Equitable access to basic healthcare must be priority for ACT Government

14 November 2022

 

 

The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) has urged the ACT Government to follow New South Wales’ lead to allow pharmacists to do more amidst ongoing GP shortages.

 

The NSW Government announced yesterday (13 November 2022) that pharmacists who undergo further training will be able to participate in a 12-month trial to prescribe medication for urinary tract infections (UTIs), as well as a pilot to prescribe oral contraception and medications for minor skin conditions and ear infections.

 

PSA ACT President Olivia Collenette says that Canberrans deserve the same access to basic healthcare as residents living over the border.

 

“In the ACT we have patients waiting up to three weeks for an appointment with a GP, leaving significant gaps in care,” Ms Collenette said.

 

“Canberrans deserve better access to medicines, whether it’s anti-biotics for an infection or oral contraceptives.

 

“Forcing a patient who has been on oral contraception for years, for example, to wait for a GP appointment to get their script renewed significantly limits the accessibility of contraception and basic healthcare.

 

“Pharmacists are Canberra’s most accessible health care providers, we are ideally placed to support patients to access to contraception and basic healthcare.

 

Ms Collenette added that allowing pharmacists to treat minor ailments would bridge the access gap caused by GP shortages.

 

“When a patient has a painful infection and can’t see their GP, they’re going to go to the emergency department to seek treatment. This is only putting more pressure on our already stretched hospitals.

 

“We know that GP shortages are not going to be fixed overnight, so it’s vital that the healthcare sector work together to ensure patients can access the treatment and medicines they need.

 

“The ACT Government should take immediate action to allow pharmacists to support community health. The government must put patients first.”

 

 

 

Media contact:   Georgia Clarke   M: 0410 505 315     E: georgia.clarke@psa.org.au

Pharmacists mark MedSafety Week

9 November 2022

 

The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) is this week marking the seventh annual Med Safety Week, running from 7 – 13 November 2022.

 

Med Safety Week brings together regulators from 81 countries worldwide to focus on the important role that every healthcare professional, patient and carer has in reporting suspected side effects and contributing to medicine safety.

 

PSA National President Dr Fei Sim said that Med Safety Week was a timely reminder of the importance of medicine safety in preventing hospitalisations and improving quality of life.

 

“The use of medicines is the most common intervention in health care. The safe and appropriate use of medicines transforms people’s health for the better,” Dr Sim said.

 

“PSA landmark Medicine Safety: Take Care report found 250,000 Australians are hospitalised each year and another 400,000 present to emergency departments as a result of medicine-related problems. At least half of this harm could have been prevented.

 

“Pharmacists already play an important role in medicine safety, but there are opportunities for us to do more.

 

“Pharmacists, as medicine safety experts, should be embedded wherever medicines are used to reduce the risk of medicine-related problems.

 

“All pharmacists, regardless of their practice setting, continue to play an increasingly important role in ensuring the Quality Use of Medicines.”

 

Dr Sim said that ensuring pharmacist services are available relied heavily on managing workforce capacity.

 

“As pharmacist services continue to expand, we need to ensure that consultations are appropriately funded based on time and complexity, possibly through the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS).

 

“This is something that PSA has been calling on the Federal Government to explore to ensure that access to expert pharmacist advice remains available to all Australians,” Dr Sim concluded.

 

 

Media contact:   Georgia Clarke   M: 0410 505 315     E: georgia.clarke@psa.org.au

 

RADIO INTERVIEW: Future Proofing the PBS

Dr Fei Sim, PSA National President on ABC Radio Adelaide

1 November 2022

 

PRESENTER: Dr Fei Sim is the National President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, good morning Dr Sim.

 

DR FEI SIM: Good morning.

 

PRESENTER: When you see the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, do you think ‘this is great and God bless the person who came up with this’ or do you think it could do with some tweaking?

 

DR FEI SIM: I think you brought up a good point, the PBS is definitely one of the best health initiatives in the country, so I think we should all wake up every day and be thankful that the PBS is actually in Australia.

 

PRESENTER: Do you want to change it in any way?

 

DR FEI SIM: Look, I think the PBS is really good but there is always room for improvement. The key is that the PBS has to be sustainable and it has to be flexible because we live in an era where there’s constantly new medicines coming on the market, so the PBS in order to continue serving Australians I really believe that it needs to be more sustainable and flexible. The previous speaker talked about the presence of the PBAC – which is the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee – so the government does actually have a very rigorous process, and I would consider a rather flexible process as well, to continue to evaluate whether a medicine is cost effective and whether it should be on the PBS.

