AT A national forum on a pharmacist's endorsement for scheduled medicines, hosted by the Pharmacy Board of Australia yesterday, pharmacy peak bodies reaffirmed their strong support for a model of autonomous pharmacist prescribing within a self-determined, documented, and authorised scope of practice.
The Joint Pharmacy Organisations (JPOs) - comprising the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, and Advanced Pharmacy Australia - released a submission to the Board earlier this week (PD 29 Oct), setting the benchmark and industry-wide position.
It proposes that pharmacists, upon completion of an Australian Pharmacy Council-accredited prescribing qualification, be endorsed to autonomously prescribe Schedule 2, 3, 4 and 8 medicines within their professional scope.
A collaborative effort between the JPOs, with international evidence and local success stories at its core, the model represents a major step forward for accessible, patient-centred healthcare.
"This is about pharmacists taking responsibility for the care they are already safely delivering - under a nationally recognised, professionally governed framework," the JPOs said in a joint statement.
"The profession is ready, the community is ready - the system needs pharmacists to work to their full scope to meet growing healthcare demand."
Discussions at yesterday's forum focused on how best to deliver an endorsement for autonomously prescribing pharmacists.
Major themes from the forum included consensus on a range of topics, covering the inclusion of prescribing competencies in pharmacy degrees, PBS subsidies being extended to pharmacist-prescribed medicines, and enhancing existing cultural competencies across all training standards.
Noting that the Board's role is to ensure public safety, rather than impose regulatory barriers that stop pharmacists practicing at the top of their scope, the JPOs have urged the Board to "deliver a profession-led, outcome-focused model that prioritises access, safety and consistency".
Pharmacy Guild of Australia National President, Professor Trent Twomey, said the time for talk is over and that the profession will move forward together to deliver for patients.
"We call on the Pharmacy Board and Health Ministers to adopt a nationally consistent, profession-led model that enables pharmacists to prescribe autonomously, collaborate effectively, and deliver care wherever patients need us most," Prof Twomey urged. KB
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