Council News March 2022

Council Message

Welcome to the Council‘s first newsletter for 2022.

Joyce Cooper, who has been a Council member for 7 years and our president for the last three years has decided to pursue new career opportunities interstate.

We thank her for her unwavering dedication and commitment to the critical work of the council. During her tenure, her enthusiasm and encouragement to all council members was highly valued. Joyce made an extremely significant contribution and her ability and acumen will be missed. We congratulate her on her new career direction and wish her all the very best.

In this newsletter we include an article on the Role of the Pharmacy Council in NSW and its role under the Health Practitioner National Law (NSW), and how this fits in with the role of the Pharmacy Board.

We also include information on SafeScriptNSW which continues to roll out across the state. The Central Coast and Hunter New England areas have been using this system from late last year, and it will become available in the Northern Sydney, and Nepean Blue Mountains and North Coast from March.

In addition, we include an article relating to compounding practice - this particular article focuses on risk assessments in compounding.

Veronica Murdoch
Deputy President, Pharmacy Council of NSW

The Pharmacy Council in NSW – Role in Regulation

Information about the role of the Pharmacy Council, and its functions and powers governed by the National Law.

Attention compounders – are your risk assessments adequate?

Pharmacy Board of Australia Guidelines on Compounding of Medicines outline that one of the fundamental requirements of compounding is that the pharmacist must complete a risk assessment.

SafeScript update

SafeScript NSW, the state’s real-time prescription monitoring system, was made available to pharmacists in Hunter New England and Central Coast in November 2021. If you’re from this area and haven’t already registered for the system, you can do so by accessing the registration link sent to your email address recorded with Ahpra. Pharmacists in other parts of NSW will be invited to access SafeScript NSW from:

March 2022: North Coast, Northern Sydney and Nepean Blue Mountains.
May 2022: Western Sydney, Central and Eastern Sydney, South Western Sydney, South Eastern NSW, Western NSW and Murrumbidgee.

To prepare for the arrival of SafeScript NSW, access the accredited online education and training resources and learn more about the clinical support available.

COVID-19 Update: Public Health Order (No.3) – Mandatory Vaccinations

As you will be aware, on 23 December 2021 the Public Health (COVID-19 Health Care Workers Vaccination) Order (No.3) 2021 commenced. This Order requires mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations for all registered health professionals in NSW, regardless of practice setting. It also now extends to staff working within a private/office-based setting. Practitioners and staff working in these settings are categorised as stage 2 health care workers within the new Order.

Recent NSW Tribunal decisions:

Health Care Complaints Commission v Peter Foster

The Tribunal found the complaints of unsatisfactory professional conduct and professional misconduct proven. The pharmacist’s registration was suspended for a period of 6 months. At the recommencement of practise he is subject to conditions of registration which include undertaking an ethics course and an audit of his practice and mentoring.

Health Care Complaints Commission v Priya Patel

The Tribunal found the complaints of unsatisfactory professional conduct and professional misconduct proven. The pharmacist’s registration was cancelled. She is disqualified from applying for registration for 3 years.

Health Care Complaints Commission v Dillan Lal

The Tribunal found the complaints of unsatisfactory professional conduct and professional misconduct proven. The pharmacist’s registration was cancelled. He is disqualified from applying for registration for 3 years.

Health Care Complaints Commission v Michael Serafin

The Tribunal found the complaints of unsatisfactory professional conduct and professional misconduct proven. The pharmacist’s registration is cancelled from 1 April 2022. He is disqualified from applying for registration for 18 months from the date of cancellation.

Health Care Complaints Commission v Andrew Kaye

The Tribunal found the complaints of unsatisfactory professional conduct and professional misconduct proven. Orders are to be determined at the Stage 2 hearing.

Useful links

- NSW Pharmacist Vaccination Standards . The NSW Pharmacist Vaccination Standards as amended in November 2021 are available on the NSW Health webpage.

The changes allow pharmacist immunisers to administer any of the available COVID-19 vaccines in an expanded range of locations (section 2.2). The additional locations include Local Council Clinics and premises where services are provided to vulnerable people such as homeless people, people with a disability, Culturally And Linguistically Diverse (CALD) populations and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

- Access to care - Pharmacy Board of Australia /Ahpra

National Boards expect all health practitioners to facilitate access to care regardless of someone’s Covid -19 vaccination status. People cannot be denied care if steps can be taken to keep the person, health practitioners and their staff safe. Relevant information about the public health obligations of health practitioners may be found in the links below:

- Opioid Treatment Program support for Pharmacists

Guidance provided by NSW Health to support pharmacists providing OAT for patients in isolation is provided here: www.health.nsw.gov.au/aod/pages/covid-19-otp-delivery-procedure.aspx

If you would like to provide feedback or make a complaint about our administrative and business processes, you can do this using our online form or by emailing us at mail@hpca.nsw.gov.au