Coronavirus: Chemists and GPs brawl over powers to dispense medicines

Chemists are pushing for a permanent increase in their power to issue customers with scripts for medications without a prescription.

Pharmacy Guild of Australia president George Tambassis. Picture: Kym Smith

Chemists are using the corona­virus health crisis to push for a permanent increase in their power to issue customers with scripts for medications without a prescription, trigging a fresh stoush with doctors over their scope of their authority.

Under legislation introduced in the wake of the summer bushfire disaster, and continued under the COVID-19 crisis, the dispensing powers of pharmacists were ­expanded to enable them to issue scripts for regular medications without a patient having a current prescription.

The continued dispensing rules allowed pharmacists to issue a one-month supply of a patient’s regular medication once a year.

The Pharmacy Guild of Australia wants the legislation to be ­extended to allow continued pre­scribing as a permanent feature of the health landscape.

The guild’s president, George Tambassis, says it would bring Australia into line with similar provision in Britain and Canada.

“If the patient can get to their pharmacist before they can get to their regular prescriber, they should be able to have access to that medicine under those protocols,” Mr Tambassis said.

In a submission to the bushfires royal commission, the Pharmacy Guild said continued dispensing arrangements had been a success from the point of view of pharmacists and consumers.

“Since the expansion of continued dispensing in January, pharmacists right across Australia have been safely providing emergency supplies of most prescription medicines to patients who have met the criteria,” the submission said.

“The guild is unaware of any reported issues, abuse of the instrument or complaints, reflecting the ethical and legal compliance, professionalism and high level of training pharmacists have.”

Elise Apolloni, whose pharmacy on the south coast of NSW has assisted many people affected by bushfires and unable to immediately see their GPs, says continued dispensing is important not only during times of national emergency. “Stressful times are sometimes big national disasters but sometimes there’s disasters in people’s individual lives as well,” Ms Apolloni said.

“Individual disasters happen in people’s lives every day. And unless this legislation continues, ­people get thrown into really difficult circumstances.

“Think about a relative (who) suddenly falls ill interstate and you need to go to provide healthcare for them as they’re passing away, and you leave the medicines on the kitchen bench. You present at your local pharmacy, and if you’re not in a COVID or bushfire crisis time, the answer would be ‘I can give you three days of medication’. That doesn’t really help in these really acutely stressful situations.”

Royal College of General Practitioners president Harry Nespolon has attacked the continued prescribing push as potentially harmful. “We cannot advise strongly enough against allowing ongoing dispensing arrangements (to) allow pharmacists to sell people a month’s supply of medication without a script because it poses a serious risk to ­patient health and wellbeing,” he said.

“This is yet another example of the retail pharmacy sector seeking to put financial gains ahead of ­patient care and safety, and taking advantage of temporary arrangements designed for emergency situations … There is no place for these arrangements on an ongoing basis.

“The reason patients should always see their GP for repeat prescriptions is because a GP knows their patient’s health history and provides ‘whole person’ care — they will use the consultation as an opportunity to discuss any health concerns and review the medication to make sure it’s the best ­option for the patient. ”