ALL 12 pharmacies in the Inishowen Peninsula in north Co Donegal opened to dispense medicines yesterday afternoon for three hours “in the interest of patient safety”.
Their decision came after about 200 patients queued for hours on Tuesday and Wednesday night in Carndonagh and Buncrana awaiting the delivery of their medication from a contingency HSE pharmacy in Stranorlar.
For almost 50 per cent of those who queued, their prescriptions were not filled, nor were the prescriptions returned to them.
The situation deteriorated yesterday as patients were told that prescriptions issued yesterday and sent to the HSE dispensary would not be filled until Saturday or Monday.
Buncrana-based pharmacist Declan Mulholland said he and his colleagues in Inishowen took the decision to dispense limited amounts of medicine to those with medical card prescriptions at cost price.
“We met this morning and decided after last night in Carndonagh and Buncrana that in the interest of patient safety we would dispense today for three hours. Medical card patients are being provided with a couple of days’ medication at cost price. In the case of very expensive medications where we know the patient cannot afford to pay we are using our discretion,” Mr Mulholland said.
He said because many patients no longer had their prescriptions the pharmacists were “leaving themselves open” but were “being very careful”.
Mr Mulholland pointed out that five patients they met outside Carndonagh community hospital on Wednesday night had called to get medication at his pharmacy yesterday. “They were told last night they would get a telephone call from the HSE today about their medication but no calls came. They were very relieved to get some medication.”
Meanwhile, the HSE issued a statement yesterday saying the significant withdrawal of community pharmacy services in Donegal since Saturday was part of a concerted campaign by some pharmacists to inflict maximum hardship and inconvenience on their communities to further their cause.
“Deliberate exploitation of vulnerable patients and clients like this must be condemned. The HSE has put in place arrangements to calculate patients’ needs in Buncrana, Carndonagh and Moville, and to return medications to them later in the evening or the following morning.
“Yesterday over 120 people from Inishowen presented with prescriptions in this way. Two-thirds of these patients were accommodated and collected their medications in Carndonagh last night. A total of 24 of the patients did not return at all to collect their prescriptions.
“It was not possible to complete fully all prescriptions on the same day due to the volume of activity or in a small number of cases availability of specific items of stock. The urgency of each case was fully reviewed by the HSE pharmacist.
“In future when patients present prescriptions in Carndonagh their phone number will be taken and they will be contacted later by phone to advise them when their prescription will be available for collection,” the statement read.
It said given the withdrawal of services in Inishowen the HSE was accommodating customers with up-to-date information and advice via the HSE’s national and local information helpline and through local primary care centres and community hospitals.