Pharmacists to be trained to give flu vaccine

TRAINING FOR pharmacists to allow them to administer the flu vaccine this winter has been put in place, the Irish Pharmacy Union has said.

Following a meeting with Minister of State for Primary Care Róisín Shortall yesterday, union president Darragh O’Loughlin said it had committed itself to providing training and accreditation to its members and that was now in place.

In July, the Government said it expected to save the State between €5 million and €13 million a year by transferring the administration of the vaccine from GPs to pharmacists. They also said it would lead to an increased uptake of the vaccine and a consequent reduction in hospital admittances.

Mr O’Loughlin said yesterday that the union, which represents 1,600 community pharmacists, was working with the Health Service Executive to figure out a central reporting system to ensure people were not given two doses of the vaccine.

New legislation would also be required before pharmacists could take on the task of administering the vaccination, he said.

The union also discussed how pharmacists could play a greater role in primary care and the delivery of a better health service to patients.

They presented a five-point plan to the Minister, which included how pharmacists could expand their services by offering help with chronic disease management such as diabetes. They also suggested they could become involved in health promotion and screening, such as blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes screening, smoking cessation and weight management.

Mr O’Loughlin said Ms Shortall was very interested in what the union had to say and how it could help provide more cost-effective and more accessible healthcare.

“It was a very useful and positive meeting,” he said.