Patient Charter

In managing your day-to-day health, you are likely to visit a community pharmacy where a pharmacist is available to give you advice about your healthcare needs and about how to take your medicines in the safest and most effective way.

As the pharmacy regulator, the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland (PSI) works to protect the health and safety of patients and the public and we do this by setting standards for pharmacists and pharmacies and ensuring compliance with the regulatory framework. The PSI Council commissioned the development of a Patient Charter to inform the public about what they can expect from a community pharmacist.

 The purpose of the Patient Charter - You and Your Pharmacist is to:

• demonstrate the role pharmacists play in assisting people to look after their health
• inform patients about how they can help their pharmacist to meet the expectations set out in the Patient Charter.

When patients are engaging with their community pharmacist they should expect safe and effective services, dignity and respect, accountability, information and privacy, and communication and engagement. Communication between a patient and a pharmacist is very important and patients should be encouraged to take an active part in their wellbeing and healthcare, to ask questions, and seek advice from their pharmacist.

As the pharmacy regulator we are responsible for handling complaints made about pharmacists and pharmacies. The Patient Charter outlines the steps that can be taken if someone is unhappy with the service or care received in a pharmacy.

The Patient Charter - You and Your Pharmacist was launched by the Minister for Health, Simon Harris T.D., on 23 August 2016. Read about the launch.

The Patient Charter was developed through a public consultation process, which was contributed to by pharmacists, patients, patient advocacy groups, members of the pharmacy team and other healthcare professionals. You can read a summary of the feedback we received in the public consultation report.