The IPU National Pharmacy Conference 2025 took place on 10 May in the Lyrath Estate Hotel, Kilkenny, featuring an exciting lineup of speakers, and a wide array of companies that support the industry. Over 100 community pharmacists attended the event, and prominent speakers included the Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill TD.
The event was hosted by Conall Ó Móráin, business broadcaster and MC.
Keynote speaker Dr Ronan Glynn took to the stage following a welcome address from Tom Murray, IPU President. Dr Glynn, a Partner and Health Sector Lead at EY Ireland (in addition to being the former Deputy Chief Medical Officer during the COVID pandemic), looked at Ireland’s health projections for 2040 and the need to invest in long-term improvements in our healthcare system. He outlined three key issues: population health, digital transformation and structural transformation. Providing key statistics on the much higher ratio of older people in Irish society by 2040 and the projection that 25 per cent of the Government’s budget will need to go towards health spending at that time, Dr Glynn outlined that; “Our healthcare system was not designed for this future. Hence, a whole system transformation is required.”
He said we must address key questions urgently, including, what is it we actually want for the health of our population, and where is our health workforce coming from? He said the vision for community pharmacy is key to this.
“ Our healthcare system was not designed for this future. Hence, a whole system transformation is required.”
While we need a “radical rethinking” of how we provide health services, there are grounds for optimism, not least that we are at the tipping point of a digital transformation, which “will mark a sea change in healthcare provision”. Dr Glynn asserted that pharmacy is well positioned to become the local face of digital health. This could involve developments such as, the expansion of ePrescribing; maximising the impact and opportunity from the Shared Care Record; support remote monitoring and virtual care; offer digitally enabled consultations; and enable pharmacists to act as digital health literacy champions. However, Dr Glynn said, if pharmacists are to play a key role in this radical transformation, “then you have to be funded to do so”.
Darren Stephens, SVP and Commercial Lead UKI, EU and Strategic Partnerships at Radiobotics, delivered a compelling speech on the importance of ICT system integration, under the title of ‘Transforming Community Care with Lessons from Radiology and Emergency Medicine’.
Starting with an example of the practical steps of what happens when an incident occurs, such as an older person falling in their home, Mr Stephens detailed the typical pathway of care from hospital admission to injury review, including x-rays. He then posed the question of, “What if care didn’t always have to follow the same road”? What if instead, an augmented path existed, one closer to home, with solutions that are “kinder for patients, and smarter for the healthcare system”. Mr Stephens looked at AI-driven trauma identification in practice, highlighting that while these options were only beginning in 2015, by 2021 170 such solutions existed in the EU, and this year, we have potentially over 300. The majority of such solutions fall into the categories of chest (x-ray and CT); neuro and stroke care (CT); mammography; and emergency department options, including musculoskeletal triage programmes and scribes (documenting patient encounters). Mr Stephens then detailed the use of the RBfracture, which provides AI-powered, automatic detection of trauma-related findings — it reduced the rate of missed fracture at an NHS hospital by 86 per cent.
Looking at Irish opportunities in this area he said we need to take all the international best practice and apply it locally in Ireland; “Ireland can lead in EU and globally with AI”, given our thriving SMEs and Medtech environment, and we could work side-by-side with industry and adopt a “birth to bedside” strategy. One potential opportunity is to look at combining AI with point of care diagnostics in areas such as a mobile x-ray machine that diagnoses in remote settings.
Mr Stephens concluded with the quote, “The question isn’t whether AI will be part of healthcare . . . it’s how you’ll choose to use it.”
The next session dealt with medicine shortages, with IPU Vice-President Caoimhe McAuley providing an overview of the recently published IPU medicines shortages survey (an article detailing the survey results was published in the May IPU Review). One of the key takeaways from this year’s survey was that time spent on managing medicine shortages has increased by two hours per pharmacist per week to 6 hours 22 minutes.
The subsequent panel discussion on medicine shortages had to be postponed, and it is the IPU’s intention that a webinar on this topic will scheduled over the coming weeks.
