To ask the Minister of Health to detail (i) the rationale for community pharmacies planning to stop giving out free compliance aids and blister packs to patients; (ii) the estimated number of people who use, or have received, these packs; (iii) whether money previously provided to pharmacies for this service covered the product and labour costs; and (iv) his assessment of how this will impact patients with complex pharmaceutical needs in correctly administering their medication.

(i) Community Pharmacy NI (CPNI), the representative body for community pharmacies, announced that community pharmacies would be no longer willing to accept new referrals for medicines compliance trays from 1st December due to this a being a non-commissioned service and wider pressures being faced by the sector.

(ii)It is estimated that over 36,000 patients in Northern Ireland receive some level of compliance support from community pharmacies. It is not possible to provide an exact number of patients currently in receipt of medicine compliance trays because there is no agreed referral pathway or evidence available on how these individuals were assessed and placed on these trays.

(iii)There is funding in the community pharmacy economy for some aspects of adherence support plus additional indirect funding which pays for multiple dispensing fees.

(iv)Trusts have established interim contingencies which I am advised have helped to mitigate negative impact on patients.