RIPAA is welcoming the recent announcement by the Cook Labor government in Western Australia to subsidise the cost of training for pharmacist scope of practice.
RIPAA is particularly welcoming the government’s initiative to provide a higher subsidy to rural pharmacists in MM3-7 to undertake the training but remains concerned that underserved rural and remote areas will likely lag behind metropolitan areas and larger regional centres in the implementation of pharmacist prescribing services and broader scope of practice due to various barriers.
According to a RIPAA spokesperson, “It’s terrific to see the WA government offering a higher subsidy to rural pharmacists to do the training. However, our members, who are mostly sole operators in small rural towns, are still unsure whether this investment will enable them to undertake the training and implement these services.”
“It’s the small towns and remote areas where pharmacist prescribing and other expanded pharmacy services are most desperately needed given the shortage of GPs and other healthcare services. However, it is going to be much more difficult for the sole operators in these areas, than those that are a part of corporate chains or groups in regional or metro areas, to do the scope training and implement these services.”
A case in point is the WA town of Northampton, which will be losing its only GP as of the 31st July, leaving the local pharmacy as the only permanent healthcare provider available to the community. It’s towns like Northampton where pharmacist prescribing is needed right now, but local pharmacist Joanne Loftus, who has served her community for the past twenty years, says she is unsure whether she will be able to take on the training, due to costs and the constraints of running the town’s only pharmacy. She is also concerned about whether her patients would be able to utilise the services given they are not covered by Medicare.
For pharmacist scope of practice to be successful in towns like Northampton, governments must ensure that there are appropriate supports in place for the pharmacies outside capitals and major hubs, especially the remote and isolated sole operators, to provide these services. This includes training subsidies but also appropriate funding to deliver the services in disadvantaged areas where most patients are concessional/CTG and will struggle to afford the out-of-pocket costs of user-pays healthcare services.”
Without appropriate government supports and funding in place, it is likely that expanded pharmacy services will be made available in affluent metropolitan areas and regional hubs but will be implemented to a very limited extent in disadvantaged and underserved areas that lack healthcare services.
“We are already seeing this scenario play out in Queensland, where pharmacist prescribing is more progressed than elsewhere, and very few remote and isolated pharmacies are participating. We also see the same problem with other pharmacy programs such as Home Medicine Reviews, where most accredited practitioners are based in MM1 and 2 and rural areas lack access to these services.
“Underserved areas, including MM5-7 locations, should be prioritised for scope of practice initiatives, as recommended in the Scope of Practice Review led by Mark Cormack.” As RIPPA has already proposed a funded pharmacist prescribing trial should be considered for these areas.
“If rural areas are not given priority, state governments may find themselves in a situation where they have backed an initiative that benefits corporate pharmacy chains financially but provides minimal improvements in rural and remote towns that have limited GP and healthcare services.”
