The local branch was also highly critical of Queensland’s pilot of pharmacy-prescribed UTI medication,running since June 2020. It conducted a survey that claimed doctors had seen 240 patients from the pilot with complications,a figure queried by pharmacy groups.
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Dr Michael Bonning,the Balmain GP who has led the AMA’s NSW branch since 2022,said after conversations with NSW Health and Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant he believed that NSW’s plan – by virtue of being a clinical trial and not a pilot – was better designed,and he would wait for its results before making comment.
He denied this stance was at odds with the AMA’s push against pharmacy prescribing.
“Both things can absolutely be true:that a push towards open slather pharmacy prescribing does not fit with the clinical approach that the AMA supports ... and that saying ‘no’ to everything is a surefire way for our health system not to learn,” said Bonning,who appears in the “You Deserve More” campaign.
“It was an ambush like nothing else we’ve witnessed;I’m still in shock,” said NSW Pharmacy Guild president David Heffernan,who was pleased the state’s prescribing trial was going ahead after the guild had been “out of the loop” on its progress for weeks and concerned about the impact of the AMA’s campaign.
Leichhardt pharmacist Christine Kelly said she felt “discarded” by the federal government’s changes,which would see her reconsider free services,such as making up webster packs.
“It’s like someone ripping 30 per cent out of my business,and then telling me how to deal with that,” she said.
Kelly,who has signed up for the prescribing trial,said pharmacists were already conducting work beyond dispensing for free,citing blood pressure checks,weighing babies,and assessing patients with online scripts – whose only physical interaction with a health professional is with their pharmacist.
“They might live in Leichhardt but they get their script from a doctor in Melbourne,” she said.
Pharmaceutical Society of Australia national president Fei Sim said pharmacists were also being asked to monitor patients who see their doctors via Telehealth. She said the pharmacy prescribing trial would help women receive timely treatment in areas with long GP wait times.
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“The whole rationale is to improve access to care for people who need it,when they need it,” she said.
May’s federal budget isexpected to bring the biggest overhaul of Medicare in its 40-year history,with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese promising $2.2 billion to restructure the traditional fee-for-service model,and encourage doctors to employ nurses and allied health professionals in their clinics.