If you’ve forgotten to pack your medications while travelling, rather than missing your dose, the Pharmacy Guild of Australia recommends speaking to the local community pharmacist at your destination.
“We want to make it as clear as possible to patients that these options are available to them”, says the Guild’s NSW Branch President, David Heffernan.
“Far too often, we hear from patients who realise they have forgotten their medicine, don’t have a script and don’t know what to do. We want people to know that they don’t have to go without.
“If you find yourself in this situation, speak to a nearby pharmacist to discuss what options are available and see if you can get your medicine under an emergency or continued dispensing arrangement until you’re able to obtain a script.”
From late 2023, community pharmacies will be able to prescribe medicines for a wide range of everyday health issues.
Until then, emergency dispensing arrangements allow pharmacists to dispense small amounts of certain medicines in absence of a script, allowing patients time to see a doctor and obtain a prescription.