Plan to make pharmacies display dispensing fees will not make ‘a blind bit of difference’

Proposed changes that would require pharmacies to display the dispensing fees charged to private customers will not make “a blind bit of difference” to the prices people pay for drugs, an umbrella group representing the sector has said.

Some pharmacists have expressed surprise over the issue being prioritised by Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill and highlighted more pressing issues including how to effectively implement a HRT scheme that could benefit tens of thousands of women annually.

The Minister last week announced that the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland (PSI) is developing guidelines on price transparency.

“I believe patients don’t have clear visibility of the fees they are paying for services such as dispensing services when getting their prescription medicines dispensed,” Ms Carroll MacNeill said.