Rollout of the new national Unused Medicines Return and Disposal Service, MediBack, commenced in July with the issuing of HSE Circular NCO-25-2026. The primary goal of MediBack is the promotion of the safe disposal of unused and expired medicines through community pharmacies. The campaign’s inclusion in the CPA25 as a service that will be delivered by every pharmacy signed up to the Agreement reflects its importance in supporting both patient safety and environmental responsibility.
Bins for use in the service have been delivered to all pharmacies nationwide by Stericycle, the company contracted by the HSE to manage this type of waste collection. Stericycle will liaise directly with pharmacies in relation to their collection schedule, with collections being offered monthly for the first three months.
A national launch of the service took place on 29 August. A media campaign will continue over the coming weeks to raise awareness of the service amongst the public. Clear messaging will outline to the public the items which can and cannot be accepted as part of the service. Pharmacies are encouraged to raise awareness of the service locally. When doing so you are required to utilise uniform branding and nomenclature to ensure standardisation and identity of the service. Approved branding, logo and usage guidelines are available on the IPU MediBack Hub at ipu.ie > Professional > Unused Medicines Return and Disposal Service.
Plans for the evaluation of the service via a subset of 200 MediBack data champion pharmacies are progressing. Evaluation will focus predominantly on collating insights related to the types and quantities of pharmaceuticals being disposed of, as well as seeking to understand patient awareness and behaviours regarding medicine disposal.
HSE Circular NCO-28-2026 sets out the opportunities for community pharmacy involvement in the BowelScreen Programme. At the time of publication over 1,600 pharmacies had opted in to this important opportunity for community pharmacy to demonstrate its value as a trusted public health partner.
Bowel cancer is the second most common newly diagnosed cancer in men and the third most common in women. With studies showing that bowel cancer screening from the age of 50 upwards can reduce the number of people dying from bowel cancer, increasing awareness of, and engagement with, the programme is important.
To support you and your teams in this activity the HSE National Screening Service, the IPU and partners have developed and recorded three short education modules for pharmacists and their teams to complete at a time that suits each person. Where a pharmacy has opted in to the programme pharmacy team members are required to complete all three modules, and the full suite will take less than 30 minutes to complete. The three modules cover:
A short questions and answers document has been developed to support the three education modules. Further information and links to access the modules are available on the BowelScreen hub on the IPU website at ipu.ie > Professional > BowelScreen Programme.
Further health promotion activity is planned for later this year (Q4). We will keep you updated via our Newsletter and WhatsApp group as/when more information becomes available.
The CCS continues to grow with pharmacists nationwide supporting patients in accessing care closer to home. Revenue have confirmed that the CCS will qualify for the medical services exemption when it comes to VAT, meaning that the service charge is VAT exempt. Members are reminded that, because it is exempt, no input credit for the pharmacies arises in relation to the VAT on purchases related to the provision of the service. A copy of the Revenue advice in relation to this can be found at ipu.ie > Support > Tax Information.
Separately, LAYA will be introducing a benefit from 1 October 2026 for pharmacist visits for the Common Conditions Service. For claims to be processed LAYA members will need to present a receipt in a specified format. A template receipt containing all the required information can be found on the CCS Hub on the IPU website at ipu.ie > Professional > Common Conditions Service.
The Department of Health national survey for members of the public is still live. You are encouraged to continue to highlight it to patients.
Improved access to contraceptive services in Ireland is vital for promoting reproductive autonomy and reducing health inequalities. It is a cornerstone of the national Women’s Health Action Plan. To support improved access development of a new pharmacy service, the Contraception Prescribing Service, is currently being progressed as part of the work of the Community Pharmacy Expansion Implementation Oversight Group. This service will enable pharmacists to provide repeat prescriptions for specified forms of contraception to women aged 17 years and over, following an initial prescription from a GP. Where patients have eligibility under the Free Contraception Scheme pharmacists will be reimbursed to provide the service and otherwise the service will be provided on a private basis.
The Contraception Prescribing Service will mirror the regulatory framework in place for the Common Conditions Service. Legislation, clinical protocols, guidance and training to support service implementation in community pharmacies are currently being developed and progressed. It is anticipated that the key enablers may be in place later this year, at which time pharmacies can decide to implement the service in their practice.
The IPU will be developing a range of supports for the service, including a CPS Hub on the IPU website. We will keep you updated via our Newsletter and WhatsApp group as/when resources go live.
The NCDS invitations continue to be issued to pharmacies on a phased basis. The invitation supports pharmacies to order free condoms and lubricants from the NCDS. These can then be provided free of charge as part of consultations such as emergency contraception and the new Contraception Prescribing Service. The aim of the service is to further support such patients in engaging with safe sexual health practices. Further information and support materials are available on the NCDS Hub on the IPU website.
