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Council News March 2024
Council Message
Welcome to the first edition of the Pharmacy Council of NSW newsletter for 2024.
In this newsletter we include an article to support your contemporary practice.
- Advice in relation to ‘Dose administration aids (DAAs) and staged supply of dispensed medicines’, including re-use of medicines.
Routine Inspection Program
The Council approves pharmacy premises in NSW as suitable for carrying on a pharmacy business by a pharmacist in accordance with the standards prescribed by the NSW regulations for or with respect to the safe and competent delivery of pharmacy services. The Council also maintains a Register of Pharmacies and financial interest holders of NSW pharmacies.
The Council is pleased to make available two self-audit tools (e.g. Equipment and Publications checklists) for proprietor(s) and pharmacists in charge to support compliance with the standards.
NSW Pharmacy Quarterly Stakeholder Forum
The Council continues to interact with stakeholders, with the most recent Pharmacy Stakeholder Forum held on 08 December 2023. Throughout 2023, the key pharmacy stakeholder agencies have developed various resources to support pharmacists with their professional practice and the safe, effective delivery of services in the profession.
The next forum will be hosted by Pharmacy Council of NSW on 22 March 2024.
Podcasts
If you have not yet listened to our podcasts, we encourage you to do so. Our most recent episode is about managing pharmacy workloads and is available to stream via our website, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Reminder: Annual requirements for pharmacy proprietors and holders of financial interests
Finally, a reminder that renewals and declarations will be commencing in May. We urge you to closely read the notice below and review the Pharmacy Council website for more information.
Celebrating Thank Your Pharmacist Day 2024
We would like to take this opportunity to celebrate Thank Your Pharmacist Day on 21 March 2024, bringing together patients, community leaders and stakeholders from across the health sector to acknowledge the vital work of our pharmacists.
This year’s Thank Your Pharmacist Day theme is More than ever, highlighting pharmacists’ growing role in Australia’s health care system.
For more information please visit the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia's website.
Veronica Murdoch
President, Pharmacy Council of NSW
Routine Inspection Program
The Council approves pharmacy premises in NSW as suitable for carrying on a pharmacy business by a pharmacist in accordance with the standards prescribed by the NSW regulations for or with respect to the safe and competent delivery of pharmacy services. The Council also maintains a Register of Pharmacies and financial interest holders of NSW pharmacies.
The Council has fully recommenced its Routine Inspection Program (i.e., compliance inspections).
The Health Practitioner Regulation (New South Wales) Regulation 2016 requires compliance with standards which includes equipment and publications that must be kept in every pharmacy.
Aside from the equipment and publications listed in Schedule 5 of the Regulation, the pharmacy is required to have any other equipment necessary for the pharmacy to provide safe and competent delivery of pharmacy services.
The Council is pleased to make available two self-audit tools for proprietors and pharmacists in charge to support compliance with the standards:
In addition to the above, the Council, as a service to its customers, also reminds pharmacists to have regard to certain requirements under the Poisons and Therapeutic Goods legislation including:
NSW Pharmacist Vaccination Standards
The pharmacist immuniser must conduct the vaccination in an immunisation service room, consulting room or immunisation area; this may be a dedicated space or an existing room for the purpose of providing vaccination services.
NSW Pharmacy Trial for pharmacists prescribing medication
The pharmacy and pharmacist registration information are reviewed by the trial research team to ensure eligibility conditions are met, including:
- naming the pharmacist(s) who will deliver the service
- meeting criteria as per the Authority allowing pharmacists to supply medications (UTI) and the Authority allowing pharmacists to supply medications (Oral contraceptive pill)
- provision of an appropriate consultation area.
NSW Opioid Treatment Program (OTP)
The proprietor(s) must have local policies and procedures in place to ensure that all pharmacists including locum pharmacists employed at the pharmacy:
- read and understand the current version of the NSW Opioid Treatment Program Community Pharmacy Dosing Protocol and
- comply with the requirements contained within, in addition to the legislative requirements under the Act and Regulation.
