Australian Medical Association

The AMA has written to all MPs and Senators urging their support for changes to the National Health Amendment (Fifth Community Pharmacy Agreement Initiatives) Bill, which was introduced to Parliament yesterday.

AMA President, Dr Steve Hambleton, said today that the Bill in its current form would permit a significant change in the professional role of pharmacists that the AMA believes is not in the best interests of patients or the professional relationship between doctors and pharmacists.

AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said today that the AMA is alarmed that elements of the latest Community Pharmacy Agreement indicate a Government policy shift that puts patient safety at risk by undermining the value of a medical diagnosis.

Dr Pesce said that the Government’s decision to allow pharmacists to dispense prescription medications without a prescription is a threat to patient safety by ignoring the skills and expertise of family doctors and the importance of the doctor-patient relationship.

“Current arrangements allow pharmacists to dispense emergency supplies of medications where a patient has inadvertently run out of necessary medication, so there is no reason to introduce these changes on the basis of patient safety,” Dr Pesce said.

“There has been no consultation with the AMA and the medical profession over this decision, which sends a dangerous signal to patients about access to prescription medicines.”

The AMA supports high quality primary health care services that are convenient for patients and enhance patient access.

Incorporating pharmacy services into general practice would improve patient care, and medication management in particular, by allowing GPs to lead a team of co-located health professionals, including pharmacists, in providing collaborative health care to local patients.

A General Practice Pharmacy could be established within or next to an existing general practice and there should be the option for doctor owned pharmacies as an integral part of providing patients with convenient access to primary care services. Pharmacists would still retain the professional and legal responsibility for dispensing medicines, independent of the GP.

To enable these services to be established, the current restrictions on pharmacy location and ownership need to be lifted.

The AMA Ethics and Medico Legal Committee is developing guidelines for members on managing potential conflicts of interest that may arise from pharmacy ownership by the medical profession.