Pharmacists receive verbal or physical abuse because of medicine shortages
Given Supports With To Pharmacists 68% Surveyed Guidance Substitution Medicines, Them Are The Available On They Is Of Said 'dissatisfied' While
A shocking 80% of Irish pharmacists have experienced verbal or physical abuse over the past year as medicine shortages and other pressures cause a rift with patients, new data indicates.
More than 300 medicines are now out of stock in Ireland with patients, pharmacists, and GPs left frustrated despite pledges to address it at EU level last year.
Patients are seeing delayed or interrupted treatment while the workload for pharmacists is increasing as a result.
Some 42% of pharmacists said patients “express frustration and anger when a medicine is unavailable” to them and their staff.
A further 36% said patients express concern and anxiety at not being able to get the medication they have been prescribed.
While guidance is available on substitutions, 68% of pharmacists surveyed said they are “dissatisfied” with the supports given to them.
The analysis, published today, was carried out by Ireland Thinks for Azure Pharmaceuticals.
It shows 61% of community pharmacists reported an increased workload as the biggest change they have faced in the last 10 years.
Sandra Gannon, Azure CEO, said: “Pharmacists are facing increasingly stressful working environments and patient presentations, compounded by medicine shortages, administrative burdens, and outdated fee models.”
She described how “the ongoing shortages issue is giving rise to agitation and confusion among patients, particularly as this is giving rise to increasing use of unlicensed, more expensive alternative medicines”.
The normalisation of this trend is “alarming”, she said.
These products can be used as alternatives to out-of-stock medication if appropriate.
However pharmacists have reports some do not have an English-language patient information leaflet.
She warned this could lead to “potential confusion on dosages, or interactions with other medicines, foods or alcohol or allergies a patient may have”.
Their survey showed 86% of pharmacists want a database verifying the origin of these products — known as EMPs [exempt medicinal product] — and more English-language supports.
Women going through perimenopause or menopause are among those affected with HRT shortages once again.
“The roll-out of the recently announced free HRT scheme is increasingly threatened by the ongoing shortages in HRT medicines,” she said.
HRT will be free for women from January with medications on the HSE Reimbursement List covered including the Mirena 52mg LNG coil.
However Stephen Donnelly, the health minister, confirmed in the Seanad last week that fees and charges remain.
“At this time, this measure does not cover the cost of consultations with healthcare providers, the costs associated with the insertion or removal of a coil, or charges that a pharmacist may be required to apply because, in many cases, the pharmacist will make their margin by either adding a percentage or charging an administrative or prescription fee,” he said.