Pharmacists are calling on the Government to immediately introduce a pharmacy-based Minor Ailment Scheme, in an attempt to alleviate pressure on GPs.

According to the Irish Pharmacy Union (IPU), if medical card patients were allowed to access treatments for common illnesses directly from their pharmacist without having to attend their GP to obtain a prescription, this would leave GPs more time to focus on seriously ill patients, who may otherwise end up presenting themselves at hospital Emergency Departments (EDs).

Hospitals are currently under major pressure, with record numbers of patients being left waiting on trolleys. Over 2,400 patients were left waiting on trolleys in the first five days of this year.

"Community pharmacists can play a greater role in patient care, particularly at times such as now when the rest of the healthcare system is under extreme pressure. A Minor Ailment Scheme could divert patients away from busy GP surgeries when their ailment is one that can be treated by a pharmacist, allowing GPs more time for treating patients with more complex illnesses," explained IPU secretary general, Darragh O'Loughlin.

Similar schemes already operate successfully in other places such as the UK and such a service has been successfully piloted here.

In 2016, the IPU and the HSE collaborated on a successful three-month pilot Minor Ailment Scheme in four towns - Kells, Roscommon, Macroom and Edenderry.

This scheme allowed medical card holders in those towns to receive treatment for a number of specified ailments (dry eye, dry skin, scabies, threadworms and vaginal thrush) directly from their local community pharmacy, without the need for an unnecessary visit to the GP.

An evaluation of this pilot scheme concluded that expanding it nationwide would be cost-effective for the Exchequer, would alleviate pressure on GP surgeries and would potentially prevent unnecessary use of ED services.

However, the scheme was never implemented, even though most IPU members said they would welcome it.

"It is ironic that the HSE is now actively encouraging patients to visit their local pharmacy and avoid overcrowded GP surgeries while, at the same time, little effort has been made to introduce an initiative that the public overwhelmingly wants and which would offer immediate benefits to the public and to the HSE.

"While more patients are getting sicker and GP surgeries and EDs are getting busier, it makes no sense to delay any further," Mr O'Loughlin said.

He called for the immediate implementation of such a scheme in order to allow community pharmacists ‘to play a supportive role in alleviating our healthcare crisis'.