VICTORIAN pharmacy owners and managers are being urged to consider the overall workload of their store before rolling out new services.
The Victorian Pharmacy Authority (VPA) stressed the need for pharmacies to comply with its guidelines on workloads, which provide minimum staffing levels for dispensing.
"The workload guidelines should be used as a benchmark," the VPA said.
"The Authority wishes to highlight the following key points to pharmacists:
* Sustainable workload may also be affected by other factors such as dispensing technologies, staff familiarity with systems and other non-dispensing responsibilities.
* The preparation of each take-away dose of methadone or buprenorphine and each administration of either drug is counted as being the equivalent of one prescription.
* Consideration should also be given to the time taken to undertake non-dispensing tasks, for example checking dose administration aids and immunisation.
"While the guidelines set a number of prescriptions dispensed per day as a baseline, the Authority and its inspectors consider a range of factors when evaluating dispensing workload.
"Inspections have revealed that, while overall staff may meet the requirements of the guidelines, some dispensary staff are engaged in activities other than dispensing such as preparing dose administration aids and administering vaccinations.
"Licensees are required to monitor workloads to ensure there is sufficient staff actually engaged in dispensing to satisfy the requirements of the dispensing workload guideline."
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