Labor to trial pharmacy scripts to ease pressure on GPs

Pharmacists will be able to dispense scripts for hormonal contraception and other simple issues under a Labor pledge to make a trial into the practice permanent.

Labor pledges trial for pharmacies to dispense scripts for hormonal contraception and other minor issues. File picture

Pharmacists will be able to dispense scripts for hormonal contraception and other simple issues under a Labor pledge to make a trial into the practice permanent.

Premier Steven Miles, visiting Mareeba in far North Queensland to announce a $20m expansion of the district hospital, said the scheme would take pressure off GPs.

“It’s using our health staff to their full scope of practice and using those fantastic pharmacy resources in just about every town, many of them open seven days a week,” she said.

Premier Steven Miles. Picture: Adam Head

“We started off with antibiotics for particularly women suffering from UTIs and repeated prescriptions for the contraceptive pill.

“We’ve since expanded that trial to include a wide range of preventative health as well as well as assessment and treatment pathways, our pharmacists do a fantastic job, and this is just another way we can ensure that healthcare is delivered close to home, with access to transport and other things that are important.”

Australian Medical Association Queensland have raised concern about the practice, but Ms Fentiman dismissed it as “professional argy bargy between the doctors and the pharmacists”.

“There is enough work for everyone,” she said.

“There is enough demand in our health system for every clinician to work at the top of their scope.”

Originally published as Labor to trial pharmacy scripts to ease pressure on GPs