Latest news with #PharmacyGuild
ABC News
7 days ago
- Health
- ABC News
'Ambitious' plan could see 80 per cent of pharmacists able to diagnose health conditions
As a prescribing pharmacist, Sam Turner is able to treat certain conditions and illnesses without his patients needing to visit a GP. In Queensland, the treatment of some conditions — including uncomplicated urinary tract infections, ear infections, acne, psoriasis, and school sores — can be managed by trained pharmacists after a pilot program was made permanent earlier this year. On Wednesday, the Pharmacy Guild of Australia announced its ambition to have 80 per cent of community pharmacists across the country able to offer additional services, including examining, diagnosing and treating health conditions by 2035. Mr Turner, who runs a community pharmacy in Brisbane, undertook a post graduate pharmacy prescribing course through James Cook University. "The training has not only improved my skills as a clinician but has also reshaped the way I approach most clinical conversations in the pharmacy," he said. "With those acute conditions — whether it's shingles, school sores or even mild to moderate eczema or psoriasis — a lot of patients come in and they need treatment straight away. "We're able to at least provide them with an immediate diagnosis and treatment and then referral if required." With the correct training, pharmacists are also able to prescribe hormonal contraception. The level of service a pharmacy can offer varies depending on the state and territory. Professor Trent Twomey, the Pharmacy Guild of Australia national president, would like to see more "harmonisation" across the country. "The Toward 2035 strategic plan involves turning Australia's 6,000 community pharmacies into primary healthcare hubs... saving the Australian healthcare system $5.1 billion annually," Professor Twomey said. He said internal modelling done by the guild suggested the changes would significantly ease pressures across health systems. In a statement, the guild said modelling showed its plan would free up 52,000 hours at emergency departments and save 6.5 million GP consultations. Professor Twomey says 75 per cent of Australians live within two-and-a-half kilometres of a pharmacy. "It makes sense that pharmacists step up, take on more clinical responsibilities to ease pressure on public hospitals and GP clinics across the country," he said. "These are common sense reforms where safe, affordable healthcare can be provided more easily and more effectively through more access points. Not all practitioners agree this approach will have the desired effect. Dr Michael Clements, the rural chair of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, is less than impressed. He said prescribing pharmacists in North Queensland — where it was first trialled — hadn't alleviated pressures on rural and regional general practitioners. "The promise or the hope was that [if] overrun GPs couldn't possibly squeeze in anybody, [a patient] that needed to urgently be seen could go next door to the pharmacy," Dr Clements said. "The only places this was offered has been in bigger city centres and in urban centres. In the pharmacies near me, it was only offered during [on weekdays] when a particular pharmacist might be rostered on." He said urgent care clinics and government incentives to get more doctors into general practice training meant the GP shortage was improving. "The main thing that's really impacting us as GPs is tidying up the messes when [patients] have seen a pharmacist and there's been a mistake," Dr Clements said. He said has seen multiple instances where a patient who had sought treatment at a pharmacy had been misdiagnosed, including one who was treated for a urinary tract infection but had a sexually transmitted infection. Dr Clements said in another case a patient was treated with steroid cream but had shingles. "When you teach people a small number of diseases and you give them a toolkit that only treats a small number of things, patients are at risk," he said. "[There's potential for] confirmation bias where the pharmacist chooses the wrong treatment because they haven't seen anything else before. They haven't had an apprenticeship and they haven't had supervision. Dr Clements said pharmacists' access to patients' medical history was limited. For instance, they can't test urine and blood, so they may misdiagnose a condition or miss something that is underlying. But the guild's Professor Twomey said the objectives of the plan weren't to replace GPs, but help free up doctors for more complicated cases. "It doesn't matter if Australians want to ask their GP, ask their pharmacist or ask their nurse, as long as the treatment they are being provided is in accordance with the same Australian therapeutic guidelines and the practitioner is treating them to the same level of care," he said. "Unfortunately there is enough sickness to go around. If we are able to achieve all our ambitions in this plan... it frees up our precious GPs to deal with those more complicated cases." Queensland Health Minister Tim Nicholls says the government has put $1.5 million into training subsidies to allow an additional 230 pharmacists to complete further training. He said the government had fulfilled its election commitment by making the treatment of a range of acute conditions from the pilot program a permanent service of prescribing pharmacists.
