PrEP programme-Week one update
Ireland’s national PrEP programme officially started this week, with free PrEP being available in community pharmacies from Monday, 4 November to those with recent prescriptions from an approved service. Although many PrEP users have been able to access PrEP already, there have been a few glitches and some new information that’s emerged that we wanted to let you know about..
One important piece of information that we’ve just learned is that holders of Long-Term Illness Scheme cards cannot use this card to access free PrEP. LTI card holders will need to apply for a DPS card to access PrEP.
For LTI card holders or others who do not yet have a DPS card but will be filling a prescription in the next couple of weeks, it’s suggested to ask the dispensing pharmacist to submit a temporary emergency DPS registration. [see below for more information] That will allow you to get your prescription filled immediately, and you can then apply for a DPS card either online or via post with a printed form. You will need to give the pharmacist your PPS number so that they can authorise this for you.
As far as we know holders of medical cards can still use those to access PrEP. Please let us know if you are a medical card holder and experience any problems getting your prescription filled free. You can reach us by email at getPrEP.online@gmail.com or through our contact page.
We’ve also learned that currently pharmacies can dispense only one-month of PrEP at a time. This is due to the structure of the PCRS, which is the system that reimburses pharmacies for PrEP under the national PrEP programme. It’s hoped that a way can be found for pharmacies to dispense the full 3 months of PrEP in one visit in the future, but for now they are limited to one month at a time.
We’ve heard that some pharmacies have been unaware of the new PrEP programme and how it works when PrEP users have tried to fill prescriptions. For these initial weeks, we’re recommending that people visit a pharmacy that has experience dispensing PrEP as they are more likely to be aware of the new programme. HIV Ireland has a map of pharmacies stocking PrEP here, although you may want to call first to confirm that they are aware of how the programme works.
UPDATE: Saturday 8 November
Things are moving quickly this week, and we’ve gotten some addition information that may be of use to PrEP users.
If you do not yet have a DPS card and will be asking the pharmacist to submit a temporary emergency DPS registration for you, the pharmacist will need to call PCRS to verify that you’ve been authorised to get free PrEP under the programme. Even though your doctor will have entered your information into the system when issuing your prescription, that information won’t be visible to the pharmacist until you have a DPS number, so they will need to call PCRS before they can dispense PrEP to you.
The pharmacist should have the number for PCRS, but in case they don't it's 01 8647100. The office is open Monday to Friday from 9:15am to 5pm, so a pharmacist may not be able to help you outside of those hours.
Some people have reported that their pharmacists have looked for them in the system and not found them, but the pharmacists may not have known that they need to call in. If the pharmacist does call PCRS and is still unable to locate your record, you should get in touch with your prescribing clinic and confirm that the doctor has entered your information into the system.
The other update concerns PrEP access in Cork. Late this week, Cork University Hospital was removed from the HSE’s list of approved PrEP services. This is because the clinic has not yet opened and is not able to provide prescriptions to PrEP users in Cork. This means that currently there is no clinic in Cork able to prescribe PrEP for free under the new programme. We hope to be able to provide more information on the situation next week.
PrEP users who have been attending the STI clinic at the South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital (SIVUH) may want to contact the clinic there for further information about their options for accessing PrEP through the national programme. Their number is 021 4966844.