Transparency must apply to UTI trial
It's now July and yet Queenslanders still have no details on the dangerous North Queensland pharmacy trial that was supposed to start in June.
The Queensland Government’s commitment to transparency following the release of the Coaldrake report must now extend to its urinary tract infection (UTI) pharmacy prescribing trial and the dangerous North Queensland pharmacy pilot that is due to start within days.
The UTI prescribing trial has been running since July 2020, allowing pharmacists to diagnose and sell Schedule 4 antibiotics without a basic urine test or any medical oversight.
The Queensland Government now proposes to extend this to allow pharmacists in 37 local government areas in North Queensland – essentially everywhere north and west of Mackay – to diagnose and treat 23 serious conditions, including asthma, diabetes, and heart conditions, without any doctor involvement.
“The North Queensland pilot was due to start in June – however, on 1 July, we still don’t know when or where the trial will start, how many pharmacies are taking part, or how many pharmacists have done the 120 hours of online learning required,” AMA Queensland President Dr Maria Boulton said.
“The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) was paid by Queensland Health to evaluate the UTI prescribing trial. However, this report is yet to be released publicly, despite our repeated requests.
“Last week, the Pharmacy Guild of Australia – which represents pharmacy owners, not pharmacists, and is one of the biggest donors to parties on both sides of politics - issued a media release commending the Queensland Government for its commitment to release the evaluation report.
“However, this week Queensland Health told us that it will take another 15 business days to make a decision on releasing the report to us under Right To Information laws. That’s another three weeks of misdiagnoses and missed diagnoses for Queensland women.
“We raised our concerns about the Pharmacy Guild’s influence over the Queensland Government’s decision to proceed with the North Queensland pharmacy trial with Commissioner Coaldrake.
“In the absence of any publicly-available evaluation, we surveyed Queensland doctors in March and the results were alarming.
“More than 1,300 doctors responded. One in eight overall and one in five GPs had seen patients with complications. We know that at least 240 patients who were treated by pharmacists under this trial had complications. However, there was no mechanism for doctors or patients to report complications to the researchers overseeing the trial.
“Our fight is not with pharmacists. The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA), which represents the working pharmacists, this week released a White Paper warning against this dangerous trial.
“If the Queensland Government has nothing to hide, it is time for them to release the QUT report so all Queenslanders can decide if this trial is in their best interests.”
More information: the Guild’s media release, the PSA’s White Paper. AMA Queensland’s campaign page.