ADVANCED Pharmacy Australia (AdPha) has released a newly updated pharmacy practice standard for general medicine.
The new guidelines set out best practice principles and professional standards for pharmacists working in one of the largest and most complex areas of acute inpatient care, with the aim of improving patient safety and outcomes.
The revised standards emphasise person-centred care, provide clear guidance on prioritising clinical pharmacy services, update recommended staffing ratios, and present new evidence demonstrating the impact of pharmacists in general medicine.
In an accompanying editorial, the Internal Medicine Society of Australia and New Zealand (IMSANZ) welcomed and endorsed the standards, noting that they clearly define the critical role of pharmacists in the care of general medicine patients across Australia and New Zealand.
Associate Professor Ar Kar Aung, Vice President of IMSANZ, said the standards will strengthen the foundations of safe, high-quality care in general medicine.
"General medicine is a team sport," Assoc Prof Aung said.
"The diversity and complexity in general medicine call for a multidisciplinary approach, with emphasis on shared decision making across the disciplines, to deliver high-value personalised care to achieve the best outcomes for the patients," he continued.
"This new standard brings together the evidence for clinical pharmacy services in general medicine, and provides practical resource recommendations to support better service planning and delivery."
Lead author Paul Firman said general medicine pharmacists have long worked hand-in-hand with physicians to advance collaborative prescribing - a model now being adopted across Australia.
"General medicine pharmacists led the way in developing, trialling and implementing collaborative prescribing," Firman said.
"It's inspiring to see what started as an emerging service in the last standards now embedded as best practice nationwide.
"We're proud to keep building on this work, demonstrating the vital role pharmacists play in the care and management of general medicine patients," he concluded.
The new standards have been published in the latest issue of Journal of Pharmacy Practice and Research, available HERE. KB
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