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International expert visits Australia to explore the future of pharmacist prescribing

Ravi Sharma, an independent pharmacist prescriber from the UK, is coming to Australia to work with the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) to offer valuable insights into pharmacist prescribing in the UK and explore how to progress this important role for pharmacists in Australia.

 

PSA National President Dr Shane Jackson said that while pharmacist prescribing is an established part of practice in the UK, pharmacists don’t yet have Schedule 4 prescribing rights in Australia.

 

“Australia is missing out. It make no sense that dentists, nurse practitioners, midwives, podiatrists and optometrists can prescribe, while pharmacists, the medication specialists, cannot,” Dr Jackson said.

 

“PSA is leading the agenda in Australia to ensure pharmacist prescribing becomes a reality by 2020, and we are excited to help share Ravi’s experiences with this model in the UK.”

 

Mr Sharma is the National Clinical Lead for Clinical Pharmacy and Genomics for the National Health Service (NHS) in England, and holds several honouree and advisory positions. His focus is the development of integrated, collaborative and innovative roles for pharmacists.

 

He has been responsible for developing new roles for pre-registration, junior and senior pharmacists, linking them to local and national workforce development strategies.

 

“I am truly honoured to be invited by the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia to speak on pharmacists prescribing in the UK,” Mr Sharma said.

 

“Pharmacist prescribing has opened up many opportunities for pharmacists to help improve patient care, increase access to medicines, enhance public health and enable greater collaborative multidisciplinary team working with doctors, nurses and allied healthcare professionals.”

 

“During my visit I will share my experiences and evidence on pharmacists prescribing in integrated/collaborative models of care and how the pharmacy profession is helping to improve patient
care and safety through greater autonomous and integrated practice across the NHS.”

 

Pharmacists are invited to attend CPD events with Mr Sharma and Dr Jackson on Monday 22 October in Melbourne and Thursday 25 October in Sydney. The Sydney event will be livestreamed.

 

“These events with Ravi are an important step towards this exciting role that will allow pharmacists to do more with medicines and improve public health,” Dr Jackson said.

 

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Media contact:
Jarryd Luke,
Senior Communications Officer
0487 922 176