New “continued dispensing” rights for pharmacists will undermine collaborative arrangements with GPs and be detrimental to patients’ health, according to the AMA.
In a letter (link) to the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA), the AMA’s vice-president Professor Geoff Dobb says draft guidelines circulated to pharmacists, setting out how to dispense repeat medication without a prescription, only “serve to heighten” doctors’ concerns.
He says it was “inappropriate” for the Federal government to allow it to go-ahead and calls for the Society to work with the AMA on the measures to prevent a “breakdown” in collaboration between the two professions.
Professor Dobb argues that there is no evidence of problems with the current dispensing program and or any evidence that it would cause problems for the patient if they run out of lipid lowering medication for a week and therefore could just wait to see their GP.
“Far from improving patient outcomes, the program is likely to result in further delay by patients in seeking necessary clinical review by a medical practitioner, to the detriment of their health,” he writes.
He raises concerns that the only communication between the pharmacist and GP is after the medication has already been prescribed, which could lead to a range of legal risks for both of them.
And he insists that pharmacists have an “important role” to tell patients when dispensing their last repeat that they need to visit their GP to discuss ongoing treatment.