Pharmacy Agreements

PSA’s Strategic Agreement on Pharmacist Professional Practice is about cementing the core role of standards and guidelines across practice settings. To ensure that the Australian public can receive quality, safe and effective care by pharmacists, at all times. They articulate the standard of service delivery across all services, and for all patients.

This is important because as pharmacists are expected to do more, pharmacists need the tools, and information to make sure that every service is delivered to the highest standard. This is a forward looking strategic agreement which for the first time, allows us to develop a framework where we can demonstrate the benefits of what we do as pharmacists. Through the development of medicines safety and quality use of medicines indicators, pharmacists can show how important we are to the healthcare system. We can use this framework to demonstrate effectiveness and advocate for future funding because of our impact.

This agreement also shows PSA’s leadership in the area of primary care access and facilitating our work as a steward of medicines safety. Through reviews of accreditation and credentialing requirements we can make sure our profession is ready and supported to fill the gap in Australia’s healthcare system. Pharmacists can do more, but we cant do more for less. Pharmacists can do more, if government supports us to do more.

This Strategic Agreement is a positive acknowledgement of PSA’s role as the custodians of standards and guidelines for all pharmacists, and that agreements on programs delivered across practice settings should apply equally and fairly to all pharmacists, wherever they practice.

It allows the Community Pharmacy Agreement to focus on the programs and funding critical to supporting a strong network on community pharmacies.

PSA will lead a process to provide a home for pharmacist services not encompassed in the 8CPA.

We support the 8CPA being about core community pharmacy programs. It should never have been a catch all for all programs that can be delivered by pharmacists.

The 8CPA includes a clause noting that the governance of programs which are not Community Pharmacy Programs will continue for the next 12 months under the 8CPA. More importantly, medicine review services, including HMRs and RMMRs continue to be funded through the federal government’s forward estimates as ongoing programs.

Now 8CPA and this Strategic Agreement have been finalised, PSA turns its attention to programs that are not governed by a community pharmacy agreement. PSA supports the 8CPA being about core community pharmacy programs.

Discussions will continue for programs not contained in the 8CPA, including those delivered by pharmacists in all other areas of practice. PSA looks forward to leading further engagement with government in relation to these programs during the remainder of 2024.