Prescribing pharmacist plan

THE Pharmacy Board of Australia has confirmed it will shortly launch a consultation seeking the views of pharmacists and other stakeholders regarding the potential role of pharmacists in prescribing.

The initiative follows a forum hosted by the Board last year (PD 02 Jul 2018) which considered the needs and opportunities for expanding pharmacist involvement in prescribing.

A report on the forum was published in Aug, along with a background paper and two other reports about pharmacist prescribing commissioned by the Board, which have been uploaded to the “Professional practice issues” page at pharmacyboard.gov.au.

A further discussion paper is being finalised which will include the outcomes of the forum along with a range of consultation questions “to help the profession further explore its role in prescribing,” the Board said yesterday.

Key topics on the table include models of prescribing that can be pursued by the pharmacy profession, including appropriate supporting evidence; identification of gaps in evidence that may need to be addressed by the profession; and issues that need to be considered and addressed to assess the regulatory need for an endorsement for prescribing of scheduled medicines.

“The discussion paper is intended to stimulate discussion and collaboration among stakeholders and highlight where further work is needed,” the Board noted.

Prior to the distribution of the consultation document, the Board is encouraging practitioners and stakeholders to provide any feedback or comments on the forum report published last year (PD 04 Oct 2018) by emailing PharmBAfeedback@ahpra.gov.au.