In 2025 we took an account of the work across the various medicines and pharmacy functions which identified areas of common responsibilities, particularly in relation to medicines, regulatory governance, and the interface between pharmacy, regulatory and commercial policy. This, along with the new policy programme on expansion of the role of pharmacists, as well as the substantial related new programme of work arising from the CPA25 clearly underscored the need for a more defined Unit with improved cohesiveness.
In January we reconfigured the pharmacy function to ensure that we will be better positioned to meet current and future challenges, deliver on our mandate, and achieve improved outcomes for patients, professionals, and the wider health system. We now have a dedicated workstream for ‘all things pharmacy’ which I think really reflects the importance of creating a modernised pharmacy service for the future.
If someone asked me to describe my role as the Head of the Unit, it would be to deliver on strategic reform of pharmacy services, including implementation of CPA25. I also have responsibility for all policy matters relating to the Misuse of Drugs Acts and Regulations, and governance matters overseeing the HPRA and PSI.
I am extremely lucky to have three pharmacists on my team who offer invaluable practical knowledge and do a good job of keeping me in check.
This year, for me, my key priorities are to continue to build the pharmacy function through the recruitment of a Chief Pharmaceutical Officer, continue the great work on service expansion via the CPA25 and consider the next steps for Common Conditions Service and pharmacist prescribing.
My Unit sits within the Primary Care Division, alongside other Units such as Medicines Pricing and Reimbursement Policy, GP Services, Eligibility Policy, Primary Care Policy and Oral Health Policy. It is an extremely busy division and due to the depth and breadth of its remit, we engage regularly with other policy Units across the Department, the HSE and across Government.
At the risk of giving my age away I qualified as a physiotherapist in 2005 and immediately started working in Tallaght Hospital before moving on to Beaumont Hospital and then into community care. While I did work across all disciplines of physio, my main interests were in respiratory care and orthopaedics. In 2015 I started a MSc in Health Services Management and began a new phase of my career in the Primary Care Reimbursement Service until 2019. I then moved into the Department of Health, straight into the Primary Care Division and have stayed here since. When I landed into the Department I actually started in the old iteration of Community Pharmacy Policy in 2019. This was before COVID-19, which almost seems like a lifetime ago now, but little did I know it was setting me up with a good foundation of knowledge that would be needed for this current role.
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Since the Taskforce published its recommendations, there has been clear momentum in the Department of Health, the IPU, the HSE and the PSI in the area of pharmacy — developing both the profession and the services delivered in the community. I am fully committed to working with pharmacists to deliver on all aspects of the CPA25, be that in respect of short-term deliverables like electronic working and continuation of oral contraception prescriptions or more medium-term considerations like how we can further expand the Common Conditions Service. Engagement from practicing pharmacists is key in delivering on these reforms — I value all input so far, and stress that ongoing, sustained engagement is crucial to ensure successful delivery of future possible services.
In the longer term I can continue to see a role for community pharmacists in delivering both preventative and therapeutic care for our patients, keeping them healthy and well. A progressive move towards increased prescribing will be a monumental change for how pharmacy will evolve and it is an exciting time to be involved in this new era of the profession.
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For so long pharmacists have been recognised as experts in medicines, and the accessible nature of community pharmacy is a key part of that. But the main shift I have seen is one of mainly a dispensing role to a much broader, patient-focused, clinical healthcare service. It’s wonderful to see pharmacists being able to offer direct patient care services such as health screenings, blood pressure checks, smoking cessation advice and emergency contraception. Community pharmacists are also key partners in the delivery of State immunisation campaigns and were the preferred choice for parents with children receiving the nasal flu vaccine last year — a real reflection of how trusted pharmacists are as frontline professionals.
After COVID-19 the momentum in pharmacy reform really kicked off. I think what really came out of a very tough time for healthcare delivery, in particular for frontline services like community pharmacy, was a recognition of how your members really stepped up and supported local communities. I feel really privileged to have worked alongside your members during that time and am delighted to see how the services have evolved since then, particularly with the recommendations from the Expert Taskforce.
CPA25 represents a significant milestone in strengthening the relationships between the Department, the IPU and the HSE. I am committed to working with, and for, pharmacists and pharmacy and look forward to building on the relationships that have already been established.
While CPA25 explicitly commits to ongoing formalised engagement and collaboration between the Department, the IPU and the HSE, it is the local relationships that will be key to developing excellence in community pharmacy. I think as clinicians we are likely most comfortable in multi-disciplinary working anyway. We recognise the importance of MDT collaboration and integrated care to deliver for our patients. It is this collaborative working that brought the Common Conditions Service to life. Let’s build on this, learn from each other and plan for future success.  For me, the voice of the patient is key in policy development, but where we are developing a modernised pharmacy service the voice of the pharmacist is non-negotiable.
