THE Pharmacy Guild of Australia WA branch has called out the Royal Australian College of GPs for questioning patient safety in the Enhanced Access Community Pharmacy Pilot (the EACPP), yet declining to play a role in developing quality and safety protocols for the program.
The RACGP called for "guardrails to protect patient safety" for the EACPP, stating WA must demonstrate that the pilot is safe before expanding training to more pharmacists (PD 16 Feb).
"This is the same organisation that elected to withdraw from the committee established by the WA Department of Health specifically to develop the safety and quality protocols for the EACPP," a spokesperson for the Guild WA branch told Pharmacy Daily.
This committee comprises a range of stakeholders, including doctors, pharmacists, patient advocates and state government representatives, the Guild explained.
"The RACGP's most recent comments are in contradiction to their unwillingness to participate in the process to develop the EACPP's protocols," the spokesperson continued.
"They declined the opportunity to influence the EACPP when they had the opportunity, and further, their comments show a lack of consideration and respect for the knowledge and expertise of the people that are involved."
The Guild also took issue with the RACGP's contention that expanded pharmacist scope will lead to fragmentation of care, pointing out that WA has the lowest rate of GPs per 100,000 people, especially in rural and regional areas.
"We know that there are patients who through lack of availability or increasing expense are delaying or deferring seeing a GP," the Guild pointed out.
"Let's not kid ourselves - you cannot fragment care where it does not exist." KB
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