THE Pharmacy Board of Australia has opened public consultation on the draft registration standards and guidelines for a proposed Endorsement for scheduled medicines for pharmacists.
This registration standard described how a pharmacist can qualify for endorsement for scheduled medicines, the scope of the endorsement and the expectations of practitioners with this type of endorsement, with the guidelines providing more detail on expectations.
The registration standard aimed to make pharmacist prescribing education nationally consistent, and involves building on pharmacists' existing skills to ensure appropriate training in physical examination, diagnosis, clinical decision-making, communication, record keeping and referral to other health professionals.
"It's important to remember that this proposal is not about allowing pharmacists to prescribe or not," Pharmacy Board of Australia Chair Dr Cameron Phillips said.
"It's about setting a nationally consistent standard to ensure that all pharmacists who are prescribing have the same level of education to do so safely."
In terms of which medicines eligible pharmacists could prescribe, the consultation paper asked stakeholders to choose between two options - authorise pharmacists to prescribe all Schedule 2, 3 and 4 medicines or authorise pharmacists to prescribe all Schedule 2, 3, 4 and 8 medicines.
The board is supporting the second option, which would allow pharmacists to prescribe Schedule 8 medicines - if authorised in their state or territory.
The controversy around Schedule 8 prescribing was acknowledged, with the consultation papers stating: "Some stakeholders expressed concerns that there are risks to the public, particularly in some practice settings if pharmacists prescribed Schedule 8 medicines whereas others expressed support in circumstances including hospital discharge, emergency care and continuity of access to medicines in palliative care and opioid substitution treatment."
The draft guidelines also touched upon concerns around conflict of interest in prescribing and dispensing, suggesting a model where one pharmacist prescribes, with a second providing independent clinical oversight.
However, it acknowledged this is not always possible, and recommended documenting reasons behind prescribing decisions.
The consultation is open until 15 Jun - the consultation pack is HERE.
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