|
HSE/pharmacists dispute set to continue |
|
|
Written by Administrator
|
|
Wednesday, 31 January 2007 |
The stand off between the Health Service Executive and the Irish Pharmacists Union looks set to continue without resolution.
Minister for Health, Mary Harney and the HSE want to reduce the fee given to pharmacists for operating the medical card scheme.
Talks
between unions and health officials took place last week but the
Department and the HSE made a decision not to deal with the pharmacy
unions on the issue, preferring to deal with individual pharmacies.
The
HSE said, "In light of the Competition Act, it would not be appropriate
for the HSE to engage in negotiations with the IPU in relation to fees".
But
Darragh O'Loughlin of the IPU, who owns Medwell Pharmacy in Tuam said
although the HSE and the Department have said they won't speak to the
Pharmacists Union, they haven't proposed who they will speak to.
The
Salthill native said the HSE and the Department of Health are doing
"everything they can to reduce the price of medicines but the
difficulty is, without any negotiations, they are reducing pharmacists
income."
He said some Galway pharmacies "are in real financial
danger" and may have to close if this issue is not resolved. "In some
cases, it costs more money to run the medical card scheme than to stay
in business," he said.
"The difficulty is that the HSE and the
Department of Health are refusing to negotiate with pharmacists on the
fees so we are in the situation where they are actively working to
reduce pharmacists income, forcing pay-cuts and refusing to talk to
pharmacists about it."
Comments () » |
 |
 |
