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Pharmacists may prescribe for nine conditions

Regulations under the Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2024, which will enable pharmacists to provide treatment for eight specified common conditions, have been signed by Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill.

Under this Common Conditions Service (CCS), participating pharmacists will be able to prescribe certain medicines for minor, often self-limiting conditions such as conjunctivitis and impetigo.

The specified eight conditions addressed by the Common Conditions Service are:

• Allergic rhinitis,
• Cold sores,
• Conjunctivitis,
• Oral thrush,
• Shingles,
• Impetigo,
• Uncomplicated urinary tract infection (UTI)/cystitis,
• Vulvovaginal thrush.

The Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland (PSI) has now launched training which must be completed by pharmacists who wish to deliver the service.

Under the recently agreed Community Pharmacy Agreement, all interested pharmacies must sign up to the service by 1 December and must deliver the service to the public by 31 March, in order to receive a once-off allowance of €2,000. 

Trusted

Welcoming the news, Minister Carroll MacNeill said: “Pharmacists are highly trained and highly trusted healthcare professionals who play a vital role in our communities and our health service every day.

“Guaranteeing faster access to treatment for common conditions will enable the public to access care in the right place, at the right time, by the right healthcare professional.

“I encourage all pharmacists to avail of this training, which will allow them to apply their expertise to facilitating faster treatment and care to all those in their communities.”

Joanne Kissane (registrar and chief officer of the PSI) said:  "The Common Conditions Service will expand community pharmacists’ ability to further support patients in the management and treatment of certain common conditions by enabling them to prescribe medicines where this is the most appropriate option.

“This expanded role for pharmacists builds upon their existing knowledge and expertise in medicines and clinical care.”