asked the Minister for Health whether his attention has been drawn to an article on the Pharmacy Bill, 1962, in the current issue of the Journal of the Irish Medical Association on the lack of any proposed statutory insistence on the appointment of qualified pharmacists in the larger hospitals, where pharmaceutical skill of a high standard is increasingly often being required; and whether he thinks it necessary to deal with the position by introducing an amendment to the Bill.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Qualified Pharmacists in Hospitals.
13.
I do not think it would be appropriate to include such provisions in the Bill. There is no statutory requirement, for instance, that physicians, surgeons and nurses be appointed to hospitals and the staffing of hospitals has not suffered as a result.
Under the Local Government Acts, the Minister for Health has powers to prescribe qualifications for various posts in local authority hospitals and it must be common knowledge that it is insisted that all pharmacists employed in such hospitals must be appropriately qualified. Consequently, I can only conclude that the writer of the article has voluntary hospitals in mind and I do not feel that the legislature should be called upon to interfere with the internal arrangements of these hospitals in this respect.