Brits slam AMA Rx fears

CONCERNS about the potential introduction of pharmacist prescribing in Australia have little or no basis, a British pharmacist says.

Responding to the Australian Medical Association (AMA) Minimum Standards for Prescribing, which suggested pharmacist prescribing should be ruled out on the grounds it could put patients safety at risk, British Primary Care Pharmacy Association President, Graham Stretch, called on the AMA to produce evidence for the organisation’s concerns.

“Prescribing by pharmacists is widespread and common in the UK,” he said in a Twitter post.

“Studies I’m aware of demonstrate quite the opposite - pharmacists are safer [prescribers].”

Stretch linked to a study which found pharmacists had a lower error rate when prescribing than doctors and nurses.

University of Leeds Professor of Medicines Use and Safety, David Alldred, said the AMA’s standards for prescribing were “flying in the face of the evidence”, citing a Cochrane review, of 46 studies, which found, “pharmacists and nurses... were able to deliver comparable prescribing outcomes to doctors”.

Former Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Australia President, Steve Churton, joined the social media thread to question the AMA.

“Come on @amapresident (Dr Tony Bartone) and @ama_media... let’s have your responses please,” he said.

“[I] would genuinely be interested in your evidence to support your position.”