffering from respiratory diseases; advising patients on managing medications; managing minor ailments to reduce unnecessary visits to GPs and outpatient services; obesity and weight management; and to deliver a broader range of diagnostic and screening services, such as cholesterol testing."
The new group will be chaired by Brendan Hayes, president of the PSI.
The group will also include other members of the PSI council, Cathriona Hallihan, managing director, Europe, Middle East and Africa operations at Microsoft; Prof Peter Weedle, lecturer in pharmacy at University College Cork; and Ita Kelleher, a former nurse. She is a public interest nominee of the Minister for Health to the council of the PSI.
The group will report to the council of the PSI within three months.
The PSI will subsequently forward its advisory report to Minister for Health Mary Harney.
In a statement announcing the composition of the group, Dr McLoughlin said such services were already available in the UK, and that there had to be a shift in Ireland towards rewards for quality and range of services provided.
"Pharmacists are a highly-educated profession with a widely dispersed network of pharmacies across the country.
"In our view this has enormous potential to assist with bottlenecks, and to be an effective weapon in improving the health of the population."