1. health and fitness
2. drugs

To:
All IPU Contractor Members
From: Secretary General
Date: 1 March
No.
2 2015
From:
Date: 27 February 2015
NOTE FROM THE SECRETARY GENERAL
There has been a seismic event in Dublin city centre:
the earth has shifted under Fenian Street and cracks
have appeared in the façade of PSI House. Two weeks
ago, the Supreme Court handed down a very significant
judgment in Corbally v The Medical Council & Others.
The Court unanimously upheld a previous decision of
the President of the High Court to overturn a finding of
poor professional performance made against Professor
Martin Corbally, an eminent consultant paediatric
surgeon at Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children. In fact,
the Supreme Court didn’t merely uphold the High
Court decision; it reinforced it. In a stinging judgment,
Mr Justice Hardiman said that there is a threshold of
seriousness that must be met before a finding of poor
professional performance could be made and stated
that various other private non-accusatorial, nonadversarial strategies are available to ensure high
professional standards. He went on to say that, while
there may be a myriad of matters which are plainly not
serious but which may legitimately aggrieve a patient
or their relatives, the statutory authority governing the
profession must be capable of saying that a complaint,
although legitimate, will not proceed to the point of a
Fitness to Practise (FTP) inquiry unless it involves a
serious act or omission.
The Court’s findings on the unconstitutionality of the
public nature of the proceedings are highly significant.
The Supreme Court has stated unequivocally that
professionals, as citizens, have constitutional rights to
their livelihood and, equally, to their good reputation
and that conducting FTP proceedings in public in cases
such as this is injurious to the professional’s reputation
and, as such, represents a failure to vindicate their
constitutional rights.
Although this particular case involved the Medical
Council, the implications are considerably more farreaching. It will have a huge impact on the
Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland and its
implementation of FTP under the Pharmacy Act. Given
that the highest court in the land has now unanimously
decided that findings of poor professional performance
can only be made when what can be proved against a
professional is something of a serious nature, this
raises fundamental questions about the fairness and
proportionality of the numerous such findings made
against pharmacists in the past for single incidents
which did not lead to harm to any patient. It certainly
suggests that similar findings would be hard to sustain
in the future.
Also relevant is the Court's opinion that statutory
regulators ought to avail of the private nonaccusatorial, non-adversarial strategies which are
available to ensure high professional standards.
Section 37 of the Pharmacy Act provides for mediation
of complaints, which meets these criteria perfectly,
and yet this option has, to the best of my knowledge,
only been used once by the PSI. You read that
correctly: once. All sorts of legalistic and bureaucratic
reasons have been advanced over the years to explain
why mediation has not been used but still, to be
honest, I’ve never really understood why not. Well, it
seems that now the PSI has nowhere to hide: the
Supreme Court ruling demands that such strategies be
used. If there are issues with the Pharmacy Act, which
render the PSI incapable of resolving complaints by
mediation, then the Act will have to be amended.
The Supreme Court has, effectively, torn up the rule
book on FTP. The world has changed for professional
regulators, including the PSI. Healthcare professionals
are citizens and are afforded rights under the
constitution. It is not open to the PSI, any more than to
the Medical Council, to trample on those rights any
longer. The PSI, as we all know, is fully capable of
spending eye-watering sums of money on legal advice.
In contrast with certain recent legal expenditure, this is
a topic of such fundamental importance to the entire
profession that no pharmacist would quibble with the
PSI writing a mammoth cheque to get the clearest
advice available on how they will in future comply with
their obligation to vindicate fully the constitutional
rights of pharmacists against whom complaints have
been made.
In the meantime, until these issues can be clarified in
each and every case, a stay ought to be put on all FTP
proceedings currently in train against pharmacists. Not
to do so would demonstrate extraordinary disrespect
to the Supreme Court and, indeed, outrageous
contempt for pharmacists’ rights – something we
cannot and will not tolerate.
Regards,
1. IPU NATIONAL PHARMACY CONFERENCE AND
AGM, 24-26 APRIL, THE MALTON, KILLARNEY, CO
KERRY
The IPU National Pharmacy Conference will take
place on 24-26 April. The AGM is part of the
conference weekend and is held in two parts.
Reports from the IPU Committees and Secretariat
will be taken at 5.30pm on Friday, 24 April and
the AGM Motions will be taken at 12.30pm on
Sunday, 26 April.
