The meeting opened, as always, with the report of the Registrar. Ms Joanne Kissane outlined the plethora of activities the PSI had been involved in since the previous meeting in June, such as the launch of the Workforce Intelligence Report the previous week, which she said received significant media coverage. PSI staff, along with the Registrar and the PSI Council President, had met with Health Minister Stephen Donnelly and his officials in the Department of Health to discuss the future scope of practice and outputs from the Report, she added. The PSI is now engaging with Grant Thornton to deliver the Workforce Survey Analysis Report 2024, and an adapted survey will be issued to all pharmacists later this year.
The Registrar noted that the PSI project team is currently in the process of implementing the revised Third Country Qualification Recognition (TCQR) route, while the autumn roadshows helping pharmacists to self-assess against the revised Core Competency Framework (and other issues), are almost concluded.
The first meeting of the Expert Taskforce to Support the Expansion of the Role of Pharmacy took place in late August, Ms Kissane told the Council members, and the taskforce has now met three times. She noted that the Department of Health had warmly welcomed this development and is very keen for this to progress.
Pharmacist Sean Reilly queried whether the potential additional duties for pharmacists would be accompanied by the uncoupling of the current administrative burden for pharmacists, noting that this is hugely time consuming and could preclude them from expanding their current role. He was assured by the Registrar that this aspect is also being discussed by the Taskforce. Pharmacist Mark Jordan also expressed his concerns that this may lead to a significant additional training burden for pharmacists — he was told that the extent of this may just be attending webinars delivered through the Irish Institute of Pharmacy (IIOP).
Mr Reilly noted that there is a shortage of supervising pharmacists, and highlighted what he called the “ongoing reluctance by some pharmacists to take up these governance roles”. Ms Kissane assured him that the PSI is looking at ways to support supervising pharmacists by providing clarity on their requirements, and this will be addressed via the PSI autumn roadshows during October. This is linked to the ongoing work on the new delineation model for retail pharmacy business, and the Registrar noted that they are currently engaged in preparing draft rules for the implementation of the new model, which will be brought to Council as soon as possible. Mr Reilly asked if there was any possibility of involving the owners of pharmacies to any extent, and Ms Kissane noted that the roles and responsibilities of pharmacy owners would be addressed as part of this process.
An update on the implementation of the Service Plan for 2023 was then given, with a number of projects paused or delayed. The community pharmacy standards based regulatory model project is currently paused, noted Ms Kissane, while the new website development and rollout is still tracking red, although the PSI has signed a contract with a new provider.
Geraldine Campbell sought clarification that work on the ongoing Patient Experience Programme is mindful of including and prioritising people with additional needs, and she was assured that this is a considered element of the programme.
During the meeting, the Council approved the extension of the PSI Communications Strategy to year end 2024, given that it still meets the organisation’s needs, while a similar motion to approve an extension of its HR strategy was also approved.
Manager of the PSI Legal Affairs Unit Caroline Murphy sought approval from Council on a motion of delegation to the Registrar regarding section 56(4) and (5) of the Pharmacy Act 2007and a consequential amendment to its Publications & Disclosure Policy 2022. She explained that would allow the Council to give public notice of a Fitness to Practise matter outcome to other regulators, and the motion sought to delegate that power to the Registrar given it is purely an administrative function. The amendment to the publications and disclosure policy related to the PSI’s power to give notice to a regulator in another jurisdiction of a sanction that arises in a third jurisdiction. These motions were both approved.
An update on the Business Transformation Programme was given by Ms Grainne Power who said a contractor for phase 2 had now been appointed. This was followed by an update from the Special Purposes Committee given by PSI President Katherine Morrow, during which a number of members were appointed to the PSI advisory, disciplinary and health committees. A request for approval from Council of a recommendation on the Action Plan arising from the performance review of Council was also satisfied.
The report of the Performance and Resources Committee was given by Ann McGarry, who also sought approval of management accounts to June 2023. It was noted that there was an unspecified item of legal expenditure relating to confidential matters included in the accounts — some Council members expressed concern regarding a possible lack of transparency regarding the reason for that. Paula Barry Walsh said that while she did not doubt the integrity of the Council, she was concerned in relation to transparency and asked why it was not possible for the executive to offer a high level explanation at least to the reasons for confidentiality: “I think it would be prudent for the Board to know at the broadest level what the payments are for.” The Registrar Ms Kissane noted these matters had been discussed at the Performance and Resources Committee meeting, and she stressed that the President of the PSI at the time was aware of the matter. The payment remains confidential for legal reasons, and she said she could outline further details at the subsequent private meeting of the Council. However, Geraldine Crowley explained that it was a payment related to legal expenses rather than a payment or settlement, while Lorraine Horgan, head of corporate services, noted that under the code of practice for state bodies, legal settlements are required to be highlighted and would have to be addressed in financial statements. Sean Reilly said he was disappointed that there wasn’t full engagement on this; “it wasn’t dealt with in the best way”. Ms Kissane again stressed they had committed to keeping these matters confidential — it was agreed to postpone approving the accounts until the private meeting.
The Audit and Risk Committee report was then delivered by Geraldine Campbell, who noted it was a “very positive report”. Requests for Council to approve an updated risk management framework, updated corporate governance framework and updated gifts and hospitality policy were all positively received. The final item of the meeting saw Grainne Power seek approval for the IIOP Practice Review Policy, which was duly given.
Danielle Barron
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