INTERNATIONAL evidence shows governments that have supported pharmacists working to their full scope of practice have reaped savings and improved primary care capacity, 2018 Churchill Fellowship recipient, Lucy Walker notes.
Following a seven-week, eight-country tour, Walker reported that Federal funding for pharmacist services would help ensure community pharmacies commit to successfully implementing vaccine, ailment and chronic condition management programs.
"An Australian common ailment scheme would enable more timely access to healthcare advice, plus be beneficial for our healthcare system and could assist our pharmacists develop the clinical competencies for our future role in the healthcare system," she said.
"By starting now with conditions already managed within pharmacies but with a more formalised, funded, technology enabled, collaborative structure, more like prescribing, we could develop our pharmacists' skills of assessment, care plans and follow up and be a confident workforce ready to adapt to the needs of our aging populations.
"Current funding and scope of practice differs across Australia.
"Ideally, pharmacists should be funded to undertake flu vaccinations, be able to vaccinate children from 10 years of age and have access to the National Immunisation Program stock.
"Over time they should also be able to vaccinate against pneumococcal, shingles and meningococcal disease, plus widen their scope to include travel vaccinations and other medications that patients may need help administering via the subcutaneous and intramuscular route."
Walker also called for Australian Governments to implement trials of new pharmacist-led services, highlighting the Queensland Health trail of pharmacist prescribing of antibiotics for urinary tract infections as an example.
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