The Palaszczuk Government has announced that the North Queensland Community Pharmacy Scope of Practice Pilot – the North Queensland Community Pharmacy Pilot – will commence in late 2023.
This announcement has been welcomed by the Queensland Branch of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, with Branch President Chris Owen congratulating the Government for their leadership and recognised commitment to enhancing patient care and increasing access to world-class healthcare services in Queensland.
“Premier Palaszczuk and Minister D’Ath have shown great foresight and a true commitment to delivering better health services through this announcement today,” Mr Owen said.
The North Queensland Community Pharmacy Pilot will authorise community pharmacists to treat patients for everyday health conditions, such as mild to moderate acne, impetigo, rhinitis and atopic dermatitis.
Mr Owen says this Pilot is one solution to help decrease unnecessary emergency department presentations and ambulance ramping.
“The North Queensland Pharmacy Pilot will deliver improved health outcomes for patients in North Queensland and help ease some of the burdens on busy GPs and overcrowded emergency departments,” Mr Owen said.
“Today’s announcement means that for everyday health conditions, North Queenslanders will be able to choose to get the care they need from their local community pharmacy.”
The North Queensland Community Pharmacy Pilot received ongoing bi-partisan support at the Pharmacy Guild’s Annual Parliamentary reception at the Queensland Parliament, with the Queensland Government and Opposition Leader committing to the Pilot’s implementation and supporting Community Pharmacists practising to their full scope .
This builds on the bi-partisan commitments made by all major political parties in Queensland to implement such a pilot at the last state election.
Mr Owen says the North Queensland Pharmacy Pilot is in line with the needs of the community and will bring Queensland into line with other international jurisdictions where primary healthcare professionals are practising to their full scope.
“[The] announcement brings North Queensland pharmacists in line with community pharmacists in other jurisdictions like parts of Canada, the United Kingdom and New Zealand. Regardless of where Queenslanders live, they should have timely access to world-class healthcare,” Mr Owen said.
“Based on research carried out by independent research firm Insightfully, half of North Queenslanders with chronic diseases and conditions often can’t see their regular GP, with access problems made even worse by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The research also found that nearly four in ten respondents agreed they were waiting an unacceptable length of time to secure a GP appointment.
“Critically, more than a quarter of North Queenslander participants have had to visit an emergency department due to lack of GP access.
“[The] announcement of the North Queensland Community Pharmacy Scope of Practice Pilot will mean patients will have more options to getting timely treatment for these health conditions and will also take pressure off of our already over-burdened GP clinics and emergency departments,” Mr Owen said.
