IPU President Tom Murray speaks with Niamh Cahill about the dramatic changes in pharmacy during his tenure
It is perhaps a rhetorical question for Tom Murray, IPU President, when asked what the highlight of his two- year presidency has been to date.
Appointed in 2024, the Donegal-based pharmacist helped to steer the profession through a period of immense change, culminating in the publication of the Community Pharmacy Agreement with the Department of Health and the HSE last year.
The Agreement represented a significant milestone for community pharmacy, not only ending a 17-year period since the profession last received a pay increase from the State, but also providing a road map for the future expansion of the role of community pharmacists.
“The real highlight has been that we have navigated a period of huge change for community pharmacy, particularly through the development of the Community Pharmacy Agreement 2025,” Mr Murray said in an interview with Irish Pharmacist (IP).
“Being part of a team that was part of bringing that Agreement to a conclusion has been done in a way that not only strengthens the profession, but expands our services. I’m proud of how the IPU has engaged constructively and collaboratively with Government. We’ve entirely changed our relationship with the State in how we work. We are still going to advocate very strongly and champion the needs of community pharmacists and pharmacies, but we have set the foundation for a better, more modern and better-resourced community pharmacy sector that will have patient outcomes [at its core], because we can offer more services to patients.”
Scope of practice
For decades, pharmacists like Tom Murray have been calling for change within the profession and the expansion of the role of pharmacists.
Now that the much sought-after improvements have been achieved and agreed, a period of implementation and adaptation lies ahead for pharmacists this year, with even greater changes in the offing, according to Mr Murray.
“Pharmacists will now be able to operate to the top of their scope of practice, and I only see that expanding. The com- mon clinical conditions, which currently sit at eight — I think that will expand to potentially 18, and that provides opportunities for young pharmacists who are qualifying with an entirely different degree and profession than when I joined 30 years ago. But also, those of us who have been looking to expand our role in pharmacy, which I have been doing for 30 years — to see that come to fruition has been great,” Mr Murray said.
“I think there’s massive opportunity for pharmacists to offer more and be recognised more as the clinicians that they are. But also to do that whilst commencing increasing the sustainability of pharmacies by increasing resourcing.
“As far as I’m aware, we’re the only pharmacy advocacy group globally that has both increased the range of practice and had recognition of our core clinical role, which is the safe and appropriate supply of medicines, it being the most common intervention in healthcare, and having that recognised as a clinical role that only pharmacists can do and seeing the Government start to commence the sustainability issues around pay… I don’t
think that we’ve finished the financial requirements that we need to continue to build sustainability into the dispensing process, but we’ve commenced it. And as I say, we’re the only organisation that’s both had an increase in dispensing fee and role globally. That has been the highlight of my presidency so far.”
Another highlight, he told IP, was the appointment of a new IPU Secretary General, pharmacist Clare Fitzell, which he said has helped to provide stability and will aid in the development of IPU strategies going forward.
Administrative burden
Change is never simple in any sector and the level of proposed amendments contained in the Agreement is quite significant, Mr Murray noted. But overall, the mood among pharmacists in response to the deal has been extremely positive, he said.
“We’ve done regional meetings and have had overwhelmingly positive responses from members, and from general feedback. The fact is, we’re seeing increased funding, new services, we are enhancing our clinical role, and we’ve had some major steps in reducing administration through improved ICT systems,” he said.
Pharmacists who have been suffering under a huge administrative burden, he argued, will now see that burden reduce.
For example, the move towards paperless dispensaries, he remarked, “is a huge thing, and that may sound like such a small thing to people who don’t work in a pharmacy, but it is incredibly big”.
“Some of the key elements in the Agreement will secure a commitment to reduce the burden and a lot of those measures will roll out in 2026 — moving to paperless pharmacy will be a huge part of that, including the legislative changes to come into effect from January 2026 to eliminate the need to print and store Healthmail prescriptions; that’s going to be a big deal for us and was hard-fought for within the agreement.
