Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Francesca Rudkin: The next step in expanding the role of pharmacists

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Francesca Rudkin: The next step in expanding the role of pharmacists · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

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  Speaker 1: So some good news this morning. If in the weekend
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  Speaker 1: you notice the kids have developed conjunct devices, or you
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  Speaker 1: had an unexpectedly good time over the weekend and now
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  Speaker 1: need the emergency pill or help with UTI. Today is
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  Speaker 1: the day that changes to the services which pharmacists can
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  Speaker 1: provide kicks in, meaning pharmacist is going to be able
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  Speaker 1: to provide funding medicines for pain and fever management for children,
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  Speaker 1: oral rehydration, treatment for conditions such as scabies, headlights, and
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  Speaker 1: conjunct devices, as well as treatment of uncomplicated you're in
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  Speaker 1: retract infections and emergency contraception. This is a really sensible move.
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  Speaker 1: Instead of waiting for a GP appointment, paying for a
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  Speaker 1: GP appointment, or paying over the counter prices for treatments,
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  Speaker 1: you can head to your local chemist, where your pharmacist
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  Speaker 1: is now funded to provide a consultation and supply of
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  Speaker 1: funded treatment at a low cost. So the benefits are
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  Speaker 1: really obvious, aren't they. Patients can get more affordable care
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  Speaker 1: quickly and close to home, while taking pressure off GPS
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  Speaker 1: and emergency departments. Only time will tell how much this
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  Speaker 1: move impacts our overloaded primary care services, but on paper
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  Speaker 1: it looks like a win. Win for the pharmacies, GPS
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  Speaker 1: and patients. But now it gets a little bit more
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  Speaker 1: interesting and complicated because Associate Health Minister David Seymour has
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  Speaker 1: been driving this change along with the Health Minister simm Brown.
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  Speaker 1: But Seymour wants to take things further and allow pharmacies
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  Speaker 1: to treat more everyday conditions such as chest and air infections,
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  Speaker 1: help manage long term medication and order routine blood tests
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  Speaker 1: when appropriate, and provide skin leision triage and monitoring. Now,
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  Speaker 1: Seymour isn't reinventing the wheel with these ideas. These proposals
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  Speaker 1: align with international trends which are seeing healthcare become more
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  Speaker 1: of a team effort. But the further there's These further
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  Speaker 1: proposals will require considerable additional training, strict clinical guidelines with
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  Speaker 1: pharmacists to operate under, and gps will need to retain
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  Speaker 1: overall clinical oversight. I mean, most importantly, pharmacists would need
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  Speaker 1: to know when to treat and when to refer. So
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  Speaker 1: it sounds like a logical next step, but one which
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  Speaker 1: will require a lot more work to get into action
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  Speaker 1: than what is launching today. The management of long term
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  Speaker 1: medications for stable, low risk patients seems the most easily
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  Speaker 1: achievable of all these ideas. Many pharmacists are already assisting
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  Speaker 1: with monitoring, renewals and support. Extending their responsibilities here could
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  Speaker 1: absolutely streamline care and cost for patients. Branching into diagnosing
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  Speaker 1: chest infections or skin cancer would come with greater risks
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  Speaker 1: like inappropriate antibiotic prescribing and misdiagnoses if pharmacist services are
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  Speaker 1: not well regulated and connected to patients health records. So
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  Speaker 1: today's move is a great use of existing health professionals
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  Speaker 1: to make the system more efficient and affordable. The next
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  Speaker 1: step is going to require careful consideration and considerable investment
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  Speaker 1: to make it work. For more from Early edition with
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  Speaker 1: Ryan Bridge. Listen live to News Talk set be from
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  Speaker 1: five am weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio