Pharmacy DailyPharmacy Daily | Call for embedded rural pharmacist pilot

AS the Federal Government enters final negotiations for the First Pharmacy Programs Agreement (1PPA), the Remote and Isolated Pharmacist Association Australia (RIPAA) is calling for a dedicated funding pilot to support resident clinical pharmacists in Australia's most isolated communities.

In many Modified Monash (MM) 5-7 communities, the main challenge is not a cap on services like Home Medicines Reviews (HMRs), but the financial sustainability of maintaining a permanent clinical presence, explained RIPAA president Fredrik Hellqvist.

"What our communities need is a funding model that also supports a resident clinical pharmacist - someone embedded in the town who understands the local patient history and provides the daily continuity of care that thin markets require," Hellqvist said.

RIPAA is calling for the allocation of 1PPA funds to a Thin Market Resident Pilot which proposes:

* A fixed baseline of funding that secures the pharmacist's time for ongoing clinical outreach, aged care support, and complex medicine management

* Prioritising this funding for pharmacists whose AHPRA Principal Place of Practice is within eligible rural and remote thin market areas

* Integration with aged care to recruit and establish locally resident pharmacists to fulfil aged care on-site pharmacist (ACOP) roles in targeted small town facilities that currently lack a permanent clinical presence.

"We are calling for a pilot that recognises healthcare in the bush is most effective when it is a residency, not just a transaction," said Hellqvist.

"The 1PPA is the perfect vehicle to test a 'floor and ladder' model, acting as the structural bridge to ensure these programs are equitable in practice, not just in theory."

RIPAA said it has developed a detailed framework and preliminary costing for this model, "demonstrating its viability as a targeted, value-based investment".