To improve the quality of NSW OTP dose administration services, a self-audit tool is available for community pharmacies in NSW. To assist pharmacies, the self-audit tool had been developed collaboratively by the NSW Ministry of Health, Pharmacy Guild and Pharmaceutical Society of Australia. Use the tool to:
- assess your current practice against best practice standards
- help you identify gaps in practice and compliance with the regulation
- improve your practice in the administration of doses for the OTP, including record keeping, storage of S8 medicines and documentation practices.
Did You Know?
Access to electronic versions of publications
The following provisions apply to access by electronic means to publications that are not kept in the premises—
(a) any relevant software or data licence in respect of the publication is to provide for access for each pharmacist in the premises (including a locum),
(b) a document is to be kept, in the premises and available to each pharmacist in the premises (including a locum), setting out how each pharmacist can readily access the current version of the publication,
(c) if the publication is accessed via the Internet—access to the Internet is to be maintained while any pharmacist is dispensing or compounding drugs in the premises and the current version of the publication is to be readily accessible (by way of web browser bookmarks or otherwise).
Advice in relation to "Dose administration aids (DAAs) and staged supply of dispensed medicines", including re-use of medicines
The Pharmacy Board of Australia Guidelines on dose administration aids and staged supply of dispensed medicines were developed in recognition of the increased demand for dose administration aids (DAAs) and, where used in association with them, automated dose packaging systems. Also addressed is advice on dealing with the supply of medicines to be issued periodically.
Pharmacists may provide DAAs for selected patients to assist in the safe and effective administration of a patient’s medicines and to enhance adherence. In addition to the Board’s Guidelines for dispensing of medicines, the Board has regard to established practice and quality assurance standards, including the DAA service standards and guidelines issued by the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA). These standards should be considered as part of the process of determining whether the provision of a DAA to a patient is appropriate.
Reminder: Annual requirements for pharmacy proprietors and holders of financial interests
If you are a NSW pharmacy owner and/or hold an interest in a NSW pharmacy business on 30 April 2024, you must by 30 June 2024:
- complete a declaration of your financial interest in a pharmacy business and pay the declaration fee ($297 for each pharmacy business); and
- ensure the annual renew of registration of your pharmacy premises is paid.
Message from NSW Ministry of Health
Updated pharmaceutical regulatory policy for prescribing or supplying psychostimulants in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
From 13 November 2023 psychiatrists, paediatricians and neurologists are authorised under a class Authority to prescribe or supply psychostimulant medication for the treatment of ADHD in a non-drug dependent person. The class Authority can be used to prescribe up to a maximum daily dose of:
- dexamfetamine 50mg
- lisdexamfetamine 70mg
- methylphenidate 108mg
Destruction of Schedule 8 medicines at community pharmacies
As of 29 September 2023, the Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Regulation 2008 will allow a pharmacist who practises at a community pharmacy to destroy a drug of addiction (Schedule 8 medicine) at the pharmacy in the presence of an independent witness. For more information see Destruction of Schedule 8 medicines by community pharmacists
Medicinal cannabis regulators forum: regulating complexity
The current regulatory landscape for medicinal cannabis is complex.
Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra), in partnership with the Medical, Nursing and Midwifery and Pharmacy Boards of Australia convened a forum on 16 February 2024 to bring regulators together to better understand the changing landscape for how medicinal cannabis is being used in Australia.
The aim was for regulators to share information and regulatory intelligence and determine how they can best work together in relation to this and related issues. The regulation of medicinal cannabis was examined through a wider lens regarding novel means of access to medicines in Australia.
For more information, see Ahpra's communique here: Regulators come together as one million Australians turn to medicinal cannabis treatment
Recent Tribunal decision
Health Care Complaints Commission v Akinci [2024] NSWCATOD 15
In its decision of 12 February 2024, the Tribunal found Dr Akinci guilty of unsatisfactory professional conduct and professional misconduct. The Tribunal will determine protective orders following a further Stage 2 hearing.
Useful links
Pharmacy Council podcasts:
Episode 1: Keeping the public safe - What pharmacists need to know
Episode 2: The dangers of high-risk medications
Episode 3: The importance of proprietor oversight
Episode 4: Managing pharmacy workload
