Pharmacy Daily | PSA backs RC recommendations

RECOMMENDATIONS made by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Royal Commission, that include embedding pharmacists in all facilities across the country, are being welcomed by the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA).

Responding to the recommendations, PSA National President, Associate Professor Chris Freeman, said pharmacists were critical to ensuring the safe and effective use of medicines in aged care settings.

"PSA is pleased counsel assisting has adopted our recommendation for pharmacists to have a greater role in aged care and be embedded in these environments," he said.

"We maintain pharmacists need to be able to spend more time on the ground in aged care, to be able to protect residents when it comes to the safe and effective use of medicines.

"The Aged Care Quality and Safety Royal Commission in its interim report has already recognised the urgent need to address the critical medicine safety failures in aged care.

"If adopted, these recommendations would provide real hope that our older and vulnerable Australians will receive safer care."

Freeman said proposed benchmarking and public reporting of quality indicators should include data on medicines safety - noting such measures do not currently exist.

"The public reporting and measurement of this data is necessary to improve medicine safety," he said.

"We know that when pharmacists spend more time on the ground in aged care they can make a meaningful difference to how medicines are prescribed and administered to improve safety for all residents over time."

Freeman urged the Commission to adopt the recommendation to establish an aged care workforce planning division and an aged care workforce fund.

"PSA supports a staffing ratio of at least 0.5 full-time equivalent pharmacists per 100 residents," he said.

"This will ensure that pharmacists have the time to properly address medication management issues within the aged care environment."

The PSA also welcomed the proposed establishment of a dedicated research council to conduct research into effective programs to improve the use of medicines in aged care.