The Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland (PSI) commissioned Horwath Bastow Charleton (HBC) in late 2009 to conduct a study to provide an understanding of the nature and type of pharmacy services currently being delivered in Ireland, and to review and report on the international profile of the standards of pharmacy service and care delivery. HBC was assisted in this project by Webstar Health, a specialist pharmacy consultancy in the UK, and by senior academic pharmacists in the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan).

The first phase of the study was intended to focus on the provision of core and extended pharmacy services in Ireland, providing baseline information for the PSI to enable it to understand the nature and scope of pharmacy provision nationally, to identify strengths and weaknesses in the sector, and to develop future policy to improve and implement change for pharmacy provision in Ireland.

The second phase was designed to be an international review study, examining pharmacy provision and regulation in other EU countries, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and other countries as identified, seeking to identify and analyse the nature and scope of pharmacy provision, best practice, policies and practice in relation to performance management, and how pharmacy provision fits within the wider health and social care sector in each comparator country.