There are four national committees within the IPU: the Executive Committee; Community Pharmacy Committee (CPC); Employee Pharmacists’ Committee (EPC); and Pharmacy Contractors’ Committee (PCC). Each committee is made up of a representative from each region, as well as other members who are co-opted onto the committees. In addition to these four committees, this article also provides an overview of the IPU’s IT Steering Group, which is a sub-committee of the CPC.

Committees are the backbone of the work of the IPU and provide the strategic direction and workplans for staff in Butterfield House. By being part of an IPU committee, members get to play an influential role not only in Irish community pharmacy but also the healthcare environment generally.

Our committees represent all of us at the highest level to protect, promote and strengthen the pharmacy profession for the benefit of all members. They play an important role in relation to our professional and ethical standards, how we run our businesses and how we are reimbursed for the work that we do.

We are grateful to all who volunteer their time on committees.

Executive Committee

The Executive Committee is responsible for governance of the IPU, and the other committees (CPC, PCC and EPC) report to the Executive. The Executive Committee oversees the implementation of the IPU’s strategy.

Committee Members

Community Pharmacy Committee (CPC)

The mission of the CPC is to serve and support community pharmacists in their practices and to promote and expand their role as pharmacists by continually developing professional, ethical, business and technological ideals and standards. The CPC held their first meeting on 31 January and at this meeting CPC agreed that their strategy and priorities for 2024 will be influenced by the recommendations from the ‘Expert Taskforce to support the expansion of the role of pharmacists in Ireland’ (the work of which is currently ongoing).

Pharmacy Contractors’ Committee (PCC)

The Pharmacy Contractors’ Committee looks after all matters pertaining to public health services, as they concern community pharmacy, and particularly those community pharmacy proprietors who are contractors to the HSE. This Committee has a particular responsibility for negotiating with the Department of Health and the HSE. The PCC held their first meeting on 24 January, and at this meeting they reiterated that the PCC position remains that unless significant progress in relation to the 16-year pay freeze, regressive tiered fee structure and administrative burden, it will not be possible to implement any changes enabled by new legislation.

Employee Pharmacists’ Committee (EPC)

The EPC deals with matters of relevance to the employee pharmacist members of the IPU. Members of the EPC are also co-opted onto the Executive Committee and the CPC. The EPC held their first meeting on 1 February, and at that meeting they agreed on their priorities for 2024 which include:

establishing the dedicated forum for pharmacist employers and employees as per the PSI recommendation; assisting employee members in implementing any taskforce recommendations; continuing to increase student engagement; and continuing to raise awareness of wellbeing and mental health supports.

IT Steering Group

The IPU’s IT Steering Group (ITSG) is sub-committee of the CPC; however, it consists of members from all committees as well as expert co-options. The ITSG is responsible for the promotion and development of the IT agenda to support the necessary work to deliver on the IPU Statement of Strategy. The IT Steering Group (ITSG) held their first meeting on 7 February.

The ITSG priorities for 2024 include:

• Develop a vision document/whitepaper for claiming and reimbursement;
• Support members with changing pharmacy system vendors;
• Support members with cybersecurity; and
• Progress the work of the Pharmacy Practice Working Group, in particular the SMART Pharmacy programme.

Member

All-committee meetings

All-committee meetings also take place during the committee terms to discuss IPU strategy and policy.