AMA continues attacks on pharmacy

FRESH calls for Australian pharmacists to be empowered to work to their full scope of practice are once again being rebuffed by the Australian Medical Association (AMA).

AMA members, including National President, Dr Tony Bartone, and WA President, Dr Andrew Miller, have taken aim at Pharmacy Guild of Australia National President, George Tambassis, for suggesting that pharmacists could help ease out-of-pocket spending.

Quoted in an article published in News Corp publications last weekend, Tambassis said Guild modelling using data from the Better Evaluation and Care of Health General Practice Report, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and Medicare showed patients were paying about $181 million in out-of-pocket costs to see their GP who then told them to use an over-the-counter (OTC) medication, which a pharmacist could have recommended without the added cost of GP fees.

“Making greater use of pharmacists in the healthcare system would mean families don’t need to pay for a doctor’s appointment every time they need repeat prescriptions, treatment for a common ailment, or a vaccination and would ease pressure on already overworked GPs to spend more time with their patients, treating serious issues,” Tambassis said.

Bartone responded by suggesting that if pharmacists wanted to “take over the work of doctors” they should have studied medical degrees, while Miller pointed the finger of blame for the latest escalation of tension between GPs and pharmacists at Tambassis.

“The Guild’s protectionism and attacks on GPs and their work have been going on for years,” he said on Twitter.

“GPs are done with it, just deregulate.”

Responding to Miller’s tweet, Guild Victorian Branch President, Anthony Tassone, said the AMA was “misconstruing advocacy for best utilisation of pharmacists as ‘attacks on GPs’”.

Meanwhile Pharmaceutical Society of Australia South Australia and Northern Territory Branch Vice President, Samuel Keitaanpaa, noted the AMA has repeatedly published articles “directed against pharmacy” over the last two year.

“Neither side can take the moral high ground here,” he said.

Keitaanpaa also refuted the suggestion that diagnosing illnesses was the sole domain of doctors.

“I already diagnose illnesses and prescribe medicines to treat them... all within my scope of practice,” Keitaanpaa said.

“I don’t need a medical degree to be a pharmacist.”