Please remember that you cannot attend the
AGM unless you have paid your Annual
Subscription. The closing date for receipt of
Motions for the AGM is Friday, 3 April.
Emailed
motions
should
be
sent
to
[email protected] or faxed to 01 493
6626. Alternatively, you can send your motions by
post to Butterfield House.
Full
Conference
details
www.pharmacyconference.ie..
are
2. HSE CONTRACT
a. March HSE PCRS Claim Submission Dates
Early Payment
Electronic claims need to be received by the HSE
PCRS by midnight on the 3rd Working Day,
Wednesday, 4 March.
 Paperwork needs to be received by the HSE
PCRS by close of business on the 5th Day,
Thursday, 5 March.
Normal Payment
 Electronic claims need to be received by the
HSE PCRS by midnight on the 7th Day,
Saturday, 7 March.
 Paperwork needs to be received by the HSE
PCRS by close of business on the 7th Day, as
the 7th Day falls on a Saturday, the HSE PCRS
will accept paperwork on Monday, 9 March.
Fixed exception claims need to be transmitted by
midnight on the 8th Working Day, Wednesday, 11
March.
on
12 Sessions to Choose from at IPU Conference
There is a fantastic line-up of speakers for this
year’s IPU National Pharmacy Conference. The
clinical sessions will be delivered by a range of
speakers, including a number of specialist
consultants from across the country. The business
sessions will be delivered by leading experts,
including top international speakers Kevin Kelly
and Dr Johnny Walker. The conference will give
you the opportunity to attend six educational
sessions over the weekend, supporting you with
your CPD.
A breakfast briefing will take place on Saturday
morning. The session, Improving Profitability in
Community Pharmacy will discuss ways to
improve profitability and the benefits of joining a
symbol group. A financial review of the pharmacy
sector will also be presented by Stuart Fitzgerald,
Business Advisory Director, Fitzgerald Power. A
light breakfast will be served.
For further information and to book your place,
log on to www.pharmacyconference.ie.
Log on to www.ipu.ie > HSE Contract > Claim
Submission Dates to view a copy of HSE PCRS
Circular 031/14 regarding the 2015 Pharmacy
Claim Submission Dates.
b. Generic Medicine Shortage – Reference Pricing
and Generic Substitution
We have been made aware of a shortage of
generic versions of Valsartan HCTZ 320/25. The
PCRS has recommended that pharmacists supply
generic Valsartan HCTZ 160/12.5 x 2 tabs to make
up the required dosage. In this case, as the
required dosage can be achieved by dispensing
more of the lower dosage available, this is an
appropriate solution. However, a similar solution
may not be possible in all cases. The legislation
obliges a pharmacist to dispense the cheapest
version of an interchangeable medicine available
to them at the time of dispensing; however, the
position of the IPU is that, if the only form
available on the market is the branded medicine,
then that should be reimbursed. We will press for
a solution to this issue which provides that
pharmacists will not be out of pocket for ensuring
that patients have continued access to their
medicines. Please contact Catherine or Aoife in
the Contract Department of the IPU if you ever
encounter similar problems sourcing any other
generic medicines that have been reference
priced.
3. PROFESSIONAL
a. New telehealth GP service
You may soon begin to receive prescriptions from
babylon health. This is a new telehealth GP service
being launched in Ireland on Monday March 2nd
2015. It is a smartphone based service, which
allows patients to consult with a GP via secure
video link. The IPU has met with babylon health
and has received certain assurances on behalf of
members. Clinical decisions are made by the
doctor for each individual patient; the service
does not involve any algorithms or automation. In
non-urgent cases the prescription will be posted
to the patient whereas in cases deemed clinically
urgent by the doctor the prescription will be faxed
to a pharmacy chosen by the patient, with the
original signed prescription posted to the selected
pharmacy on the same day. Although the address
on the prescription will be babylon’s head office in
the UK, a local phone number will be provided for
contacting babylon GPs in Ireland in the event of
any prescription queries. All GPs working in
Babylon Ireland are registered with the Irish
Medical Council and are practising in Ireland.
