Pharmacists seek expanded role in Icelandic healthcare

Pharmacists’ education and expertise are not being fully used in Iceland’s healthcare system, according to Sigurbjörg Sæunn Guðmundsdóttir, chair of the Icelandic Pharmaceutical Society, mbl.is reports.

She says better distribution of tasks between healthcare professions could improve services for patients and increase access to healthcare. The aim, she stresses, is not to take work away from other professions, but to ensure that each profession uses its expertise where it is most valuable.

“We are all on the same team, working to improve services for the public. What can you do? What can we do?” Sigurbjörg told mbl.is.

She said pressure on healthcare systems is increasing in many countries because of ageing populations and greater use of medicines. Britain and Canada are among the countries that have responded by making greater use of pharmacists’ expertise.

From October 1, pharmacists who have completed the required further training will be allowed to vaccinate people against certain diseases in pharmacies. Sigurbjörg describes this as a first step towards improving public access to healthcare.

She also wants pharmacies to provide instruction on the use of inhaled medicines and support when patients begin drug treatment. In Britain and Canada, people can in certain cases receive help for minor ailments in pharmacies without first contacting a health centre. Such services are provided under clear clinical guidelines and are intended partly to improve access and reduce pressure on emergency services.

In England, the NHS operates a Pharmacy First service, allowing people to consult pharmacists directly about certain common ailments. New NHS England figures show that 14 million consultations have taken place through pharmacies since the service began in early 2024. These cases would otherwise have gone through primary care or emergency services.

Seven million of the consultations concerned common ailments, including around two million cases of acute sore throat and more than 1.7 million urinary tract infections.

Sigurbjörg says pharmacists’ education is also not being fully used in Iceland. Clinical pharmacists can have up to eight years of education and extensive expertise in drug treatment, but pharmacists in Iceland cannot prescribe medicines independently in the same way as they can in many other countries.

She acknowledges that prescribing rights for pharmacists in pharmacies could be a sensitive issue because pharmacies also sell medicines. She is therefore not calling for unlimited prescribing rights.