THE Pharmaceutical Society of Australia has this morning released its highly anticipated Pharmacists in 2023 report, highlighting 11 key "system changes" needed for the Australian health system to evolve to better use pharmacists, thus improving access to healthcare.
Key elements include facilitating pharmacist prescribing as part of a collaborative care model, establishing additional funding models to recognise the value of pharmacist care, and allowing greater flexibility in pharmacist delivery to adapt to unique patient needs in remote and rural areas.
At the unveiling in Parliament House, Canberra, PSA National President Dr Chris Freeman told key political leaders and pharmacy stakeholders that the new report was the pharmacy profession's response to Australia's medicines safety problem.
"The report unlocks the potential for pharmacists to improve healthcare access and outcomes for Australians, and reduce variability in care," he said.
Freeman said pharmacists must be empowered to do more than the current system allows them to do.
"As the only health professionals trained with a specific focus on the effective and safe use of medicines, pharmacists must lead a cultural change to embed medicine safety at every point of healthcare delivery," Freeman said.
Other actions for change include empowering all pharmacists to be more accountable for medicine safety; enhancing the role of community pharmacists to have a greater responsibility for medicine management; and embedding pharmacists within healthcare teams to improve decision making for the safe use of medicines.
The report urges improved pharmacist stewardship of medicine management to improve outcomes at transitions of care, and building on the accessibility of community pharmacies in primary care to improve consumer access to health services.
Developing a research culture, practitioner development and embracing digital transformation are also key parts of the plan.
To view the report CLICK HERE.
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