Irish Pharmacy hits crisis.

[lamzee]

Latest, Political, Economic, Employment and Technology News from TV3 with Vincent Browne, Midday and 5:30 News

then click on the pharmacy dispute item, just below the screen.

[LLUK77]

Harney is an absolute fool. The HSE cannot sustain this!... does this mean that some locums are getting some work though? - esp if one centre is doing approx 30 pharmacies work?

[lamzee]

no--most locums won't go near these places for fear of blacklisting. Several are running on European locums who left ireland and have been flown back for this.

[LLUK77]

I state again - Harney hasn't a clue. Whilst the patients are inconvinienced, I hope two things come out of this: the government realise that their aims are just not viable AND customers/patients become more appreciative of pharmacy and not harass pharmacists to dispense faster etc.....The Irish Pharmacists are fantastic - I admire how they have stuck together - Do you think TD Harney wil resign?

[DavidS]

Do you think TD Harney wil resign?

Well, she might "resign" but she doesn't seem the type of person who will resign without being pushed hard.

She should remember that of the two professions, politians are always amongst the bottom feeders as far as trust is concerned, whereas pharmacists are right at the top.

With good reason.

[LLUK77]

Indeed....what a shame UK pharmacists are unwilling or unable to stick together in any meaningful way.....the decriminalisation of dispensing errors yielded only 13k signatures out of a 45k membership (approx) - not to mention that out of the 13k, not all of them would have been pharmacists!

[DavidS]

.the decriminalisation of dispensing errors yielded only 13k signatures

That's more than voted in the elections, or on the charter. I suspect its as many as who take the trouble to open the journal.

Mandatory CPD is going to come as a total trauma to many, I'm convinced.

[lamzee]

HSE, Pharmacist standoff continues - TV3


...day 5....

[DavidS]

...day 5....

... and already the press are making obvious factual errors to anyone who has been following the story.

Fortunately in the survey I mentioned, pharmacists were trusted for accuracy much more than the press, and, again, with good reason.

Its interesting that the HSE seem to be cracking, which is how I interpret the threatened use of injunctions.

[Fleegle]

It appears now that basic patient care is now being seriously compromised in some areas...

Fear that people are at risk over 'litany of mistakes'

Irish Independent

Breda Heffernan
A PHARMACIST has described finding a litany of mistakes in the dispensing of medications to some of his former patients by the local HSE dispensary. The man, who does not want to be named because of a fear or "reprisals at a later date" was approached by a number of confused patients who were worried at their prescriptions. "I'm at the end of my tether, something horrific is going to happen," he told the Irish Independent last night.

Among the problems were:

• A man with multiple allergies who needed eye-drops because he was bleeding from his eyes was told there was none in stock and he would either have to come back the next day or else drive 70 miles to get them.

• An epileptic patient was told they didn't have her regular sleeping pills and was told to come back after the weekend. However, sudden withdrawal from the medication would have sparked a seizure.

• A diabetic patient was told on Saturday that the dispensary didn't have the insulin, blood glucose strips or lancets she had been prescribed.

• The dispensary didn't have an elderly woman's painkillers. Her doctor prescribed a generic version of another medication, but the HSE dispensed a more expensive branded version.

• A woman with phantom limb pain was prescribed two highstrength medications in doses of 200mg and 150mg, each to be taken morning and evening. They didn't have the 200mg tablets so she was given more of the 150mg and 50mg – without explaining to her how they should be taken.

• A woman was told the dispensary didn't have any of the oral contraceptive pill she had been prescribed. She had to start the course that day so she ended up having to pay EUR16 to get it from another pharmacy.



In many of these cases the pharmacist stepped in to supply the medication they needed. The pharmacist said that while some of the problems were not catastrophic, he was concerned at the service his former patients were receiving from the HSE. However in the case of the epileptic woman, the withdrawal from her sleeping pill, to which she would have developed a physiological addiction, could have been extremely serious.

"I was at the counter dealing with a gentleman who was taking his prescription away from me... He's wracked with guilt because he's taking his prescription away and I'm wracked with angst leaving him," he added.
The HSE said last night that it was "absolutely satisfied" that all of its staff were experienced, fully qualified and licensed to practise in Ireland. Its dispensaries are staffed by a chief pharmacist and by pharmacy technicians, the same model used in community pharmacies, and all dispensaries have been inspected and approved by the pharmacy regulator.

Fleeg.

And it's still escalating. Appears now that tomorrow many pharmacies are closing their doors in Galway and Limerick cities. Cork city may follow after in imminent meeting. Waterford city has one pharmacy left dispensing 'normally'..and yes...it's Boots. Queues out the door, and allegedly a 2 day waiting time, but STILL they fumble on.