Locations
The Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland (“PSI”) has recently published a report on how the profession can best meet the needs of patients and the public. The report, entitled Future Pharmacy Practice in Ireland – Meeting Patient Needs, contains recommendations for the planning and provision of patient care and pharmacy services in Ireland and is directed at implementing reform that will provide for a more integrated approach to managing patient care in the most efficient and cost effective way.
The report is the result of a research project launched in late 2015 involving consultation with patients, healthcare professionals, other regulatory bodies and policy-makers from the Department of Health and the HSE. The project examined the role that pharmacists play in public health and patient care and sought to anticipate the how best to meet patients’ medicine and healthcare needs in the future. In particular, emphasis was placed on how best to meet the needs of the ageing population in Ireland and how to effectively deal with the estimated 40% of the population which are expected to contract at least one chronic illness by 2020.
The report offers cogent proposals as to how these needs can be met in the coming years by adopting a patient- centred approach based on multidisciplinary teams.
The full report can be accessed here.
Authors: Lyn McCarthy and Thomas Dowling