00:00So they say that this will allow more timely access to various health services that you
00:08might not be able to get otherwise or you might be able to get but maybe a little bit
00:12of a delay perhaps your pharmacist can do this more quickly for you.
00:16Would this help out regional GPs who have been calling for more help?
00:20Well it depends on what it is the pharmacist going to do because obviously a pharmacist
00:23and a doctor get different training.
00:26Some of the questions to ask is what are the burdens on our rural and remote GPs and are
00:32any of these things things that could be safely done in pharmacy?
00:35What about the scope of practice for pharmacists, will this fall under their scope of practice?
00:41Well it depends what it is, maybe it will in which case if a pharmacist can do something
00:45safely and that's very important to the community then it makes sense for the government to support
00:51that.
00:52If they are safe then of course we wouldn't want the government to support any changes
00:56to practice.
00:57So what are some of the things they are calling for then, what would they be likely to be able
01:02to diagnose?
01:03Well there is not a lot of detail yet in the plan but it seems like more common things,
01:10the more common chronic diseases where the pharmacist might also be able to provide the solution.
01:15So for example perhaps it is something where you need a medicine or you need some other kind
01:21of support that can be provided through pharmacy.
01:24Sometimes to get a diagnosis you might need say a blood test, well a pharmacist can't do
01:28that.
01:29So it wouldn't make sense to say pharmacists can do this now because they can't do the
01:32pathology work or they can't order an X-ray.
01:36Some trained pharmacists are already diagnosing and treating some simple complex issues too but
01:44say urinary tract infections people can go to a pharmacist as opposed to a GP.
01:50Is it more of just an extension on that type of treatment?
01:53Yes I think the plan would be to find areas where it's safe and allow the pharmacists to
01:59do this work so that consumers can get care.
02:02I mean nobody says gee I wish my local health professional could do less.
02:06People are always looking for that flexibility but what they do want is to be able to trust
02:10that it's safe.
02:11From your work with consumers what have you heard about people, are they willing to go
02:17to their pharmacist to be prescribed medicine rather than a GP?
02:22When we've talked to the community about this it's very much a yes but.
02:25It depends on the circumstances.
02:27Some people will feel safe going to pharmacy for certain kinds of procedures but not for
02:31others.
02:32And there is a cost differential here too.
02:35If people think they can get care more cheaply in a pharmacist that makes it more attractive.
02:40If it's going to come at a cost people tend to say well I'll pay and I'll go and see my
02:44nurse practitioner or my doctor and I might do a couple of other things while I'm there.
02:48How have GPs responded to this?
02:51Well again I think there's been a varied response.
02:54I think there's a note of caution.
02:56You need to of course speak to those professional groups but a note of caution to make sure that
03:00patient safety is always a priority and not profit.
03:04So what might be some of the reasons they might be against this change?
03:08Well we talk a lot in health about this notion of fragmentation of your care.
03:12So if you go to see one professional say a pharmacist about something and the next time
03:16you see a GP they don't know that you're taking a new medicine that can impact on the decisions
03:22they make.
03:23So how do we make sure if you go to a pharmacy for care that your local care team whether
03:28they're specialists, GPs, whoever it is know what's happened and so your care remains
03:32very safe.
03:33Is there a possible risk of conflict of interest here with pharmacists diagnosing people and
03:39then selling them the medicines or creams that they have in their shop?
03:44So this is one of the reasons that our system works as it does.
03:47That we have someone decide what your care should be and then somebody else sell you the component
03:52parts.
03:53So we do need to be very careful.
03:54In the past there's been a conversation about a different person doing the assessment from
03:59the one that actually sells you the products.
04:02That might be possible in a big pharmacy.
04:05In a small pharmacy probably not possible and when we look at where workforce struggles
04:09it tends to be in areas where there are less health professionals, less GPs, smaller pharmacies.
04:15So there is a question about how we make sure that a profit kind of motive doesn't drive
04:20any of this change.
04:21So how likely is it that a plan like this may proceed?
04:24Well we're already seeing in many of our states and territories around Australia pilots for
04:29various kinds of work where pharmacists are doing work that traditionally has been doctors.
04:34So I think we can expect that that might increase over time, providing it's proven that it's
04:40a safe thing to do and that the community can trust that this is a great model of care for
04:44them.
Comments