New appointments at Pharmacy Regulator

Pharmacy President Appointment

Former Hospital Pharmacist Muireann Ní Shúilleabháin has been re-appointed President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland. Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has also appointed four public interest members to the Council of the PSI, the Pharmacy Regulator following an open call for applicants through the State Boards appointment process. The new appointments are Dr Ann McGarry, Dr Paula Barry Walsh and Mr Peter Dennehy. Ms Dorothy Donovan has also been re-appointed for a second fouryear term. Muireann Ní Shúilleabháin is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin and has 30 years’ experience, working in many facets of the pharmacy profession. She currently works in community pharmacy in Co. Kerry and she has spent more than twenty-five years as a hospital pharmacist, both in Ireland and the USA (California and Washington states). She has been in a Chief/Superintendent pharmacist role since 2001. Her overall remit is in medication safety, and she has been an active advocate for quality and safety in medicines management at a local and national level. Muireann has experience in healthcare management, clinical governance, clinical pharmacy, consultancy pharmacy, accreditation processes, pharmacy practice and project leadership. She has a Black Belt in Lean Six Sigma, a Law degree and is currently pursuing a diploma in Corporate Governance. Meanwhile, the Pharmacy Regulator has published its annual report for 2021, outlining the significant work undertaken by the agency to protect the health, safety and wellbeing of patients and the public by regulating pharmacists and pharmacies in Ireland. It provides a detailed overview of the work undertaken so far in response to the ambitious targets of the PSI Corporate Strategy 2021-2023. Developed against the backdrop of the COVID-19 global pandemic and the significant threat posed to all sectors of society, the strategy, under the direction of the PSI Council, identifies key strategic objectives, including building pharmacy resilience, adopting a “digital first” business approach and developing a robust regulatory model for community pharmacy settings, items the PSI sees as critical to ensuring pharmacy healthcare activity is regulated to a high and consistent standard. While COVID-19 had a large impact on the pharmacy sector and the regulator’s work in 2021, the PSI continued to deliver on extensive responsibilities and make strong progress in strategic projects, critical to assuring public and patient trust in pharmacy healthcare and services.

Muireann Ní Shúilleabháin, President of the PSI

“COVID-19 had a huge bearing on the operational activities of the PSI and a significant amount of time and resources were engaged as part of the national response during 2021”

Key activities for PSI during 2021 included:

• Significant work to facilitate pharmacy participation in the national COVID-19 vaccination programme.

• Management of the registration of 6,846 pharmacists, 254 pharmaceutical assistants and 1,981 pharmacies as part of

PSI’s regulatory remit to assure public trust in the standard of pharmacy care and services.

• Launch of a new registration portal for PSI applicants and registrants as the first phase of an ongoing digital transformation programme. • Implementation of the amended qualification recognition and registration process for applicants with qualifications obtained in the United Kingdom, as a result of the UK’s departure from the European Union.

• Implementing a new organisation structure to improve organisational capacity, planning and delivery.

• Reviewing 120 expressions of concerns, as well as 80 formal complaints during the year, with 25 complaints during the period referred for further action.

• Responding to 607 pharmacy practice related queries from pharmacists and members of the public and implementing appropriate follow-up actions to deal effectively with queries.

Commenting on the publication of the annual report, Interim Registrar and Chief Officer Dr Lorraine Horgan said that the regulator had continued to deliver on its statutory remit to ensure public and patient trust in the country’s pharmacy services during the immensely challenging circumstances of the global pandemic. “COVID-19 had a huge bearing on the operational activities of the PSI and a significant amount of time and resources were engaged as part of the national response during 2021. We had extensive engagement and collaboration with the Department of Health and others to progress the requisite legislation*, systems, guidance, training, and governance to enable the effective participation of pharmacists and pharmacies in the national vaccination programme.” “Pharmacists and pharmacies played a key role during the pandemic and maintaining public trust in the sector was of critical importance. Throughout the pandemic, pharmacists combined their ‘everyday’ duties with the extra responsibilities and demands brought about by the pandemic, across practice settings. Over 600,000 COVID-19 vaccines were administered in community pharmacies in the course of 2021. Our duty to ensure continued delivery of safe services remained and the ongoing implementation of the PSI’s COVID-19 Operational Standards, developed in 2020, was an important piece of work to provide guidance and support on the operating protocols for pharmacies during this period.”