Global vax alignment call
December 18, 2015
The Pharmacy Guild of Australia
is calling for Australia to align with
the pharmacy vaccination practices
of international jurisdictions such
as the UK, US and Canada.
With the success of the
Queensland Pharmacists
Immunisation Pilot (QPIP) for the
2014 flu season (PD 02 Apr 14) and
the recent report from the National
Health Performance Authority
revealing the increased costs of
preventable hospital admissions
(PD 11 Dec), the groundswell of
opinion calling for more pharmacy
vaccination capacity is growing, the
Guild said.
In addition, the peak pharmacy
organisation pointed out that the
trend was reinforced significantly
when the Pharmacy Board of
Australia in Dec 2013 stated, “The
Board noted the work undertaken
on its behalf by the Advanced
Practice Framework Steering
Committee and has advised that
in its opinion vaccination is within
the current scope of practice of a
pharmacist”.
While most objections to
pharmacists conducting vaccinations
revolve around patient safety and
record keeping, the data supports
the broader reach that the most
accessible health care professional
in our society can achieve.
“Data from the QPIP Phase 1
trial showed that 15% of those
who received their shots through
their pharmacy during the trial had
never previously been vaccinated
against influenza” and “no major
adverse events have been reported
from consumers receiving their
vaccinations from a pharmacist in a
pharmacy,” the Guild said.
At present, all jurisdictions
except the ACT and Tasmania have
enacted, or have indicated they
will enact, legislation to enable
pharmacist delivered vaccinations.
WA community pharmacist and
Guild Vaccination Committee
member Paul Rees has been very
active in the immunisation area
and believes appropriately trained
pharmacists should eventually
provide the full range of National
Immunisation Program vaccinations
across Australia.
While doctors have assumed that
pharmacy is stealing their business,
this is actually business they would
never have, given that patients had
a general belief that they were not
at risk, did not understand herd
immunity and couldn’t be bothered
making a separate trip to the
doctor, Rees said.
“It makes good sense for
pharmacists to be able to
administer the same 17 vaccines
that are administered by the nurses
who undertake equivalent training,”
Rees added.
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