No, not at all, but when it comes to full scope of practice, Australia is lagging behind other countries. Canada, the UK, and New Zealand are all currently practising more patient-centric care than we are! Even other health professionals in Australia – like podiatrists, nurses and optometrists – have broadened their scope to provide more services and holistic care through their own full scope of practice initiatives. Pharmacist full scope of practice is long overdue in Australia!

Our health system is under significant stress, with overworked General Practitioners (GPs) and overcrowded emergency departments (ED) being just the tip of the iceberg. Workforce shortages across all sectors of healthcare mean that patients are struggling to access primary healthcare in a timely manner, with long wait times to access care. As trusted and highly trained primary care providers with strong community ties, community pharmacists are perfectly positioned to better support patients by helping triage through treatment or by referral to the appropriate healthcare provider. The entire pharmacy team plays a vital role in all aspects of patient care.

Community pharmacists working to their full scope of practice can assist with:

– the increasing burden of chronic disease in Queensland communities,

– reducing unnecessary emergency department presentations,

– reducing potentially preventable hospitalisations,

– improving inefficiencies and delayed treatments due to patients shuttling back and forth between healthcare providers,

– enhancing the perception of pharmacists within communities,

– increasing workforce capacity through better career satisfaction and fulfilment, and

– driving community pharmacy forward as a premier primary healthcare destination for patients.

Full scope of pharmacy practice is an opportunity to not only improve patient care but to also drive positive change within the healthcare system. It’s a journey the entire pharmacy team can go on together.

You could lead an intervention to reduce a patient’s risk of a cardiovascular event through a blood pressure monitoring and medication management service. You could help a patient with diabetes achieve better control of their blood sugar levels by reviewing HbA1c results, ordering further pathology tests and developing treatment and management plans with them. You could help a patient receive timely and convenient administration of a vaccine or non-vaccine medicine or autonomously prescribe medicines to treat common conditions like shingles, mild acne, contact dermatitis, GORD, otitis externa or impetigo to name just a few. Patients are often already seeking treatment for these conditions in their community pharmacy but a full scope practice increases the treatment options available. Anything more complex or outside of your scope of practice will continue to be referred to a GP or another health care professional.

Positively! By maximising the use of your clinical skills and knowledge, you will relieve some of the pressures on GP practices and hospital EDs.

This is an opportunity for healthcare providers to work smarter, not harder, through better collaboration and use of professional competencies and resources. We know that 65% of patients live within 2.5km of a community pharmacy, which positions them well to become health hubs for patients to be triaged for treatment by a pharmacist, a GP or another provider. Doctors and allied health professionals will continue to form an integral part of a pharmacist’s holistic approach to patient care.

In June 2020, the Urinary Tract Infection Pilot (UTI Pilot) was launched in participating pharmacies throughout Queensland. Participating pharmacists were authorised to provide specific antibiotic treatment for uncomplicated urinary tract infections in certain women aged 18-65 through a structured prescribing model. The Pilot ran for two years and demonstrated that pharmacists were highly capable of delivering this valuable service that ensured that eligible women received appropriate UTI treatment in a timely, safe and convenient manner. The service has now been made permanent in Queensland. Following on the success of the UTI Pilot, pharmacists in Queensland will soon be able to expand their scope beyond treatment of UTI to treatment of more everyday health conditions and the management of common chronic conditions.

The Queensland Community Pharmacy Scope of Practice Pilot (Queensland Pilot) is your path to doing more for your patients.

The Pharmacy Guild of Australia, Queensland Branch, is working purposefully with government representatives to formalise the framework and parameters for the Queensland Pilot, which is expected to be launched in early 2024 and continue through to 2025.

Other states across Australia are now implementing similar UTI treatment services either as permanent service or further pilots and are also planning other full scope initiatives. 

You will receive a registration link before registration opens on Wednesday 1 March and closes at midnight Thursday 9 March. We encourage you to get in early to ensure that you don’t miss out.

Yes, pharmacy owners will be required to register their pharmacy or pharmacies to participate in the Pilot. Services can only be provided in registered pharmacies. The community pharmacy must be QCPP accredited and have a dedicated consultation room that offers privacy and confidentiality for the patient.

The training currently involves 2 components. QUT modules on Safe Prescribing and Quality use of Medicines (approximately 13 weeks) and JCU will deliver CPD on the clinical conditions (approximately 20 weeks).

At the end of the training, you will receive a certificate of completion for this graduate-level training.