“Some of the change may be gradual and won’t move at a pace that pharmacists would like at times, but we know we have commitments from the PCRS to modernise processes for streamlining claiming, streamlining payments, and that’s something that’s been a huge bur- den for pharmacists for years, particularly the HSE Hardship Scheme.”
Despite the progress, Mr Murray agreed that the administrative burden on pharmacists remains significant and is an ongoing area of concern for the IPU.
Vaccines
Work within the IPU on achieving the Agreement began in earnest around four or five years ago, Mr Murray explained.
Notable instances include the publications by the IPU of a White Paper outlining its vision for pharmacy in the future and greater engagement with the political system.
The Covid-19 pandemic, Mr Murray added, underscored the important role of pharmacists in Ireland, highlighting to patients and the political establishment the critical nature of the profession within the wider healthcare system.
The public became a lot more dependent on and demanding of pharmacy services during this time, Mr Murray said.
“Pharmacists now provide more vaccines to children for flu now than any other provider. The public are a large part of that drive and the State couldn’t but acknowledge and recognise that.”
Furthermore, he said that pharmacists are a key element in the implementation of Sláintecare.
All of these developments have enabled the IPU to engage with the State in a different and more collaborative fashion, he added.
While conversations “aren’t soft or easy” with the State, the relationship has improved overall, he said.
There is little doubt that the Agreement will have a huge impact on the profession, particularly in the areas of recruitment and retention, Mr Murray said.
“It [agreement] makes community pharmacy a profession that is more at- tractive to come into and more reward- ing for those who stay in pharmacy and want to deliver pharmacy services to patients. The fact that we’re moving towards reducing a lot of bureaucracy, a lot of which I think is unnecessary, will improve patient, pharmacist and staff experiences.”
Medicine shortages
While many changes are afoot, some things will remain unchanged for now, unfortunately. In particular, this applies to medicine supply shortages, he said.
Mr Murray admitted that he does not believe that ongoing medicine supply shortages would abate anytime soon.
“Medicine shortages worldwide are huge. I actually think it’s going to get worse. I don’t think there is going to be a significant improvement in medicine shortages in the foreseeable future. The demands of medicines by more educated patients, people living longer, more polypharmacy and more medicines being used globally — those demands aren’t being kept up with at the rate of manufacture.
“Medicine shortages are going to continue to be a challenge and it creates a burden of between six-to-10 hours on pharmacies per week. That’s a lot of time chasing medicines that aren’t available. I want to see an im- provement in medicine shortages, but I don’t see that happening in the short term.”
Future
The Agreement has not solved all of the issues and challenges that exist in pharmacy, but it has brought with it hope and a feeling of optimism among the profession.
According to Mr Murray, “2026 offers far more opportunities than challenges”. Indeed, “the future of community pharmacy is now quite bright,” he stated.
“The success of the Community Pharmacy Agreement is seeing our membership and applications for membership from non-pharmacy owners increasing, because everyone sees the value the IPU provides to them. That will increase the recruitment and retention of pharmacists and will also increase the engagement of pharmacists with the IPU as their single recognised advocacy body for all community phar- macists in the country,” he said.
“We represent 97 per cent of pharmacies nationwide and we represent a significant number of pharmacist employees. That level of representation is very strong and continues to grow.
“We’re focused on delivering benefits to members through advocacy, training, professional support and through the leadership that the IPU provides. We will continue to attract new members in the years ahead.
The IPU is currently working on its 2030 Statement of Strategy, due to be published shortly, Mr Murray said.
“I think there is an ageing and a growing population in Ireland, and that has increased demand on community pharmacy. So I will be focusing with others on how we develop strategies to look after that, and that will be part of the strategy document for 2030.
Mr Murray’s two-year term as President ends in May. His time working closely with IPU staff has provided him with a greater recognition of the “amazing professionalism within the IPU staff and team,” he said.
“I will continue to advocate on the broader economic pressures, rising operating costs, sustainable funding, and fair recognition of the work that pharmacists do,” as his terms comes to an end, he outlined.
“Personally, one of the things I wanted to do as President, as I’m going to do, is leave the IPU in a better position than when I came in.”
