Pharmacists to get prescription powers in NSW ‘game-changer’ trial that GPs call ‘madness’
New South Wales residents will soon be able to get vaccinations and some treatments prescribed at their local chemist, in a move a doctors’ group has slammed as “madness”.
It mirrors a similar trial under way in Queensland, and practices in other countries such as the UK and Canada.
The premier, Dominic Perrottet, said it would free up other healthcare workers and give people better access to care.
“There is pressure on the health system right across the board and we want to make sure people, whether they’re in metropolitan Sydney or regional NSW, have access to the best healthcare,” he said on Sunday.
From Monday, pharmacists will be authorised to administer a wider range of vaccinations, including jabs for travel.
A 12-month trial has been announced evaluating pharmacists prescribing medications, including antibiotics for urinary tract infections, treatments for skin conditions and infections, and birth control.
Pharmacists will have to complete additional training first.
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Regional health minister Bronnie Taylor said it would be a “gamechanger” in rural areas.
“Our pharmacists are an integral part of our communities, and of who we are in country communities.”
Highly skilled and highly trained, pharmacists are one of the most under-utilised professions in the health system, Taylor said.
However, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners said the move was “madness” and “a recipe for disaster”.
“This isn’t a solution for patients, this is a solution for the pharmacy lobby,” RACGP president Karen Price said.
Pharmacists should be working as part of a team in a hospital or medical practice setting, rather than unsupervised retail spaces, she said.
Health minister Brad Hazzard said the trial would reduce pressure on hospital emergency rooms, and see general practitioners have more appointments on offer for people with more serious ailments.
“It’s a cascading benefit,” he said.
The move was partly informed by the push for Covid-19 vaccination in 2021, when pharmacists were allowed to administer the vaccine, Hazzard said.
“While some in the primary care sector have firm views on the role of pharmacists, their positive contribution to the management of the pandemic has demonstrated that they are able to deliver more,” Hazzard said.
Pharmacists can already administer flu and Covid-19 vaccines, but will soon be able to jab arms for protection against hepatitis A and B, polio, typhoid, shingles and Japanese encephalitis.
The latter was detected for the first time in NSW earlier this year.
A Griffith man in his 70s died from the virus in a Sydney hospital in February.