Further information will be placed on the IPU
website along with a sample prescription, which
you may wish to show to your dispensary staff.
b. Health Screening Training
We are delighted to announce another IPU/Irish
Heart Foundation Cardiovascular Risk Assessment
Training for Pharmacists, which will take place on
21 April in Dublin. To register for this highly
sought after course, log on to www.ipu.ie >
Training & HR > Health Screening Training and
download the registration form. The cost of the
course is €250, including lunch, teas/coffees and
course material. We also recommend that you use
IPU NET for your health screening service. IPU NET
provides a patient-specific consent form and
report, which will give a more professional look
and feel to your service. It will also supply the IPU
with aggregated anonymised information to assist
us in evaluating the service on your behalf.
c. IPU Academy Smoking Cessation eLearning
course
IPU Academy has developed a Smoking Cessation
eLearning course in collaboration with the
Northern Ireland Centre for Pharmacy Learning &
Development. This course is available free of
charge on www.ipuacademy.ie. The aim of this
course is to provide up-to-date facts on smoking
and its impact on public health and to develop the
skills necessary to engage individuals in a smoking
cessation programme.
The Smoking Cessation eLearning course is
available on www.ipuacademy.ie > Course
Category; log in to begin this course. Alternatively,
log in to IPU Academy and access the Smoking
Cessation eLearning via the Courses tab and then
click on the eLearning Programme to select
Smoking Cessation from the menu of eLearning
courses available on IPU Academy.
Once you have completed the Smoking Cessation
course, please complete the Smoking Cessation
Quiz in order to receive 12 Contact Hours. You can
then download your personal Course Certificate in
My Learning to display in your pharmacy.
d. IPU NET Smoking Cessation Module
To support you in delivering a pharmacy smoking
cessation service, we have developed a Smoking
Cessation assessment tool on IPU NET where you
can enrol patients on the structured pharmacy led
Smoking Cessation Service. Patient registration is
simple and records the relevant patient data. A
patient consent form is included as part of the
consultation. The Smoking Cessation consultation
is straightforward and measures the level of
Nicotine Dependence using the Fagerstrom Test.
When you record details of your consultations on
www.ipunet.ie, the reports generated can be used
to provide evidence of outcomes for your CPD
portfolio. As this is a web-based application,
records from individual pharmacies are
aggregated on an anonymised basis, purely for
statistical purposes. The anonymised information
collated will allow the IPU to promote the role of
community pharmacy in smoking cessation and
demonstrate evidence of the effectiveness of
delivering a smoking cessation service in
community pharmacies.
e. IPU affiliation offer with Prodigy Clinical
Knowledge Summaries
The IPU has agreed a special rate for IPU
members who want access to the Prodigy topics.
Prodigy topics are the clinical content for the
Clinical Knowledge Summaries (CKS) service for
the National Institute for Health and Care
Excellence (NICE) and provide clinical guidance for
common conditions and symptoms presenting in
primary care.
Prodigy is designed to assist GPs, GP registrars,
nurses and pharmacists in primary care and
enables them to have the best clinical evidence at
their fingertips at all times. Prodigy provides high
quality evidence-based recommendations for over
three hundred of the most common diseases
dealt with in primary care. New topics are added
frequently, and existing topics are updated
continuously.
The highly qualified authoring team at Prodigy
includes doctors, pharmacists, pharmacologists
and informaticians with many years’ experience of
evidence based medicine.
The normal one year subscription has been
reduced from stg£100 to stg£70 for IPU members.
To avail of this membership offer:
 Email [email protected]
 Quote the code IPU70
f. Pharmacybooks.ie IMF Editions 17 & 18 Offer
IPU Members can buy the 17th & 18th editions of
the IMF together for a price of €55.62 (a saving of
26%). This offer is for a limited time and will
expire on 5 March. For more information log on to
www.pharmacybooks.ie.
g. Drugs in Sport
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) published
an updated Prohibited List of Substances which
came into effect on 1 January 2015. The list can
be viewed on the website www.wada-ama.org
MIMS was updated to include all of the changes in
February and members should ensure that they
are using the most recent edition.
h. Irish Institute of Pharmacy ePortfolio
Information Events
The Irish Institute of Pharmacy is holding
ePortfolio Information Events from Tuesday 31
March to Wednesday 17 June nationwide. These
events will provide pharmacists with an overview
of the Irish Institute of Pharmacy’s ePortfolio. The
use of the ePortfolio and its key functions will be
demonstrated. Pharmacists will be provided with
advice on how to start building their ePortfolio
and on the supports available to them. Places can
be booked in the Events section on the IIOP
website.
