Safe Pharmacy is a national service led by the IPU in partnership with the HSE, An Garda Síochána, and Safe Ireland. It enables any person experiencing domestic abuse or coercive control to safely access support through participating community pharmacies.
Information on the Safe Pharmacy service has recently been circulated to HSE services and health professionals, outlining ways in which they can support and increase awareness of this important initiative:
Inform and signpost: Let patients know that they can ask to speak to the pharmacist in a private consultation room and will be supported discreetly;
Strengthen pathways: Incorporate Safe Pharmacy into safety planning, discharge information, and routine signposting across primary and secondary care; and
Normalise access: Reassure patients that asking to speak to the pharmacist is commonplace and will not appear unusual.
