Moratorium call on 5CPA
February 19, 2014
The Society of Hospital
Pharmacists (SHPA) has expanded
its criticism of the Guild’s recent
deal with the federal government
in relation to the Fifth Community
Pharmacy Agreement changes
to the Home Medicines Review
program (PD 13 Feb) by calling for a
moratorium on the arrangements.
Since the deal was struck last
week with caps on HMRs &
RMMRs in an effort to maintain
sustainability of the system within
current budgets, there has been
a significant response from many
quarters.
SHPA president professor Michael
Dooley has said, “A moratorium
would allow time for appropriate
stakeholder consultation to identify
alternative methods that facilitate
patient access whilst addressing the
so-called ‘funding crisis’ reported
by the Guild.”
The SHPA wants the existing
arrangements to continue until 30
June 2014 “to allow time for the
substantial risks to patients to be
understood and addressed, and
outstanding questions answered.”
Pushing his point, Dooley added,
“The focus should always be the
patient and their health and wellbeing.
“This requires that the right
service is available to the right
patient at the right time.
“We have particular concerns
about the limit imposed on
residents in aged care facilities
having their medications
reviewed (Residential Medication
Management Review or RMMRs).
“This group of patients is at highrisk
of medication misadventure,
particularly when they become
frail and their health deteriorates;
a limit of one RMMR service every
two years is entirely inadequate for
this high risk group.”
Debbie Rigby, Chair of the SHPA
Accredited Pharmacists Reference
Group has also raised concerns
about the practical issues around
service providers having to
re-apply to receive funding and
some privacy and security matters
associated with the announced
changes.
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