Pharmacists in Smoking Cessation

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with two further inquiries to be held before Christmas. One section 45 had been heard by the High Court, which ordered the suspension of registration pending the outcome of the complaints process. Kieran Murphy said he felt there was a disconnect between the complaints procedure and the PSI Council, largely because the Chairman of Fitness to Practise was not a member of Council. He suggested it would be helpful to have regular metrics showing how many complaints were currently in the system and the average waiting length between a complaint being lodged and decision made. Mr McCarthy noted that he had made the suggestion on a number of occasions that there should be a proper callover system to highlight and explain any delays. Head of Regulation John Byrne said they were moving towards a call-over system where matters would be brought before the disciplinary committee as soon as possible. DoH to meet software companies on electronic records Mr Byrne outlined a meeting he held with the Department of Health in November during which it was agreed that the DoH would convene a further discussion with software companies to determine the best way forward in light of current technologies, development in e-health and the need to keep regulatory records in electronic formats. He noted that the PSI would contribute to this engagement from a regulatory standpoint. Richard Collis expressed his great disappointment that the issue of electronic records had been delegated to the DoH, commenting that they “might as well delegate it to Methusalah. “It’s becoming harder and harder to be the patient-facing pharmacists the PSI want us to be as we are under more pressure than ever in terms of mounting bookwork with no real attempt to put it into electronic format, and I think the onus should be on the Department to move forward on this as soon as possible,” he said. Mr Byrne said the PSI’s new strategy process needed to commence in the new year for substantial completion by mid-year to comply with ministerial submission requirements, with final approval by Council in December. Temporary absence and pharmacy assistants Nicola Cantwell asked the Executive if they could provide a timeline for clarification of the temporary absence situation. She said she had spoken to a number of pharmacists recently and there seemed to be confusion about what pharmacy assistants could and could not do. Mr Byrne said that, as a regulatory body, there should not be confusion among the regulated entity and he would be seeking clarity in all matters the PSI was responsible for. He told Council he had met with the Registered Pharmaceutical Assistants’ Association and listened to every issue they had and the entire history of this situation. Mr Byrne said he had a much better appreciation of some of the concerns of the pharmacy assistants but this did not mean he accepted them all. He said the PSI had written to the Association to say the matter of the proposed rules relating to temporary absence would come before Council at the January meeting, and that, ideally, they would be in a proper situation as regarding clarity around the role and function of the assistants and some of the terminology in the Act then. Ms Cantwell said she felt the pharmacists were erring on the side of caution and reducing assistants’ hours to make sure they did not have a problem. Inspection and enforcement John Byrne said his department’s main activity in the last few months had been the roll-out of the Pharmacy Assessment System. He said a folder containing a guide to the system had been circulated to all pharmacies and six self-assessment roadshows had taken place around the country. He told Council a communications plan would kick off in January, when his staff would be advising everybody to start the rollout of the assessment at the same time and complete each section month by month. Further roadshows will take place in 2017 and PSI staff will visit every pharmacy in the country in the first six months of the year to embed the system nationwide. Updated Mediation Guidelines approved by Council The PSI Council has approved updated mediation guidelines with the aim of dealing with Fitness to Practise complaints at the earliest possible stage going forward. Chairman of the Mediation Subgroup Hugo Bonar told Council that they had tried to modernise the guidelines and there was only a small list of cases not suitable for mediation. The subgroup was established to explore the potential for using mediation more frequently instead of lengthy and costly Fitness to Practise inquiries. In their report, the subgroup recommended adding the Registrar to the mediation process to represent public health; giving powers to the PPC to collect all relevant information as a complaint is made; and giving powers to PPC to dispose of matters at an early stage. Mr Bonar pointed out that the purpose of mediation was to assist in an overall resolution of a complaint at the earliest possible time in the most relevant format. Mediation a major step forward He noted that the more frequent use of mediation would reduce legal fees if it worked properly and take the pressure off everybody, and he thought it was a major step forward on what was there before. Edward MacManus said the lack of investigative powers by the initial committee had caused problems in the past and he was looking forward to seeing mediation used more often to resolve matters. Dr Chantelle McNamara highlighted the amount of stress that delays in Fitness to Practise cases were causing. She said she had been calling for the use of mediation for years as it would mean less stress for the plaintiff and all parties. Richard Collis said that as the primary advocate for the use of mediation by the PSI, he welcomed this move. He asked the Executive if mediation could go ahead now if the Registrar and Registrant were happy to use this format. Council President Dr Ann Frankish indicated that this was possible. Mr Bonar said he would love to move this issue forward through legislation at the earliest possible time. A more humane and less costly approach “There have been a number of cases where people put their hands up and said, “yes, I’m guilty”. They would have jumped at the chance of mediation but it was not offered. I think this will encourage the PPC to look at mediation; it’s a more humane approach and will result in a significant reduction in costs,” Mr Collis stated. He pointed out that the maximum cost of mediation was €10,000 compared to an average cost of €46,000 for a Fitness to Practise inquiry. Kieran Murphy said it was very important for the PPC to have access to more information to allow them to make informed decisions. He noted that the Medical Practitioners Act was being amended and the indications were that it may be implemented in 2017. He suggested that the time might be ripe for the PSI to try and include this as a possible amendment. Dr Paul Gorecki said he was sceptical of the use of mediation in these sorts of cases and thought it was more appropriate for dealing with commercial disputes. He said the use of mediation should be carefully monitored by PSI and reviewed. Shane McCarthy said the Registrar would be the complainant in a lot of mediation cases, and he said the mediator needed to be seen as not involved in either side of the dispute. He would not be happy with the Manager of the Legal Affairs Department nominating the mediator and felt the nominator should be an independent person. 30 IPUREVIEW FEBRUARY 2017
5-7 May 2017 | Croke Park, Dublin RAISING THE BAR IN HEALTHCARE SUPPORTED BY www.pharmacyconference.ie
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