The government will talk to the IRA and the UVF but they won’t talk to the pharmacists.
Maybe we should re-style ourselves the IPLA, the Irish Pharmacy Liberation Army. Threaten to overthrow the government and maybe now they’ll talk with us. I’ll even put on my balaclava if it makes them feel better.
And the good news is …
The HSE can’t cope; they are in deep doo-doo and they know it.
They wanted a new pharmacy contract, so we said “sure, let’s negotiate.” They said “oh no way, we’re not negotiating with you.”
They wanted to make savings so we said “sure, let’s talk about how we do it” and they said “oh no, we’re not talking to you.”
Instead, good old T0$$* and Come All*, ever the geniuses, decided to PRETEND medicine prices had come down and then pay us the new imaginary lower prices.
“Oh no,” we said, “we’re not putting up with that, it’s a breach of our contract and we can’t dispense at a loss.”
“But you will,” they retorted, “and even if you don’t, we don’t need you anyway. We’re Geniuses, you see.”
Slowly, realisation dawned on them. They told the minister and the papers only 2 pharmacists had pulled out. Oops, turns out they’re not such geniuses. They miscounted. Its actually nearer 750. “Jesus lads,” they thought “we can’t cope. Injunct them, all of them!”
And all we ever wanted to do was talk …
We are nearly there – May 1st is getting closer and if you think you’re feeling the pressure just think how hard it must be getting for the geniuses who have to pretend that medicine prices have come down when they haven’t, that pharmacies are not suspending their HSE contracts when hundreds and hundreds have written to say they are and that it doesn’t matter anyway because they have a contingency plan when they dont (or maybe they do, but it’s obviously a secret – even the HSE helpline and the regional staff know nothing about it).
Now they might still think that everything can be solved with a bit more bullying and some extra intimidation from their legal lapdog along with lots of sweet pillow-talk from their new best friends in $h0€$* but we know different and they’re close to working it out too.
Something tells me they will soon realise it’s good to talk. The pressure is on now.
I am up to it. Are they?
* names have been changed to protect the innocent guilty and thick.
This is for those pharmacists who haven’t decided exactly what action they will need to take on May 1st particularly in relation to Methadone. I think that they are obliged to contact their liaison pharmacists early next week and inform them that there is a possibility/likelihood that they might/will be withdrawing from the methadone scheme from May 1st and that those involved might want to put contingency plans in place. I think that it is entirely possible that the those in the higher echelons on the HSE (air heads for short) may have neglected to inform the methadone treatment department that this is a possibility.
Following that they might want to read the post below and DON’T ANSWER THE PHONE.
It might also be in order to let their methadone clients know that this is a possibility and get them to ask at the clinics about possible arrangements.
As part of campaign of mutual harassment with the HSE I have decided that from now on I am unavailable for any phone calls from the HSE or their hench men. It is clear that the HSE do not know exactly what action individual pharmacists are taking on May 1st and I think that we should not be talking to them and letting them know.
Quite amusing even if I say so myself.
As usual copyright me, please contact me if you want to re-print.
I finally feel that I can hold my head up now. This morning I got the threatening fax from the HSE. At least I presume that it was from the HSE. It was addressed to “pharmacist”. The cover said 1+1 pages when in fact got three pages. Also in the past I have received bogus faxes claiming to be from the HSE looking for information. I thought that I might phone them to say that I had got a fax claiming to be from them but as I had got bogus faxes in the past I shall be waiting for written confirmation in the post before acting upon it.
I’ve been thinking about the HSE lately, big surprise. It occurred to me that they have ignored all our correspondence to date. The only thing that they have responded to is High Court writs served on their legal eagles (maybe vultures would be a better description). So for myself I’m choosing to ignore any correspondence from the HSE. If they want to know anything let them ask my representatives the IPU.
The other issue that the HSE has is that actions by local managers seem to be all over the place. Anyway it does not count for much as much of this seems to be countermanded by those in the rarefied air of level 7 managers.
Any mountaineers out there would be aware of the effect of high altitude on the thinking process. The higher the altitude the thinner the air, the less oxygen gets to the brain and the more muddled your thinking becomes. It would seem that those in the higher levels of the HSE are suffering from this condition.