 

PRESENTER: It must be really difficult knowing that, because you know you hear these stories about people who’ve got some horrible disease and the only thing that’s keeping them alive is some rare medication that costs a gazillion dollars to buy, but if you put it on the PBS they can suddenly buy… they can afford to live. Making those decisions must be very hard.

 

DR FEI SIM: Absolutely you’ve brought up another good point which is why I think the government has this rigorous process in place and the role of the PBAC is really not easy because in order to consider whether a medicine should be on the PBS there needs to be a lot of research but also economic modelling. And really it needs to be assessed on a medicine-by-medicine basis to consider if the health benefit, whether its to the few people or to the masses of Australians, whether the benefits justify the costs of subsidising the medication over and above what’s already available. So it’s definitely not an easy process.

 

PRESENTER: Who applied to the governing body to have a drug? Is the pharmaceutical companies or is it the medical profession?

 

DR FEI SIM: It often is the pharmaceutical companies, so the pharmaceutical manufacturers are often the sponsors if you like. They would have put a lot of money into research and development, and they may be researching hundreds of molecules at the one time, but often there will be a few that actually make it to the market. At the same time they actually have to apply to the TGA, to the Therapeutic Goods Administration, to actually have the medicine approved or registered to be used. Through that process they have to justify that it is safe and effective and at the same time they have to apply to have the medicine listed on the PBS from a subsidy perspective so that the Australian people can actually access the medicine in a cost effective manner.

 

PRESENTER: This is Dr Fei Sim, the National President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia.

 

 

PRESENTER: Dr Fei Sim let’s come back to you, any final comment you want to make?

 

DR FEI SIM: I think it’s important to highlight that it is the responsibility of every one of us living in Australia, benefitting from the PBS, to protect . For instance from the public’s perspective it’s important that we all understand that we shouldn’t be stockpiling medicines because if we actually get medicines and have them subsidized but then stockpile them at home we are actually using up the resources of the PBS when it can actually benefit others that might actually need them. At the same time, Dr Melanie Smith highlighted the importance of GP in prescribing and that is something all health professional work together . Pharmacists when we’re dispensing are using, for Trulicity as you used as an example, you know pharmacists would be actually checking the medicines that are on and through medication reviews pharmacists can also help to deprescribe, which means suggest to the GP what medicines should not be taking. All this would help to improve the judicious use of medicines which will actually help to preserve the sustainability of the PBS moving forward.

 

Flood victims must have access to medicines. PSA calls for urgent restoration of full PBS Continued Dispensing initiative.

19 October 2022

 

The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) is again calling for the Federal Government to reinstate full continued dispensing arrangements amid widespread flooding in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania.

 

Continued dispensing arrangements came into effect in late 2019 allowing people separated from their medicines and prescriptions to access a standard box of their medicines as a one-off one month supply without a prescription.

 

Despite being in force for over two years without any known safety incidents, the Federal Government reduced the number of eligible medicines from over 900 to only 168 from 30 June 2022.

 

PSA National President Dr Fei Sim says that while pharmacists are working harder than ever to ensure patients have access to the medicines they need, their hands are tied when it comes to supplying prescription medicines to those who have been most affected.

 

“We have been speaking with pharmacists who are staying open and trying to help patients with intermittent power, water damage and without stable phone and internet lines. They have told us the watered-down arrangements are putting them in an impossible situation of having to deny reasonable requests for lifesaving medicines or risk losing their AHPRA registration by breaking the law.

 

“There are common medicines, like anti-depressants, antiarrhythmic, anticoagulant, and antiepileptic medicines for example, that are dangerous to suddenly stop taking. In a disaster situation it is the patients on these sorts of medicines who will suffer without permanent continued dispensing arrangements in place.

 

“This is unacceptable. The current continued dispensing arrangements are simply not fit-for-purpose. Governments need to make sure that all patients have access to their medicines in emergency situations, regardless of what medicines they take,” Dr Sim said.

 

“It is vital the full PBS Continued Dispensing list is restored, as it guarantees access to full PBS quantities Australia-wide for people affected by an emergency. Without this, the quantity of medicines a pharmacist can supply varies depending where you are in Australia, which can be as little as only 3 day’s supply We all know emergencies last longer than that.

 

“Full continued dispensing is necessary to ensure medicines remain affordable in an emergency. Without PBS subsidy, either the patient or pharmacist has to wear the full cost of the medicine at a time where the individual costs of the disaster are starting to roll in.