The following session focussed on pharmacy workforce challenges, and began with a presentation from Jorge Batista, Senior Professional Affairs Advisor at the PGEU entitled ‘Ensuring Sustainability of the Community Pharmacy Workforce’. Detailing the pressing concern of the shortage of community pharmacists, which is an issue across Europe, Mr Batista said the causes are multi-factorial, and have been impacted by: demographic shifts; a worn out workforce; limited educational capacity in terms of universities producing graduates; a shortage of resources to enable professionals to effectively carry out new duties; chronic underfunding over the years; a lack of governmental policies; and unchanged and outdated remuneration models. He said solutions need to focus on the core ideas of attract, retain and empower, and to achieve this, we need urgent action, focused initiatives and collaboration.
This was followed by a presentation from PSI Registrar and CEO Joanne Kissane who provided an overview of the Pharmacy Workforce Working Group (see article in May IPU Review), and a video message from Mary Rose Burke, CEO of Dublin Chamber, who outlined the work of the Employee and Employer Pharmacist Forum, of which she is Chair.
A panel discussion followed the presentations, and Mr Batista joined Ms Kissane on stage, as well as Emer Lane, pharmacist and Member of the IPU’s Employee Pharmacist Committee, and Grace Finan, pharmacy student and Campaign and Events Coordinator at the Irish Pharmaceutical Students’ Association.
Chaired by host Conall Ó Móráin, the discussion kicked off with Mr Ó Moráin asking Ms Finan why she has chosen pharmacy. Responding that she believes the profession holds “exciting opportunities”, Ms Finan said she “got in to help people and help patients”, adding that she believes pharmacists are getting “closer to broadening our skillset”. She said that while she has more pharmacy student colleagues in Australia than Ireland, “we have jobs to come home to, and that we’re excited to come home to”.
Emer Lane discussed the impact of medicine shortages, saying “the load is on our shoulders, trying to support patients”. She said many of the issues affecting Irish community pharmacists are mirrored across Europe, and that speaking to European colleagues, they have similar problems in terms of reaching hospitals to clarify prescriptions etc.
Mr Batista said work-life balance is increasingly important, and more emphasis is being put on this across Europe. He said the need for this is paramount given the issues pharmacists are dealing with on a daily basis, especially patient frustration; “dealing with a problem they didn’t create”.
Ms Kissane discussed the three new Schools of Pharmacy, and the importance of these in helping to alleviate workforce issues. When asked a question from the floor on the relationship between burnout and excessive bureaucracy, she said the PSI is committed to a light touch approach, that is proportionate and at the lowest level of complexity.
She also echoed much of what was said throughout the conference proceedings; while the scope of practise for community pharmacists has been quite limited, that’s all changing, and the Irish healthcare system needs pharmacists to practise at the top of their skillset.
Following lunch, Dr Harry Barry delivered a motivational talk on, ‘Selfcare and Emotional Resilience’. He discussed the professional challenges and life stressors many pharmacists face, and said we need to be asking ourselves how we are minding our personal mental health. Citing two common conditions affecting our mental health as toxic stress and bouts of depression, Dr Barry initially discussed the former, which manifests as burnout if it continues for more than three months.
Toxic stress “occurs when our mental and physical reserves are overrun by the pressures of life”, and the consequences of it can have a profound effect on both our mental and physical health, and on the wellbeing of those around us. He also delved into the symptoms of depression and conducted some practical exercises with the audience on evaluating our own levels of self-care. Dr Barry then explored how we can mind our mental health, looking at lifestyle changes and the importance of sleep in particular. The impact of technology and work-life balance was also explained, as well as emotional resilience and the importance of empathy.
Dr Barry’s presentation slides detail some of the practical exercises and key questions we can ask ourselves, and as with the other presentations from the conference, are available at events.ipu.ie.
‘Navigating the Evolving Role of Community Pharmacy — Getting the Balance Right’ was the theme of the ‘Great Debate’. The session was highly interactive and engaging, with Dr Ronan Glynn, Jorge Batista and Joanne Kissane, rejoining the stage, while Áine McCabe, a member of the IPU’s Community Pharmacy Committee, joined the earlier speakers.
Dr Glynn echoed his earlier presentation when he said that we are on the cusp of significant change in the use of technology in health, but we need to step back and not think about five years’ time, but rather a longer vision. He also said that we need to depersonalise our own roles within the system and look at what’s best for the health system overall.
