Community Drug Schemes  – Additional Supply For Travel Requirements  

Patients may not always be familiar with the protocol governing the provision of monthly medication supplies under Community Schemes and may often rely on community pharmacists for guidance. As the summer season approaches, with many patients likely to be traveling for an extended period, we encourage you to provide as much support to your patients as possible. There are financial, temporal, and practical requirements for patients to comply with PCRS protocol when traveling or working abroad. This can result in significant inconvenience to the patient, pharmacy, prescriber and PCRS due to the increased need for communication and coordination between all parties, so it is advisable to be aware of what one can reasonably expect in such situation.

Where the PCRS is informed of an individual’s prolonged absence from the country, it has been customary to authorise up to three months’ worth of medication to facilitate their healthcare needs while abroad. However, since the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, the PCRS and specifically the High Tech Hub have observed a significant increase in requests for up to six months’ worth of medication.

Given the cost implications and the careful considerations that must be made when storing High Tech medicines (many of which require refrigeration), patients may be required to provide travel dates and/or a letter of support from a GP/Consultant confirming that the person is leaving the country for a period of time, particularly when accessing three months or more of HSE stock of High Tech medicines. Prescribers have typically been issuing letters as a matter of routine to confirm that they are aware of their patient’s absence and satisfied that they should have an adequate supply of medication while away.