 

The last thing these pharmacists and patients need is unnecessary bureaucratic red tape getting in the way of emergency patient care.

 

“After two years where this problem has been solved, it feels like we’ve gone back to Groundhog Day again. We cannot wait for the next natural disaster to revisit this issue yet again. Restoring full continued dispensing permanently will help improve our disaster response and protect the post-disaster health of our communities.”

 

 

 

Media contact:   Georgia Clarke   M: 0410 505 315     E: georgia.clarke@psa.org.au

SA Pharmacists to deliver Japanese encephalitis virus vaccines

18 October 2022

 

The South Australian Government has today announced that pharmacists will soon be able to deliver free Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) vaccines to people over five years of age who travel to, live or work along the River Murray.

 

The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) welcomes the announcement, with SA/NT President Veronika Seda highlighting the role of pharmacists in ensuring that the vaccination is accessible to all eligible people.

 

“Pharmacists play an important role in enabling access to vaccinations for every eligible person living in South Australia,” Ms Seda said.

 

“While 90% of JEV infections are asymptomatic, the virus can cause a rare and potentially life-threatening infection of the brain. It’s vital that we encourage the uptake of JEV vaccines in affected areas.

 

“As the most accessible health care professionals, community pharmacists completely support any measures that strengthen the health and wellbeing of our communities. Pharmacists are skilled and ready to provide any additional advice people may need regarding mosquito borne diseases, such as JEV.”

 

The vaccine will be available to patients free of charge, with pharmacists receiving $20 (inc. GST) in remuneration for each dose delivered. This is less than pharmacists receive for delivering an influenza vaccination, despite JEV vaccinations requiring a longer consultation.

 

“As the organisation representing all pharmacists practising in Australia, PSA is concerned that the rate of remuneration for South Australian pharmacists delivering JEV vaccinations is insufficient.

 

“JEV has a strict eligibility criteria, which requires pharmacists to spend more time consulting with patients. That extra time is time taken away from the dispensary and helping other patients, which can have a significant impact in small, regional, or rural pharmacies.

 

“In comparison, general practitioners are delivering the same service, administering the same vaccine, and are able to claim $39.75 for each patient under Medicare. Pharmacists deserve to be paid the same rate,” Ms Seda concluded.

More information on the Japanese encephalitis virus and vaccines can be found here.

 

 

Media contact:   Georgia Clarke   M: 0410 505 315     E: georgia.clarke@psa.org.au

Outstanding QLD pharmacists recognised

The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) Queensland Branch yesterday celebrated the outstanding pharmacists through its annual awards, presented at the Queensland Annual Therapeutic Update (ATU).

 

PSA Queensland Vice-President Karla Wright, presented the awards on Saturday night and thanked them for their ongoing dedication to the profession.  

 

The 2022 PSA Queensland Pharmacist of the Year was awarded to Lakis ‘Lucky’ Zeniou.

 

The 2022 Professor James Dare Queensland Pharmacy Graduate of the Year was awarded to Renee Buckland from James Cook University.

 

The 2022 Queensland Early Career Pharmacist of the Year was awarded to Elisha Noone.

 

The 2022 Queensland Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Carmel Delahunty.

 

Ms Wright congratulated all award winners on their achievements, and thanked all Queensland pharmacists for their hard work over the last year.

 

“Congratulations to all the award winners and nominees,” she said.

 

“These pharmacists have gone above and beyond to demonstrate their leadership and commitment to the health and wellbeing of their communities. PSA is proud to be celebrating all that makes Queensland pharmacists great.

 

“The 2022 QLD ATU has demonstrated the commitment and dedication of our profession, bringing together pharmacists from around Queensland to collaborate and celebrate our many successes.”

 

 

Media notes on award winners

 

2022 PSA Queensland Pharmacist of the Year – Lakis ‘Lucky’ Zeniou.

 

Lucky is passionate about the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities and is a role model and advocate for the integration of pharmacists into the primary health care teams of Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHOs).

 

Lucky has been working with the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (ACCHO) sector for over 12 years, including his current role for the past 7 years as Senior Pharmacist at the Institute for Urban Indigenous Health (IUIH). Together with his team they provide oversight for the delivery of quality use of medicine initiatives within the 19 Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service clinics located in South East Queensland. Prior to working at IUIH, he was the Queensland QuMAX Support Pharmacist, which involved implementing QuM measures within ACCHO’s throughout Queensland and liaising with community and hospital pharmacies to encourage QuM initiatives through collaboration and improved cultural safety.

