‘Not unsafe’: NSW vows to expand script-free treatment

New trial data has revealed the number of pharmacies now treating people with common conditions. The Health Minister is vowing to expand the program. Take our poll.

Health Minister Ryan Park has rejected warnings from GPs, instead pushing ahead with plans to expand a range of medical treatments provided by local pharmacists.

It comes as new data reveals more than 1500 patients have had a range of skin conditions managed at the chemist for the first time during a NSW six-month trial.

Eligible patients with shingles, eczema, school sores and “mild plaque psoriasis” have received treatment without requiring a prescription from their doctor.

The move to utilise pharmacists is part of the state government’s response to an dire shortage in bulk-billing GPs and exhaustive wait times at Sydney’s hospital emergency departments.

Responding to the trial results, Mr Park told The Daily Telegraph: “This is all designed to try and make health care as convenient, as safe and as effective as possible”.

Health Minister Ryan Park has vowed to expand the trial of pharmacies treating patients without prescriptions. Picture: NewsWire / John Appleyard

Mr Park acknowledged the initial uptake of just 1500 patients in six months was less than anticipated.

“I would always like to see more,” he said.

“But I’m confident that as people become more familiar with the availability of the service within pharmacies that will continue to expand.

“I encourage people to visit the NSW Health website to find the nearest participating pharmacist.”

Speaking on behalf of the industry, Catherine Bronger, a pharmacist and Vice President of the Pharmacy Guild’s NSW branch said the early trial had been “promising”.

“There have been families with children who have eczema and can’t book in to see a GP over the Christmas period. Instead of waiting weeks for a doctor’s script, they can walk into the pharmacist to obtain a repeat of their medication,” Ms Bronger said.

This is the latest step in an $8.8 million government initiative which has already seen thousands of people access script-free treatment for the contraceptive pill and urinary tract infections.

The Health Minister also confirmed the next stage of the trial — which will include patients with conditions including nausea, minor wound management, gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) and ear infections — will begin next year.

Catherine Brongerthe Vice-President of the Pharmacy Guild's New South Wales branch said the early trial data had been promising. Picture: Rohan Kelly

When asked to respond to recent claims by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) that the expanded trial creates a “risk of serious and even life-threatening illnesses’, Mr Park said he “didn’t think that was the case at all”.

“We won’t be doing things that are unsafe. These (pharmacists) are highly-trained individuals … and not people we are just pulling off the street. We need to make sure that in a situation where the community is struggling to get access to GPs, we play a role as a state’ Mr Park said.

Originally published as ‘Not unsafe’: NSW vows to expand script-free treatment