I do think public perception has shifted somewhat in recent years, particularly after COVID-19 and more recently in response to the expansion of services.
You are accessible (I’d argue one of the most accessible), front-line healthcare professionals. This was particularly obvious during the pandemic when you provided reliable health advice during a period of anxiety and uncertainty. Pharmacies stayed open when many services were limited — this increased trust and visibility.
Fast forward to now. Gone are the days where the pharmacy is seen as just a place to pick up medicines — it’s a first point of contact for minor, common conditions. Pharmacists are experts in medicines, not just suppliers. Through the implementation of CPA25, the public will continue to recognise pharmacists’ competence in clinical decision-making. However, we are moving at pace, and I’d argue that public education is still catching up with service expansion. Promotion of new services is so important. Word of mouth — family to family members, friends to friends, colleagues to colleagues.
When we think of ‘supports’ for pharmacy with new services we traditionally might think of things like training and guidance materials. Pharmacists are already fully engaged with these resources — I was blown away by the level of uptake in the training for Common Conditions — even before Christmas when I am conscious you were all so busy. While these are clearly important, we need to look beyond this to future-proof the profession.
I am one of the Department members of the Pharmacy Workforce Working Group, which is an excellent forum to recognise the importance of supporting a sustainable pharmacy workforce for the future. Together we are committed to supporting pharmacists in their roles. There are a number of recommendations from the Group which I am prioritising in 2025, all of which I am confident will support optimal working in community pharmacies — introducing changes to legislation to reduce administrative burden in pharmacy record keeping, commencing the development of a workforce strategy for pharmacy, and exploring the evolving role of pharmacy technicians.
Even before I joined the Unit, I was delighted to see the Expert Taskforce specifically recommending the appointment a CPO and the 2025 Programme for Government committing to delivering on this. The CPO will be a key leadership position within the Department, and my vision is that over the coming years we will develop a strategic plan for pharmaceutical care in Ireland. As part of this I want us to work together to influence the shape of future national healthcare policies, ensuring that pharmaceutical considerations are integrated into all aspects of our healthcare planning and delivery. This will include health promotion, therapeutic care through diagnosis and prescribing, point-of-care testing and medicines optimisation. More locally, we need to continue to ensure that all future pharmacy policies are developed in line with evidence-based health promotion strategies.
The CPO will be an important part of the overall jigsaw, needed to achieve this vision. Leveraging the expertise of the CPO, we will also begin to consider appropriate stepwise clinical pathway design for independent, autonomous prescribing. Piece by piece, the CPO will be an integral part of each step of future service design and implementation. I have mentioned before that including the ‘voice’ of the pharmacist in policy design is non-negotiable for me — the CPO will be a champion for the profession, encouraging active participation in service development at every step. I look forward to working very closely with him/her in 2025 and beyond.
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By the end of 2026, patients and pharmacy staff can expect to see community pharmacy delivering:
It is important that we work together to promote these new services locally, raising awareness with patients that pharmacy service offerings are expanding, and at pace!
I do however recognise that delivering such direct patient care initiatives do impact the shape of the daily work of the dispensary and the pharmacy team. To support pharmacists and their teams I am committed to delivering reduced administrative burden — the first step will be to introduce electronic record keeping and electronic controlled drugs registers. My team and I have worked very closely with members of the IPU, the HSE and the PSI to deliver on this and will continue to do so in the coming months. This is another example of how our collaborative work has been a success, and I thank everyone who has been involved — particularly IPU members who assisted with a proof-of-concept exercise early in January. While patients may not fully appreciate the background work that is being done to deliver electronic record keeping, they will notice it in other ways — changing the level of pharmacists’ engagement in direct patient care, applying their expertise in ways where there was more limited capacity to do so before.
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It’s timely to thank all IPU members who have I have worked either directly or indirectly over the years — from before COVID-19, through the challenges that came with the pandemic, and now into the new era of community pharmacy. I’m interested in learning about innovative services out there that are (to me at least) unknown and perhaps unappreciated. Virtual care, digital technologies, and medicines optimisation are areas I am particularly interested in.
There’s a lot of opportunities on the horizon: between new clinical services, enhanced autonomy in prescribing, greater participation in policy development and implementation. Now is the time to celebrate everything that has been achieved over the past few years but it’s not the time to ease the foot off the pedal. Let’s work together to keep the momentum, strengthen the relationships we have already built and look towards the future of pharmacy. Who knows . . . there’s still time for me to go back and do the MPharm. There’s life in me yet!
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