 

2022 Professor James Dare Queensland Pharmacy Graduate of the Year – Renee Buckland.

 

The Professor James Dare Queensland Pharmacy Graduate of the Year recognises achievements in pharmacy beyond just academic success.  Renee was nominated for this award for her outstanding commitment to pharmacy and her promising career in the sector.

 

2022 QLD Early Career Pharmacist – Elisha Noone.

 

Elisha has a special interest in palliative care and is currently completing her Masters of Palliative Care through Flinders University. She is a pharmacist advocate with a passion to integrate pharmacists within the palliative care sector.

 

Elisha is the Project Pharmacist – Brisbane South Palliative Care Collaborative (BSPCC) on the palliPHARM initiative, works on PallConsult, a 24/7 palliative care advice hotline for doctors, NPs, paramedics and pharmacists and supports the Specialist Palliative Care in Aged Care Project which supports people at end-of-life residing in Residential Aged Care Facilities. Most recently Elisha has been supporting Queensland state-wide Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) services.

 

2022 QLD Lifetime Achievement Award – Carmel Delahunty.

 

Carmel Delahunty has been a pharmacist for 46 years since her traineeship in 1976 at McSweeny’s at Oriel Rd & Toombul Pharmacies.

 

Through her career, she has owned and operated multiple pharmacies, health food stores, perfumeries and photo developing stores.

 

Additionally, Carmel has been an active member of the pharmacy industry, holding the position of Secretary for QLD Pharmacy Ball Committee in 1990’s which at its peak was attended by approximately 1,000 pharmacists. Carmel was also an inaugural member of the Advisory Committee at QUT Pharmacy School, mentoring many pharmacy students and pharmacists over her career.  

 

Carmel has been an early adopter & advocate of expanding pharmacy practice through her career. She has completed an Advanced Diploma of Nutritional Pharmacy in 1996, is certified as a Counsellor for Preventative Medicine Movement, was a member of the Advisory Committee at the Endeavor College of Natural Medicine and is registered as an Immunisation Pharmacist. She has continued to contribute to the pharmacy industry, most recently working for QLD Health manufacturing Covid Vaccines during the peak vaccine demand.

 

Carmel is also a Fellow of the Australian College of Pharmacy and a Fellow of the Australia Institute of Company Directors.

 

On top of all this, she has managed to raise 4 children and volunteer her time to multiple community groups.

 

 

Media contact:   Georgia Clarke   M: 0410 505 315     E: georgia.clarke@psa.org.au

Tasmanians can now access pharmacist advice after hours

13 October 2022

 

 

The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) is proud to launch the Tasmanian Afterhours Advice Line to support the health and wellbeing of all Tasmanians when their regular pharmacy is closed.

 

The Tasmanian Government-funded advice line is now available to all Tasmanians seeking support or advice from an expert pharmacist from 6pm to midnight, seven days a week. The advice line will be trialled over 8-months.

 

PSA Tasmanian President David Peachey said that the launch of the advice line will improve access to essential healthcare and further support the health and wellbeing of Tasmanians.

 

“We’re proud to bring the Pharmacist Advice Line to Tasmania as part of our ongoing commitment to supporting the health of our communities,” Mr Peachey said.

 

“Pharmacists are medicine safety experts, and play a significant role in the day-to-day management of medicines too. Tasmanians can now call us when most local pharmacies are closed and get the same expert advice on dosages, medicine safety, drug interactions.

 

“When Tasmanians call the pharmacist advice line with minor ailments we can also act as a triage point, giving them advice on whether to go to their pharmacist, GP, or hospital for treatment.

 

“We see afterhours patients with minor ailments go straight to the emergency department because there is often no other option. It doesn’t have to be this way, pharmacists have the skills and experience to help in many of these cases.

 

“We want to play our part in reducing pressure on the rest of the health system, so that healthcare remains accessible for everyone.

 

 

“PSA is proud to be working with the Tasmanian Government to ensure that healthcare is accessible to all patients when they need it. We sincerely thank Premier and Health Minister Jeremy Rockliff for his ongoing support for Tasmania’s pharmacists.”

 

 

The Pharmacist Afterhours Advice Line is available from 6pm to midnight, 7 days a week, at 1300 742 769.  More information on the service is available here.

 

 

 

Media contact:   Georgia Clarke   M: 0410 505 315     E: georgia.clarke@psa.org.au

JOINT STATEMENT: AACP to cease operation