00:00It's dealt with a series of dermatological conditions including shingles, psoriasis as
00:08well as school sores and mild to moderate eczema.
00:12Now in this instance here we saw pharmacists able to diagnose and indeed prescribe medications
00:19for these conditions and it was in this instance that they could do this instead of GPs.
00:24Now the reason the government initiated this program in New South Wales was because of
00:29the stresses and strains on the GP system which is largely looked at by the Federal
00:33Government however the State Government not being able to necessarily increase the number
00:37of GPs took other action to actually try to improve those rather ease stresses and strain
00:44on it and so far the Health Minister Ryan Park says not only has it been successful
00:49but he's also interested in seeing it exist thereafter the trials soon to be finished
00:55out in February.
00:57We think there's an opportunity not just with pharmacists but health professionals
01:01more broadly to continue to work at the top of their scope wherever possible.
01:06We know that across New South Wales we're no different to the rest of Australia and
01:10the globe.
01:11There are critical health care worker and health care professional shortages right now.
01:17That means that part of the work that we do and the reform that we need to undertake is
01:22making sure that our health care professionals whether they're pharmacists, whether they're
01:26whether they're nurses or nurse practitioners are working wherever possible at their full
01:31scope and providing those services to the community in a way in which they're trained
01:35to deliver.
01:36Now Miles there have been some reservations about these sorts of trials can you tell us
01:40a bit about these concerns?
01:44Yeah they come from largely groups representing GPs and perhaps that's unsurprising because
01:49it's GPs who miss out on the consultation opportunities and then providing scripts to
01:54pharmacists.
01:55So we've seen the Royal College of GPs in Australia as well as the Australian Medical
01:59Association both raise concerns that not only will this occur that you'll see businesses
02:06lost to GPs but also crucially what they argue about is the medical risks in that it could
02:12exacerbate conditions, it could be either misdiagnosed or as an alternate you could
02:17see situations where pharmacists are perhaps out of their depth in terms of dealing with
02:21these conditions.
02:22Now the Chief Health Officer in New South Wales, Dr Kerry Chant, she takes quite a different
02:26view and thinks the balance has been a cautious one, they've struck the right balance when
02:31using it both on these skin care treatments but also looking at things such as UTIs where
02:38we've seen pharmacists now able to diagnose and then prescribe antibiotics.
02:42She thinks they've struck the right balance.
02:45I acknowledge the important skills that pharmacists have and what the trials have done is tried
02:50to evaluate whether this is reasonably within the scope of practice of pharmacists.
02:55We've taken a very thorough approach in New South Wales through a clinical trials framework
03:01but we're also learning from information generated by other states and territories
03:05who have similarly rolled out this.
03:12So it's also worth noting Gemma that there could well be an expansion of these services,
03:17the government not only interested in potentially keeping the skin care and treatment of those
03:22skin conditions as a possibility for pharmacists but also other conditions including ear infections
03:27and certain gastro-type diseases as well which they classify as fairly common and also that
03:34they argue there are instances in which people go to pharmacists anyway to pick up medication
03:39and ask for medical opinions of pharmacists anyway so they say that it would be a more
03:44formalised process, it would require more cautions and precautions to be taken as well
03:49as using this trial data to better inform whether or not it's actually been effective.
03:54Now finally it is worth considering overall if this is the case, this really is one of
03:59the few means in which the New South Wales government can ease pressure on the public
04:02health system in terms of demand for GPs however while these consultations are free at the
04:08moment should these trials become permanent it's likely that pharmacists and depending
04:13on each pharmacy themselves would actually be charging people a consultation fee for
04:18these services as well when they diagnose and then subsequently prescribe medications.