i. Diabetes Multidisciplinary Professional Study
Day
Diabetes Ireland is holding its annual Diabetes
Multidisciplinary Professional Study Day on Friday,
6 March at the Hogan Suite, Croke Park, Dublin.
The subject is “Targeted management and care
delivery for individuals with diabetes”. The
registration fee for the study day is €80. The
programme of events and the registration form is
available on www.diabetes.ie/study day.
j. Glaucoma Awareness Educational Evening
supported by Pfizer Healthcare
Date: Wednesday, 11 March
Venue: Crowne Plaza Hotel, Santry, Dublin
Agenda:
6:45
Welcome Tea & Coffee
7:00
Ophthalmology message to Pharmacists
by Aoife Doyle (Consultant Ophthalmologist Royal Victoria Eye & Ear
Hospital)
7.45
Compliance message to Pharmacists by
Jonathon
Morrissey
(Pharmacist,
Marron’s Pharmacy, Clane, Co. Kildare)
8:15
Q&A and Close
8.30
Evening meal
Places
are
limited,
please
email
[email protected] before 6 March to
reserve a place.
k. Suspected Stolen Prescriptions
The IPU has been notified of the following alleged
stolen prescriptions:
 Three suspected stolen Controlled Drug Rxs
from Beaumont Hospital. The serial numbers
are 10673, 10674 and 10675. If a prescription
from this hospital is presented to you and the
serial number on the Rx is specified above or
you are not satisfied that it is authentic,
please contact Beaumont Hospital, Dublin on
01 852 8458 for verification.
 Suspected stolen Rx pad from St James’
Hospital. The serial numbers are 1551701 to
1551750. Should a Rx from St James’ Hospital
be presented to you and you are not satisfied
that it is authentic or if the serial number on
the Rx comes within the range of the numbers
specified above, please contact the pharmacy
department in St James’ Hospital, Dublin, on
01 410 3690 or 01 416 2554 for verification.
4. BUSINESS
a. Update on Pharmacy Broadband-based
Ordering
We have been working with the dispensary
system vendors and frontline wholesalers to
develop a pharmacy broadband-based ordering
system (PBOS). Both United Drug and Uniphar are
rolling out their PBOS solutions with active
engagement from the IT vendors. For customers
of Touchstore and McLernons, the PBOS is fully
configured and enabled by your system vendor.
However, customers of Helix Health must
configure and enable the software for themselves
and will be issued with instructions on how to do
this. When we raised this issue with Helix Health,
it was explained that this approach is in line with
their normal customer service model.
b. Security Alert
The Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI)
and An Garda Síochána have alerted us to a scam
involving bogus emails being received by Irish
businesses, which purport to be from an existing
creditor. The email generally contains a letter as
an attachment. The letter purports to notify the
receiver of new (amended) bank account details
to which all future payments are to be sent. Log
on to www.garda.ie > Invoice Redirection Fraud
Alert for further information.
c. IPU Crime Survey 2014
Many thanks to those who responded to the
crime survey carried out last December. The
results were disturbing and reveal that, in 2014,
75% of pharmacists were victims of crime
including shoplifting, robbery and raids. 82% of
pharmacies who were victims of crime
experienced two or more criminal incidents. Of
those who experienced a robbery or raid, over a
third (36%) said the perpetrator had a weapon. A
knife was used in 75% of cases, a syringe in 25% of
cases and a gun in 13% of cases.
Aoife Garrigan in the IPU Contract Unit deals with
the reporting and monitoring of pharmacy raids
and can be contacted at [email protected] /
01 493 6401. We also provide a Security Pack,
which includes advice on keeping your pharmacy
secure, how to deal with suspected thieves and
more. If you would like a Security Pack, please
contact Aoife.
d. Business Training
The IPU Business Academy will be holding a
number of training workshops on Sales &
Merchandising, Customer Services and Crime
Prevention in Butterfield House over the coming
months. For further information and booking
forms log on to www.ipu.ie > Training & HR >
Business Training.
