THE Pharmaceutical Society of Australia has released its response to the Pharmacy Board of Australia's current discussion paper on pharmacist prescribing, saying "collaborative prescribing by pharmacists [would] improve Australians' access to safe and effective healthcare".
PSA President, Chris Freeman, said the Society had advocated for collaborative pharmacist prescribing, "within a framework that allows them to practise to the full extent of their expertise".
Freeman noted that pharmacists have more clinical training in medicines than any other health professional.
"They already perform clinical assessment and diagnosis within their scope of practice, and prescribe other scheduled medicines...these activities are within the national competency framework for pharmacists.
"Prescribing Schedule 4 medicines is a logical next step and continuation of pharmacists' role in medicines management," he said.
The PSA formulated its response to the Board's paper with the help of a survey of pharmacists, interns and pharmacy students.
A large majority (94%) of respondents agreed that pharmacists were already well placed to prescribe under a structured prescribing arrangement or under supervision.
More than half (56%) said they would prescribe under a structured prescribing arrangement as soon as it was implemented.
Core principles that would underpin such a framework included the pharmacist prescriber working as a member of a collaborative care team with shared responsibility, the PSA said, as well as separation of prescribing and dispensing functions.
"PSA looks forward to working with the Pharmacy Board and the wider profession to support pharmacist prescribers by establishing training and recognition requirements, enabling legislative and regulatory change, and developing a framework for collaborative prescribing across practice settings," Freeman said.
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