Sinn Féin TD for Dublin South West Seán Crowe has welcomed confirmation from the HSE that pharmacies will be allowed to fill more than one month’s prescription for customers, saying that for many people, particularly older citizens, it is very important to be able to have security of mind that they have enough medication on hand.

Teachta Crowe said:

“I welcome confirmation from the HSE to a parliamentary question I asked that pharmacies will be able to fill more than one month’s prescription per calendar month where there is no risk to patient safety and where pharmacies have enough stock to go round for all of their customers.

“I appreciate that pharmacies were alert to possible stockpiling or shortages of vital medicines, but we must balance that against the needs of patients. For some, particularly the elderly, it may not be as easy to get down to the chemist every month or they may not feel as comfortable making more trips to the chemists when the public health emergency is ongoing than they need to, filling prescriptions each month may incur multiple handling charges when previously there was no need to fill the script more than once or they may feel more secure and comfortable in the knowledge that they have a supply of medication in the house.”