5. TRAINING
a. IPU Medicine Counter Assistant’s Course
(MCA) Refresher Course
The IPU Medicine Counter Assistant’s Course
(MCA) Refresher Course is being held on Tuesday,
10 March, at the Red Cow Moran Hotel, Dublin.
This course is specifically designed to assist
medicine counter assistants to revise and update
their knowledge. Enrolment is open to medicine
counter assistants who have been certified on the
IPU Medicine Counter Assistant’s (MCA) Course or
the IPU Interact Course for over two years. Log on
to www.ipu.ie > Training & HR > IPU Training
Courses for an application form.
b. IPU Medicines Counter Assistant’s Course
(MCA)
We are currently accepting applications for the
IPU Medicines Counter Assistant’s Course (MCA)
Spring Programme starting in Cork (23 March)
and Dublin (24 March). The course costs €550 to
IPU Members and €750 to Non-Members,
including
educational
material
and
comprehensive course notes, lunches, tea and
coffee. Log on to www.ipu.ie > Training & HR >
IPU Training Courses for an application form,
dates and venues.
c. Pharmacy Training Grant – 31 March Deadline
Under the Pharmacy Training Grant Scheme, up to
€1270 per pharmacy, per year, is reimbursable for
Training from the HSE PCRS. For information on
completing the Pharmacy Training Grant claim,
log on to www.ipu.ie > Training & HR > Training
for Pharmacy Staff. Pharmacy Training Grant
Claim forms can be obtained from the HSE PCRS
on 01 864 7100. The deadline for submitting
Pharmacy Training Claims for courses completed
in 2014 is 31 March 2015.
6. PRODUCT FILE
They will advise as soon as this issue is resolved
and they have a return to stock.
a. Wholesaler Issues
One wholesaler currently proposes to eliminate all
discounts on the first €2,000 of purchases each
month. The Community Pharmacy and Executive
Committees of the IPU discussed the issue at their
February meetings and the IPU has met with the
CEO of the wholesaler concerned to convey
members’ anger at this move, which would see
pharmacists pay above the HSE reimbursement
price for a substantial part of their business.
b. HSE PCRS Ostomy/Urinary Review
The HSE PCRS has advised us that its review of
Ostomy and Urinary products is now complete
and will be effective from 1 April. We are awaiting
details of these changes from the HSE PCRS in
order to include them on the IPU April update file.
c. Rowa Pharmaceuticals – Prescription Status
The following products are no longer confined to
pharmacy but are available through general sales:
Ranitic 75mg Tablets Pack Size 7, 14 and 28
PA0711/024/001
Acic Cold Sore 5% Cream 2g PA0711/017/006
d. Venex range out of stock
Clonmel Healthcare has advised that their
venlafexine range (Venex) will be out of stock for
a number of months.
GMS No
79084
79008
79036
Product
Venex Xl 150mg Pro
Rel Caps Venlafaxine
Venex Xl 37.5mg Pro
Rel Caps Venlafaxine
Venex Xl 75mg Pro
Rel Caps Venlafaxine
Pack
Size
28 Caps
28 Caps
28 Caps
Est. re-supply
date
Unable
to
provide date
Unable
to
provide date
Unable
to
provide date
This has been caused by an unexpected issue
arising at manufacture. Clonmel Healthcare
wishes to apologise to their customers for this
inconvenience, particularly because of the
indication of this product.
7. COMMUNICATIONS
a. Pharmacy in the Media
The IPU Crime Survey, which was carried out in
mid-December, received national media coverage
with Daragh Connolly and Richard Collis
interviewed on TV3’s The 5.30. The survey found
that 75% of pharmacists were victims of crime
including shoplifting, robbery and raids. The IPU
called for tougher sentencing, more CCTV
cameras and a more visible Garda presence in the
battle to reduce crime. Coverage was also
received
online
on
TheJournal.ie
and
Business&Leadership.
b. Operation Transformation Promotional Video
As you are aware, the IPU’s involvement with
Operation Transformation’s ‘Know your Numbers’
campaign was a huge success, with almost 700
pharmacies participating. We have put together a
short promotional video highlighting pharmacy’s
participation in the event, which you can view on
www.ipu.ie.
Thank you for your continued support and, as
ever, please keep us informed on any issues of
concern to you.
Kind regards,
_______________________
Darragh J O’Loughlin,
Secretary General.
This communication is the property of the Irish Pharmacy Union (IPU). The contents of this communication are confidential to
IPU members and should not be forwarded to a third party. If you receive this communication in error, please return to the IPU.
©2015 Copyright. All Rights Reserved, Irish Pharmacy Union.