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Council News July 2023
Council Message
Welcome to the Winter edition of the Pharmacy Council of NSW newsletter.
This month we reluctantly bid farewell to one of our Council members, John Bronger.
We thank John for his valuable contribution to the Council and we will miss his accumulated knowledge and experience.
We extend our very best wishes to John for the future.
We are very excited also this month to include a link to a fascinating and informative podcast discussion between Caroline Diamantis, Council Member, and Shweta Kumar, Professional Officer. The podcast dives into key things to consider for proprietors relating to accepting the responsibility of being a pharmacy owner. This includes ensuring that relevant standard operating procedures are strong, effective, easy to understand, and staff are aware and most importantly trained in how to adhere to them. I particularly liked Caroline’s insights as a very experienced owner into some of the procedures and habits she incorporates into her routines to minimise risk at her own pharmacies.
Veronica Murdoch
President, Pharmacy Council of NSW
Pharmacy Council Stakeholder Forum
The Pharmacy Stakeholder Forum is a joint initiative between the Pharmacy Council of NSW, NSW Health and other pharmacy organisations representing most NSW pharmacists. You may have seen the Pharmacy Forum communique sent to members in October 2022.
As mentioned in the communique, the purpose of the Forum is to:
- monitor regulatory issues that impact on the governance and performance of NSW pharmacists and owners of NSW pharmacies;
- identify key communication messages for pharmacists related to their obligations and responsibilities in respect of the law, policies, guidelines and standards;
- develop an integrated approach to communicating with pharmacists;
- encourage a collaborative approach to the promotion of clinical governance and legislative compliance amongst pharmacists.
Forum representatives are developing resources to support NSW pharmacists. They are intended to be used as tools for pharmacists in conjunction with their overall knowledge and autonomous practice.
The following document is the fifth resource and offers workflow guidance on the opioid dependence treatment (ODT) reform.
It is hoped that pharmacists and pharmacy owners will utilise the resource as a guide to assist with the ODT reform in accordance with all legal and professional requirements.
You may have already seen the fourth resource which relates to guidance on immunisation, but we have included here for those who missed it.
If you have questions about these resources, please contact your professional organisation.
Podcast: The importance of proprietor oversight
In the latest episode of the Pharmacy Council's podcast, we discuss how the Council encourages proprietor pharmacists to understand the importance of having oversight of their business to ensure safe health care delivery to the public.
We hear expert advice from Shweta Kumar, Professional Officer with the Pharmacy Council, and Caroline Diamantis, PCNSW member, Vice President of the NSW branch of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia and a community pharmacist with more than 30 years of pharmacy ownership.
Influenza vaccination program update
Winter is well and truly here. It’s not too late to encourage your customers to help stay well this winter by getting their influenza vaccination, especially those at higher risk of severe illness. This includes people aged 65 years and over, people with serious health conditions, pregnant women, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people 6 months and over and children under five years of age.
NSW Health has developed a pharmacy poster for customers which outlines who is eligible for a free flu vaccination and to speak to their pharmacist today. Two copies of the poster will be delivered by mail to each pharmacy shortly. These can be displayed in your pharmacy window.
If you have any customers who have young children aged 6 months up to 5 years, please encourage them to visit their doctor or Aboriginal Medical Service as soon as possible to get their child vaccinated against flu.
NSW Health has also developed a number of resources to help remind the community that influenza vaccination is available at pharmacies. Feel free to share through your channels.
For more information and winter campaign resources, visit www.health.nsw.gov.au/influenza.
REMINDER: Annual requirements
If you are a NSW pharmacy owner and/or hold an interest in a NSW pharmacy business on 30 April 2023, you must have by 30 June 2023:
- completed a declaration of your financial interest in a pharmacy business and pay the declaration fee ($297 for each pharmacy business): and
- ensured the annual renewal of registration of your pharmacy premises is paid.
Council has received a total of 1967 annual declarations and only 99 declarations are now overdue. Our appreciation to all those who have completed declarations.
Of the 2016 pharmacies ,1966 pharmacies have also renewed their registration for the coming year which is again greatly appreciated. There are only 50 pharmacies due to complete the renewal of their pharmacy premises.
We appreciate everyone’s efforts this year and continue to work on making the annual requirement process as simple and easy as possible. For pharmacy proprietors yet to complete the process we would ask that you do so as quickly as possible.
Recording the date of birth of patients
Our Colleagues at PRU have passed on concerns relating to pharmacists not making a record of a patient’s date of birth in the dispensing system.
Some pharmacists are allowing the dispensing system to default to recording a date of birth of 1 January 1800. This shows up in SafeScript, and the inaccurate information can cause patient file duplication.
Please ensure you are recording the patient’s date of birth in the dispensing system.
Role advertised: Professional Officer – Advisor & Inspector (Pharmacy)
Here is a great opportunity for pharmacists considering work in the regulatory world with our team at HPCA. The Professional Officer - Advisor & Inspector (Pharmacy) is a key role which supports the Pharmacy Council of NSW in all our work. A key part of the role is undertaking inspections of pharmacies throughout NSW as well as providing expert advice and support in investigating complaints. If interested please consider applying below:
Useful links
SafeScript NSW is now available to all prescribers and pharmacists in NSW. If you haven’t already registered, you can do it here.
If you need support to manage patients using monitored medicines, you can call the SafeScript NSW Clinical Advice Line anytime on 1800 434 155 or refer to your local HealthPathways for specific clinical advice for Pharmacists.
Pharmacy Council podcasts: The Council's podcasts are all now conveniently located on a single webpage.
Webinar: Council representatives were pleased to collaborate with the AJP to present a webinar discussing key areas of complaints to NSW regulators and how to avoid the regulatory pitfalls whether you are a pharmacist, proprietor or manager. We encourage you to view the webinar here.
