$82 million chemo funds
December 2, 2013
Prime Minister Tony Abbott and
Health Minister Peter Dutton have
confirmed more than $82 million
in additional funding to support
the delivery of chemotherapy
medicines in Australia’s public and
private hospitals.
In an announcement on Sat,
they said the funding would be
delivered under the PBS, while
the government “will also improve
patient safety and care by removing
unnecessary red tape for clinicians
prescribing, processing and
claiming for PBS medicines”.
The changes will also see
clinicians in hospitals able to use
a patient’s medication chart to
dispense and claim PBS medicines,
giving them “more time with their
patients and less time completing
duplicate paperwork”.
According to the PM the new
funding will be delivered from 01
Jan 2014 and will provide $152.66
per infusion to meet the higher
costs of providing chemotherapy.
The Society of Hospital
Pharmacists of Australia welcomed
the announcement saying “this
decision will provide patients with
immediate assurances that they
will continue to receive safe and
effective delivery of chemotherapy
treatment.
“SHPA looks forward to further
advice regarding the details around
this funding announcement and
whether this ensures the ongoing
sustainability of a service delivery
model which includes the required
clinical pharmacy services,” said
SHPA President Michael Dooley.
Guild Executive Director,
David Quilty, said the Guild was
“especially pleased that after more
than 12 months of advocacy and
negotiation, a sensible solution
has finally been found that is in
the interests of cancer patients,
chemotherapy pharmacists and the
wider pharmacy sector”.
He said the chemotherapy
shortfall was always separate from
the current Community Pharmacy
Agreement, “a fact recognised
in the previous government’s
interim funding earlier this year
and the Coalition government’s
announcement today” - despite
claims to the contrary by the
Consumers Health Forum.
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