CALLS from the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) to increase the number of medicines included in the "doctor's bag" will do little to improve patients' access to medicines, pharmacists believe.
Voicing opposition to the pharmacy sector's push for continued dispensing to be implemented on a permanent basis, the RACGP suggested expanding the doctor's bag would be "a better and safer way to increase access to medicines under emergency situations", NewsGP reported.
However, in a tweet responding to the RACGP's claims, Pharmaceutical Society of Australia SA/NT Branch Vice President, Sam Keitaanpaa, said such a move would do little for patients.
"Expanding [the] prescribers' bag doesn't solve anything," he said.
"If they can see a doctor for a prescriber bag supply, they could get a script and access [medications] like normal.
"The issue is a lack of timely access to a prescription or doctor, not access to the medicine."
Pharmacy Guild of Australia Victorian Branch President, Anthony Tassone, was also critical of the RACGP's stance.
"The RACGP opposes health professional colleagues practising within their scope to ensure continuity of care for patients when it may not be possible for them to see their usual GP for a prescription," he said.
However, former RACGP Expert Committee - Quality Care - Chair, Dr Evan Ackermann, described efforts to have continued dispensing implemented on a permanent basis, as "a very short-sighted strategy to effectively stop or sidestep reviews by the responsible prescriber".
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