PHARMACIST prescribing is the next logical step in improving medication safety, the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia (SHPA) believes.
Responding to the Pharmacy Board of Australia's position statement on pharmacist prescribing, which found there were no existing regulatory barriers to prevent pharmacists from prescribing "via a structured prescribing arrangement or under supervision within a collaborative healthcare environment", SHPA CEO, Kristen Michaels, welcomed the announcement.
"[The Board's] statement is strong endorsement for the continuation of clinical pharmacy practices in Australian hospitals that already involve medication chart review and endorsement, and which are proven to improve patient care by optimising the efficacy of multidisciplinary teams," she said.
"Such contemporary clinical interventions, including Victoria's Partnered Pharmacist Medication Charting (PPMC) pilot, have demonstrated improvements in safe and quality care and can logically be extended to prescribing via a structured prescribing arrangement or under supervision, given hospital pharmacists undertake the most accurate medication reconciliations.
"Drawing on the extensive expertise of our members, the earliest adopters of collaborative prescribing practices, SHPA is also positioned to partner with regulatory bodies regarding required changes in state and territory legislation to enable more pharmacists to prescribe, and realise greater benefits to patient care and professional practice."
The PPMC saw pharmacists reduce medication errors and deliver significant savings.
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