Following on from the Pregnancy and Alcohol, and Men’s Health Week campaigns earlier this year, the health promotion focus for Q4 2026 will be the BowelScreen programme and the Winter Vaccination programme. Further information can be found in the respective sections of this article.
As we approach the winter season there are many opportunities to engage patients in conversations about vaccination. With the pharmacy pneumococcal vaccination service (providing PPV 23 vaccination to healthy over-65-year-olds who are eligible) now operational, this can be incorporated into planning for the autumn/winter vaccination season.
In relation to the pneumococcal vaccination service in community pharmacy, please note that ‘healthy over-65-year-olds’ in this context means persons over 65 who do not have a condition that puts them at higher risk of Invasive Pneumococcal Disease (IPD). These conditions are outlined in Table 16.1 of ‘Chapter 16’ of the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) Immunisation Guidelines for Ireland.
Resources to support delivery in practice are available on the Pneumococcal Vaccination Hub on the IPU website at ipu.ie > Professional > Vaccines and Injectables > Pneumococcal Vaccination Hub.
Section 4.3 of CPA25 includes commitments to modernise prescription management and reduce unnecessary administrative burden, while maintaining regulatory safeguards.
The following legislative changes come into operation on 30 June 2026:
Together, these legislative changes provide for prescriptions transmitted via the national electronic prescription transfer system (i.e. via Healthmail or the High-Tech Hub) and prescription registers (daily audit reports) to be retained electronically, removing the requirement to print them in defined circumstances. The legislation also provides for the use of electronic controlled drug registers.
The legislation also places obligations on pharmacy owners to satisfy themselves that any electronic systems used for these purposes comply with the relevant legislative and regulatory requirements.
Following discussion with the IPU IT Steering Group (ITSG), the IPU Executive Committee requested that the IPU support members by coordinating a structured verification process on their behalf. This reflects the practical reality that it would not be reasonable or efficient for individual pharmacy owners to separately assess and verify complex pharmacy system functionality where the same systems are used across multiple pharmacies.
This approach has also been discussed through the Electronic Record Keeping Implementation Group (ERKIG), and there is broad agreement that a structured, proportionate, and practical verification process is an appropriate way to support implementation, provide consistency and assist pharmacies in meeting their responsibilities. A number of system vendors are currently actively progressing through the process, with the IPU reviewing evidence to verify that individual pharmacy system products meet the relevant functional requirements.
The dedicated ERK Hub on the IPU website at ipu.ie > ERK is the central source of member guidance and implementation resources, including legislative and regulatory information, FAQs, implementation guidance, vendor updates and practical supports.
As part of CPA25, the parties are working towards integration of the PCRS Secure Scheme Checker into pharmacy Patient Medication Record (PMR) systems. Some pharmacy system vendors have already introduced initial functionality, with further development continuing as part of a phased implementation.
The intended user experience goes beyond simply allowing pharmacists to view a patient’s eligibility within the PMR. Pharmacy systems should use clear, automated prompts at the appropriate points in the dispensing workflow to confirm eligibility or alert the pharmacy where an issue requires attention. This should enable potential reimbursement issues to be identified and addressed as early as possible, without requiring pharmacists to leave the PMR system to consult an external website.
The ultimate objective is one-step verification, bringing together the patient information held within the PMR, eligibility and approval information provided by PCRS, and relevant product information and reimbursement flags contained within the IPU Product File. Used together, this information should enable the PMR system to confirm patient eligibility and any patient — or product — specific reimbursement requirements as part of the normal dispensing process.
This is the standard of integration that pharmacies should expect and encourage from their system vendor: not simply access to the Secure Scheme Checker through the PMR, but intelligent use of the available information to provide timely, clear and actionable verification within the pharmacy workflow. This will help reduce rejected claims, improve certainty for patients and pharmacy teams, and reduce the administrative burden associated with confirming eligibility and reimbursement.
The IPU IT Steering Group (ITSG) brings together representatives from the EPC, CPC, PCC and Executive Committee, reflecting the perspectives of independent pharmacies, pharmacy groups and chains. The ITSG considers existing and emerging ICT matters affecting the operation of community pharmacies and maintains oversight of the roadmap of technology developments across the sector. This includes the technology required to support all aspects of CPA25, particularly the administrative and digital reforms set out in sections four and five, as well as the systems needed to enable new and expanded pharmacy services. The ITSG provides a forum through which members’ views can be represented to key stakeholders, including pharmacy system vendors. If you have views on what should come next, functionality you would like to see developed, or observations on recent system developments and updates, please contact the ITSG Chair at itsg-chair@ipu.ie.
Clare Fitzell
Secretary General, IPU
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