News.com.au
12-08-2025
- Health
- News.com.au
Queensland deputy premier satisfied with low flu vaccination rates as cases soar
Health authorities are urging Australians to still get a flu shot but Queensland Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie says he is satisfied with his state's flu vaccine rates, which have toppled to new lows amid increasing flu-related hospitalisations. The state is facing a surge in infections this flu season, with more than 44,000 lab-confirmed cases confirmed in the state this year – 20 per cent higher than the year before. Queensland Health reported 106 flu-related deaths this year until August 9, which is 12 more than the same time last year. Pharmacy Guild of Australia president Chris Owen said 86 per cent of people hospitalised with the flu had not been vaccinated. 'You can't argue with the numbers,' he said in a statement, adding '86 per cent of people hospitalised with flu weren't vaccinated and 90 per cent of reported cases hadn't had the vaccine'. 'The message is clear: get to your community pharmacy and get vaccinated.' However, when asked about the hospitalisation and flu rates, Mr Bleijie said he was comfortable with current vaccination rates and would 'deal with' the increasing number of hospitalisations as they came. On Tuesday, Mr Bleijie told reporters his vaccination status was a 'private matter between me and my doctor'. 'We're not going to be a government, like former governments, dictating what people do in their own homes, their own lives or with their doctors,' he said, referring to Covid-19 restrictions and vaccination mandates. 'If people want to get the flu vaccination they are entitled to do that, I'm not going to dictate whether they should do it or not. 'We will deal with the influx of people in the hospitals, just as the health minister has been doing, with our wonderful doctors and nurses on the frontline.' Queensland Premier David Crisafulli offered a similar answer when asked about his own vaccination status, saying it was 'between me and my doctor'. Australian Medical Association president Nick Yim said the increased flu-related cases were adding to the already overrun healthcare system. 'The cases are rising, hospitalisations are rising due to influenza and that's due to the fact that many people aren't vaccinated,' Dr Yim told Weekend Today. 'And that, unfortunately, is putting pressure on our healthcare system.' He said hospitals were forced to postpone elective surgeries due to the increasing number of flu cases. 'The reason why we had to postpone elective surgery was to give a bit of breathing space due to the fact that many people were coming into hospital needing beds due to influenza and other respiratory conditions,' he said. It comes as flu vaccine rates across the country remain low, with more than 8200 people in NSW testing positive for the flu in the week ending August 2. NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant said because the majority of people do not test for the flu, the figures are likely to be significantly higher. 'Everyone aged six months or older is recommended to get their flu vaccine, even previously healthy children and adults can experience severe complications from influenza,' she said. 'It's not too late to get vaccinated, getting the flu vaccine is quick, easy and recommended for everyone aged six months or older.' Dr Chant said despite the flu season nearing an end, she still urged everyone to get vaccinated. 'Influenza is a serious illness that can cause pneumonia, make chronic underlying medical conditions like diabetes, lung and heart disease much worse requiring hospital admission, and cause death,' she said. 'Complications can occur in anyone but are more likely in those at higher risk of severe illness.' In Queensland all residents are able to access the flu vaccination for free. 'Getting vaccinated not only protects individuals but also helps prevent the spread of influenza within the community,' Mr Owen said. The flu vaccine is free for NSW, WA, South Australian and Victorian residents aged six months to five years, pregnant women, Aboriginal people aged six months and over, residents over 65 and those with chronic health conditions.
RNZ News
11-06-2025
- Health
- RNZ News
The pluses and minuses in 12 month prescriptions
From next year, patients will be able to get prescriptions covering 12 months, rather than the current three. Announcing the move, the Health Minister Simeon Brown said it would put money in patient's pockets as they wouldn't have to pay for long term medications four times a year, and reduce GPs' paperwork. But GPs have raised concerns that patient safety could be at risk and that recommendations to extend the prescribing period to six months were ignored. Pharmacists say there will be benefits for some patients, but also funding implications, an increased chance of wastage and misunderstandings over those medicines not included, such as controlled drugs. Kathryn's joined by Luke Bradford the Medical Director of the Royal College of New Zealand GPs and Andrew Gaudin the chief executive of the Pharmacy Guild. Tags: To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
