Maybe I’m getting old and complacent, but I’m extremely positive about the new community pharmacy agreement. It’s not perfect, but it sure is an order of magnitude better than where we stood a year ago. Having spoken to quite a few pharmacists I can see that the majority seemed to feel that it marks a key point in our profession’s progress. Yes, they have concerns, most of which are reasonable and predictable. Don’t forget that some of our representatives at the table are practising pharmacists, they know what will work for community pharmacy. Inevitably, social media will help foster a steady diet of unrelenting negativity, rage and polarisation. As trained scientists, we owe it to ourselves to look at the evidence. The pseudo-enraged reaction that somebody shouts across a chat group is never a good place to form opinions. We owe it to ourselves, individually, to examine carefully the document that has been put in front of us. In my case, what do I see?
The first thing that jumps out at me is that we have a result. Look at our shopping list before we went into these negotiations — a seat at the national healthcare table. One of the deep frustrations that we have all been feeling, over the last few decades, is the clear lack of both awareness and inclusion of community pharmacy in the decisions that were affecting our day-to-day pharmacy lives. An obvious symptom has been the lack of a Chief Pharmaceutical Officer. This high-level departmental position is charged with an overview of the intersection of pharmacy, with the State. It is hard to understate how important this position will be. Just like the Chief Medical Officer for medicine, their job will be strategic overview and leadership for the pharmaceutical sector.
Another positive is we have finally broken the psychological barrier of a fee increase. For the first time in seventeen years, we have seen an uplift in fees. Yes, it is not a reversal of FEMPI, but it is a start. Additionally, we have seen an increase in the allowances paid to pharmacies for delivering additional services. I, for one, am delighted that the training grant has been increased. Having put quite a few trainee technicians through my pharmacy, it is great to think that I will now be able to recoup at least the full fee cost of their training. It is also good to see that I can finally see a recognition of the serious investment I make annually to access medical information subscriptions.
The rollout of the Common Conditions Service will be an integral part of the evolution of community pharmacy in Ireland. It will obviously take a little time to bed down. But I have no doubt that it will be a core aspect of community pharmacy in the future. It is quite evident that primary care medicine, in the form of GP practices, is, and will continue to be, under considerable pressure. To protect the nation’s health, the State needs to have a dependable and trusted primary health pharmacy service to work alongside the others. Community pharmacy is well positioned to deliver on this important strategic objective. We have proven that we can be entrusted to deliver high quality services, such as vaccination, at a level that is integral to the successful rollout of key services.
The issue of phased dispensing has been a lightning rod for almost a decade. Getting confused with blister packing hasn’t helped. It has now come to a head. The decisions around this are controversial and illustrate the key part we play in helping vulnerable populations. I feel that this issue is more nuanced, with much of the discussion still to take place.
The final section of the agreement is, to my mind, going to be utterly transformative. Being late to the technology party has meant that Ireland has been a laggard in the delivery of electronic health services. The lack of a national electronic health record is truly extraordinary in 2025. While the good news is that it is coming, it is important that it is delivered in a way that recognises and includes pharmacy as a key component. There are a lot of three- and four-letter acronyms been thrown about in health IT. Whether it is proper electronic prescriptions, updating health records for vaccination or common condition services, we will have a key role in keeping people’s electronic health record up to date. An obvious requirement, from our point of view, is to have reliable IT systems that can interact with this critical State infrastructure. Our pharmacy systems will need to be certified to ensure the day are sufficiently robust and secure to deliver digital health services.
Finally, it would be wrong not to thank those that have worked unrelentingly to deliver this agreement. To both the staff and the committee members that delivered this, thank you!
Jack Shanahan MPSI
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