Pharmacists believe they could be part of the solution to alleviate overcrowding in hospital ED'S
Cork University Hospital is regularly the second most overcrowded hospital in the country and pharmacists say if they were prescribing for minor ailments it would help solve the A&E backlog
They have accused the Government of letting patients suffer on trolleys and say the expansion of their services would cut down on around one million GP visits each year
This would give doctors extra capacity to care for those with more severe needs and would prevent patients from attending ED'S .
Pharmacist Sheena Mitchell wrote to the Health Minister as she says people are suffering because of inaction but his response was that pharmacists will play a big part in health care in the future
Speaking to RedFM News Sheena says she was hugely disappointed with his response as she says people need action now:
"In the letter that I got in response from Stephen Donnelly's office, it basically said that pharmacy under SláinteCare will play a vital role in future health care reform. And I want to say to the government that tomorrow never comes. Why are we talking about future healthcare reform, when there's a simple solution that can be implemented now, and potentially save lives and dramatically improve patient access to healthcare within their communities?"
