WOMEN are bypassing their GPs and going straight to pharmacists when it comes to treatment for urinary tract infections or resupply of the pill, according to the latest figures that reveal this was the case for over 6,000 women thanks to the NSW Pharmacy Trial.
The number of participating pharmacists has also surged from 100 when the trial began to 900 in Sep and again to more than 1,100, representing 60% of pharmacies across the state.
The latest Govt figures show the scheme has been hugely popular with almost 5,800 women accessing treatment from their pharmacist for a UTI and 269 seeking a resupply of their oral contraceptive pills.
The Minns Govt has now approved shingles - a reactivation of the chickenpox virus - to be added, along with impetigo, a highly contagious skin condition often affecting infants and children.
Impetigo disproportionately impacts Indigenous and Pacific islands' children, with repeat infections leading to an increased risk of Acute Rheumatic Fever and Rheumatic Heart Disease.
Shingles can affect one in three adults in their lifetime.
Pending ethics approval, pharmacists will be able to offer treatments for both conditions from Mar next year.
Guild NSW branch President David Heffernan said NSW patients would benefit even further when the Minns Govt adopts the "full scope trial" similar to that under way in Qld, where pharmacists were able to treat and prescribe medications for 23 health conditions.
"It's saving patients time and money which is crucial when bulk billing rates are falling and during a cost-of-living crisis," he said.
NSW Health Minister Ryan Park added that thousands of people going into pharmacies and getting treated "is a good outcome and it's good policy." JG
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