Continued dispensing passes
March 2, 2012
AN amendment to the National
Health (Fifth Community Pharmacy
Agreement) Bill 2011 passed by the
Senate yesterday will allow
pharmacists to continue to supply
certain medications without a
repeat prescription.
The “continued dispensing”
amendment allows pharmacists to
provide birth control pills and
statins under the following
circumstances:
• There is an immediate and
ongoing need for supply of the
medicine to facilitate continuity
of therapy, and the patient
cannot get to a prescriber in time
to get a valid prescription
• The medicine has been
previously prescribed for the
person, and there has been prior
clinical review by the prescriber
that supports continuation of the
medicine.
• The medicine is safe and
approriate for that consumer.
• The pharmacist provides written
communication to the most
recent prescriber advising of the
supply of the medicine to the
consumer within 24 hours.
The Pharmacy Guild of Australia
said the move “implements key
initiatives of the Community
Pharmacy Agreement, both of
which will deliver better health
outcomes for Australian
consumers”.
Guild national president, Kos
Sclavos, said that prescribing would
continue to be the sole domain of
the patient’s doctor.
“Pharmacists always have the
highest regard for their close
working relationships with doctors,
and the Guild is confident this
limited measure will ensure the
best outcomes for patients”.
The legislative amendment also
provides for the dispensing of PBS
medicines from a medication chart,
rather than a prescription form, for
residents of residential aged care
facilities.
“This measure will improve
patient safety and streamline
administrative procedures for
doctors, pharmacists and staff of
aged care facilities,” Sclavos said.
Health minister Tanya Plibersek
said the passing of the bill was “a
big win for patients who can’t
always make it to the doctor before
their medications run out”.
She said the amendment would
complement existing emergency
supply mechanisms - but these new
arrangements would mean that
patients would have access to the
medicines through the PBS rather
than paying full price.
Sclavos thanked the government
and opposition for supporting the
passage of the “important
legislation,” and said he was
looking forward to State and
Territory governments making any
consequential legislative changes
necessary for continued dispensing
“to facilitate this very sensible and
beneficial change”.
Last year almost 22 million statin
prescriptions (costing the PBS $1.1
billion) were filled by Australian
pharmacists, along with 590,000
scripts for the pill, worth $7m.
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