Pharmacy Daily | Opioid script control plan

THE Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has initiated a process to monitor and control the prescription of opioid medicines in Australia.

The move follows some notable examples of doctors prescribing excess amounts of opioids to individual patients.

Hunt said at a doorstop interview that the government is working with the AMA and the College of GPs "to make sure that doctors know exactly how many prescriptions they've been giving, whether or not they are at the outer edges of prescriptions and therefore they can better moderate and regulate their own actions to protect patients.

"I'm also delighted to announce that the Australian Government will inject $80 million into community mental health."

He added that the funding will be matched by each and every state and territory, bringing the total funding to $160 million.

"That's an agreement with all eight states and territories to boost community health funding, and I thank all the states and territories, and I'm delighted we've been able to make this contribution."

Referencing the reported 400 deaths in Australia from overuse of opioids, Hunt went on to describe how the system will work.

"So we've written to the top 20 per cent of opioid prescribers.

"It's been done with the cooperation and support of the AMA and the College of GPs.

"This means that they're working to ensure that all doctors know where they sit, whether or not they may have inadvertently become over-prescribers, but the vast and overwhelming majority of Australian doctors do the right thing, and overwhelmingly we have the best doctors in the world," Hunt carefully emphasised.

He said that some of the apparent higher-level prescribers may be working in palliative care for example and those elements need to be assessed by the chief medical officer.

"The chief medical officer and the AMA have strongly supported this device which will give Australian doctors the best advice in the world."