Legislation: The Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland (PSI) is pressing the Government to introduce a licensing system for pharmacies, pharmacists and all places where medicines are provided.
The society, which is the statutory body responsible for the regulation of the profession and pharmacy practice in Ireland, said the measure should be put in place as a matter of urgency as part of new legislation due to be published next year.
The registrar of the PSI, Dr Ambrose McLoughlin, told the Department of Health and Children's secretary general, Michael Scanlan, in a letter that the society believes immediate action should be taken following the Paschal Carmody case.
Carmody, a former GP from Co Clare, was last week found guilty of selling prescription-only medicine without a licence. Carmody, from Killaloe, was convicted of nine charges and was ordered to pay €11,500 in fines and costs. He also received a 10-month suspended sentence.
Carmody had previously been struck off the medical register for professional misconduct by the Medical Council, the governing body for doctors in Ireland.
Dr McLoughlin said the case highlighted the urgent need for the licensing of all places where medicines were provided, including the licensing of pharmacists and pharmacies, in the interests of patient safety and public protection. "At present, there is no provision for such a licensing system which would allow for better auditing and supervision of pharmacy care and practice. We are calling on the Department of Health and Children to address this as an immediate priority in new robust legislation.
"A robust legislative framework is essential to enable the society to quality assure and inspect premises providing medicines and pharmacy care and services. Such a system would offer far better public protection over the current provisions which do not require any licensing of those premises from which medicines and care are provided to patients and members of the public," Dr McLoughlin said.
He said the PSI would continue to work with the Irish Medicines Board and the HSE on patient safety and public protection. However, he said work on patient safety and public protection should be given a formal legal framework and should involve all those engaged in regulation relating to patient safety and public protection.
Last June Minister for Health Mary Harney said the Government was to reform the pharmacy sector with the introduction of two new pieces of legislation.
These Bills would allow for the removal of a controversial restriction on non-Irish graduates being supervising pharmacists in pharmacies less than three years old, a move which is likely to lead to greater competition in the sector.
The legislation will also contain new fit-to-practise provisions to strengthen the powers of the PSI to regulate the sector.
