Pharmacies are taking an expanded role in providing health care as doctors criticise new prescription rules becoming “business as usual” as soon as initial trials end.
Women will have more convenient access to contraceptives in NSW after a 12-month trial allowing pharmacists to resupply oral contraceptive pills without a GP visit becomes permanent.
But Royal Australian College of General Practitioners NSW/ACT chair Rebekah Hoffman told AAP the trial needed to be rigorously examined to make sure it achieved its desired outcomes before becoming a fixture.
“Moving it to business as usual before there’s actually been an evaluation is somewhat frustrating,” she said on Thursday.
The expansion of prescriptions delivered by pharmacists had been pitched as a solution to GP shortages – particularly in regional areas – and rising out-of-pocket costs for doctor visits.
An evaluation of trials expanding the scope of pharmacy-based care will be provided in 2025, the state government says.
Since June, pharmacists in NSW can treat people with symptoms of uncomplicated urinary tract infections, while another trial allowing pharmacists to manage common skin conditions will be in place until early 2025.
Health Minister Ryan Park said the expansions formed part of the state government’s strategy to deal with stretched resources.
“It’s not just for pharmacists, we’re having discussions with GPs around what they might be able to do more, we’re having a look at what paramedics are doing in relation to their ability to offer health-care services,” he said.
Dr Hoffman said urgent care could be further embedded in general practice, while prescribing some medication for conditions including acne and ADHD could be done by GPs, freeing up specialists that patients sometimes struggle to access.
“Both of those are things that in other states and territories have been shown that general practice can do and can do really well,” she said.
Women who have been on the pill for at least two years after being prescribed by a doctor or nurse practitioner can get up to 12-months’ supply at a pharmacy under the NSW scheme.
Eligibility has also been expanded to include women up to the age of 49 after being limited to 18-35-year-olds during the trial.
NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant said access to further contraceptives could be expanded after safeguards were developed to ensure patient safety.
Pharmacy Guild of Australia NSW senior vice president Catherine Bronger said pharmacists had access to the national digital health records to confirm past prescriptions.
“Often we have a relationship with the women that are coming in to get their pill as well,” she said.
Premier Chris Minns said the changes were driven by a desire to provide women with affordable access to health care when it had become out of reach for many.
The role of pharmacists has been expanding in health systems around the nation, following their role administering vaccinations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Trials expanding the scope of pharmacy-based care, allowing things like treatment of urinary tract infections and prescription of some medications and contraceptives, have been conducted in all states and territories.
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