Ms McCabe said that it is hard to imagine that pharmacists have taken on the services they have thus far, without funding. She said that while COVID revolutionised the ability of the HSE to adapt, “old ways are starting to creep back in”. She also emphasised the importance of keeping the high calibre of pharmacists we currently have, in the workforce. Similar to Dr Glynn, Ms McCabe said generational changes are coming “like a freight change”, and Ireland needs to rapidly ramp up our standards in digital and AI infrastructure.
The role of Pharmacy Technicians was also discussed, and Mr Batista provided a European perspective, saying such a role does not exist in other countries, including Italy. Ms McCabe said the lack of Technicians is an issue, and their role is vitally important; “I couldn’t do my job as I do it without the support of a Technician”. She also emphasised the importance of all pharmacy staff being upskilled as much as possible.
The Common Conditions Service was also discussed, and Ms McCabe sits on the clinical subgroup of the Expert Taskforce looking at this services. She emphasised the importance of having pharmacist input on this group, providing the example of other professionals on the group being unaware that blood pressure monitoring is routinely provided in community pharmacy.
When asked if she foresees the range of Common Conditions being expanded beyond the eight currently being discussed at present, Ms Kissane said yes, there are a significant number listed in Expert Taskforce’s report, and the intention is to move beyond the eight currently planned.
However, Ms McMcabe said that until funding is provided for the work we are doing now, we can’t take on anything else., saying adequate funding “is critical to our survival”.
Dr Glynn emphasised the importance of having a pharmacist’s input at senior levels of Government discussions, highlighting the importance of the Government pledge to put in place a Chief Pharmaceutical Officer; “pharmacy needs to be embedded across the Department and HSE and I’m not sure that’s always been the case”.
The debate finalised with a question to all panellists as to whether we should be optimistic or pessimistic for the future of pharmacy: Ms Kissane said it is a great time to be in pharmacy, “albeit there is a lot of work to do around the funding model”. Dr Glynn said there is an enormous gap in services compared to some other countries, and there is need for a trusted profession to step in, as there is a rapidly growing consumer need for health services that is not being met at the moment. Mr Batista said we currently have the best skilled graduates that we have ever had, and we need to attract and retain talent. Finally, Ms McCabe said is it vitally important that community pharmacy is seen equally in the health arena and we’re represented at the table equally.
Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill TD then presented to the audience. She opened by thanking pharmacists for the care they provide, especially at a vulnerable time in people’s lives, highlighting the vital role played by the profession during the COVID pandemic. She said community pharmacy is a huge part of Sláintecare, and “we absolutely need to expand what you do.” She discussed introducing a Common Clinical Conditions service, which she wants to see up and running in 2025. Acknowledging that there has been no increase in core community pharmacy fees “for quite some time”, she said the “political reality is very tight”, highlighting budgetary constraints. However, she said there is a commitment to additional recurring finance available for pharmacy including the €50 million already agreed. Minister Carroll MacNeill also acknowledged the heavy administrative burden pharmacists face, but said she believes it is an “exciting time to be a pharmacist”.
Speaking directly after Minister Carroll MacNeill and while she was still present, IPU President Tom Murray said her “presence sends a strong and important message: community pharmacy matters, and it has a vital role to play in the future of our healthcare system.”
Mr Murray said empowering pharmacists to practice to their full scope was “not a partisan ambition . . . It enjoys cross party support, as reflected in numerous party manifestos and now clearly set out in the current Programme for Government.”
However, he emphasised that while community pharmacists are willing, able and ready to deliver for their patients, the current fee structure is the elephant in the room, and that “without sustainable funding we cannot maintain the services we are providing”, let alone add-on additional services.
Mr Murray highlighted that, “it is now incumbent on all of us to ensure this transformation happens at pace and in a sustainable, patient-centred way. The stage is set. We are ready. We just need to be enabled, and the time is now.”
And with that, the 2025 National Pharmacy Conference closed. The AGM was held immediately after the conference.. The event closed with the Gala Dinner, which provided the opportunity for much needed reflection on, and rehabilitation from, the day’s proceedings.
Presentation slides from the conference are available at events.ipu.ie.
Siobhán Kane
Editorial Manager, IPU
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