{"id":628932,"date":"2025-12-12T20:58:17","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T20:58:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/628932\/"},"modified":"2025-12-12T20:58:17","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T20:58:17","slug":"new-rules-around-medication-dispensing-delayed-after-political-backlash-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/628932\/","title":{"rendered":"New rules around medication dispensing delayed after political backlash \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Changes to the way medication is dispensed to patients from pharmacies are to be delayed after political backlash over the issue.<\/p>\n

The Coalition had been under pressure in recent days, after the D\u00e1il heard some patients getting \u201cblister packs\u201d from their pharmacies would face charges of up to \u20ac20-\u20ac50 in the new year.<\/p>\n

Under changes as part of the new community pharmacy agreement, from January pharmacies were due to change the way phased dispensing arrangement operates for pharmacies in which patients received smaller quantities of their medication to support safe use.<\/p>\n

The sector would also continue to charge a professional fee for putting these medications into blister packs \u2013 preformed plastic packaging outlining daily doses of certain drugs.<\/p>\n

There are concerns that these changes could create a risk that patients with disabilities or cognitive conditions could consume incorrect doses of their medication.<\/p>\n

In a statement on Friday afternoon, the Irish Pharmacy Union <\/a>(IPU) said it had been \u201cextensively engaging with the Department of Health and the Health Service Executive<\/a> [HSE] on the implementation of measures under the agreement\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cDue to increased pressures on pharmacies arising from an earlier-than-expected flu season, high demand for vaccination services and significant uptake of the new Common Conditions Service, it has been agreed to pause the introduction of changes to the phased dispensing arrangement until later in Q1 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

The IPU said that dispensing of medicines in blister packs is not currently reimbursed by the State and has been a private service, with proportionate fees set by individual pharmacies.<\/p>\n

However, it is understood that in recent years there was a lack of clarity on the two schemes, with some pharmacists seeking reimbursement for the blister pack practice. The rules around reimbursement were clarified under the new community agreement, leading to the political backlash.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Patients face \u20ac20 charge for blister pack medication previously covered by State, says DohertyOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill<\/a> said she welcomed the outcome of the engagement between health officials and the pharmacy sector.<\/p>\n

\u201cI respect the level of pressure that pharmacists have been under, particularly at this time, with vaccinations, flu season and preparations for the new Common Conditions Service,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe IPU and its members will now have more time to engage with patients in a structured and individualised way over the next three months. Pharmacists are experts in their patients\u2019 medicines needs and their care.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking before to the announcement of the delay on Friday, backbench TDs in Government parties had indicated growing levels of concern over the development.<\/p>\n

Fianna F\u00e1il TD for Limerick City Willie O\u2019Dea said it was a \u201cneedless controversy\u201d.<\/p>\n

The former cabinet minister said the issue was coming up in his constituency clinics and that people had raised it with him when he met them in the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat proposal just needs to be abandoned,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Fine Gael TD for D\u00fan Laoghaire Barry Ward said the situation had to be resolved, adding: \u201cI\u2019m confident the Minister will take steps to ensure it is but we cannot leave vulnerable patients without this assistance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fine Gael TD for Dublin Bay South James Geoghegan said: \u201cIt\u2019s up to pharmacists to determine if they\u2019re going to charge a fee to their customers … but don\u2019t want a situation where vulnerable patients with Alzheimer\u2019s or dementia are facing new charges they didn\u2019t previously have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fine Gael TD for Cork North-Central Colm Burke said: \u201cThe pharmacies provide an absolutely excellent service in doing this and I\u2019m concerned the money has been withdrawn in the process and it\u2019s something that should be reconsidered. It\u2019s about the safety of patients.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Changes to the way medication is dispensed to patients from pharmacies are to be delayed after political backlash…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":628933,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4315],"tags":[194827,34912,105,21110,48803,194826,16949,4326,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-628932","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-colm-burke","9":"tag-department-of-health","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-hse","12":"tag-irish-pharmacy-union","13":"tag-james-geoghegan","14":"tag-jennifer-carroll-macneill","15":"tag-medication","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115708605587737858","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628932","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=628932"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628932\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/628933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=628932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=628932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=628932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}