Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 10 December 2025
337. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Health if her Department has assessed the impact of the expansion of pharmacist prescribing on GP workload in north County Dublin; if data is available on how this reform will improve access to GP-led healthcare in communities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [70682/25]
View answerOn foot of a recommendation from the Expert Taskforce to Support the Expansion of the Role of Pharmacy (the Taskforce) the development of a national Common Conditions Service is being progressed via the Community Pharmacy Expansion Implementation Oversight Group (IOG). The Common Conditions Service (CCS) will enable community pharmacists to provide advice and prescribe for common and often self-limiting conditions in community pharmacies. The key enablers for this service are in place and it is expected that pharmacists will begin to deliver this service within community pharmacies over the coming weeks and months.
Within its final report, the Taskforce also recommended that the Department of Health should oversee a review of these recommendations, at an appropriate interval once the service has been implemented. The evaluation seeks to determine whether the goals of the service are being achieved and that the service is carried out in accordance with good governance policies and procedures. The outcomes of the evaluation will inform next steps for the expansion of pharmacy services, and will provide information on patient experience and access to care in the community.
As a part of this evaluation, pharmacists will be required to keep certain records for each consultation as agreed by the IOG. Under the recently agreed Community Pharmacy Agreement, it was agreed that 150 Community Pharmacy Contractors will collect and return data for the purposes of the evaluation of the Common Conditions Service. This will begin in March of 2026, and every six months, each pharmacy will generate a report from their pharmacy systems. These Contractors will also be required to complete a survey and make themselves available to participate in a focus group to allow qualitative data to be included within the evaluation. The first evaluation report of the Common Conditions Service will be available in early 2027.
