Media Release dated 27/04/2023
Caution expressed on prescription dispensing changes
The Australian Patient’s Association today expressed caution in regard to the plans of the Albanese Government to extend medication supply from the usual 30-day supply per prescription.
The APA’s Ambassador for Health Reform, Dr Nick Coatsworth, said that the APA welcomes consumer cost savings and easier access to medicines, which have a strong appeal to many consumers, but there are a number of factors which, if not addressed in implementation, could produce some poor outcomes for patients.
“The main benefit of these changes would be that patients with longer term drug prescriptions would reduce the number of visits to their pharmacy, and make subsequent savings as well in dispensing fees.” he said.
“However, we’re concerned about the implementation of this policy, and the detail is important. For example, currently, large numbers of drugs are in short supply, and these changes could lead to patients missing out on medications due to those shortages. We already have supply chain weaknesses, demonstrated across a range of common medications during the pandemic, and many are still to be resolved. Supply chains need to be consistent enough to ensure longer supply to individual patients, and build the extra quantum of available drugs in the marketplace” he said.
“Secondly, the experience of other countries suggests that we can expect increases of hoarding of drugs by consumers, increasing numbers of tablets being stored in cupboards, which coincides with increases in medication errors. Overflowing home medication cupboards are a safety hazard. Imagine the grandchildren coming around and getting into a cupboard with 450 pills in it” he said. “We accept that this may be a cost of the changes, but we would like to look at how we can mitigate against the problem.”
“It also appears from the current government messaging, that pharmacies will have to bear some of the costs of the savings which have been declared. The savings in costs to consumers is a fantastic outcome, but if that is only partly absorbed by government and passed on to pharmacies, the potential here is that smaller pharmacies will be under pressure. The last thing we want is the loss of pharmacies, which would mean that access for patients is disrupted, and if there are problems in this area, the worst of them will likely be in rural and regional Australia.”
Acting Director of the Australian Patients Association Mr David Clarke said “We’re focused on what’s good for patients. In this case, there are definite patient benefits in this initiative if it is well implemented, but we would especially like to hear from government on how it intends to deal with the supply chain challenges, the viability impacts on smaller community pharmacies, and any community education investment it intends to make to underpin safety issues associated with extra drugs in households.”
Mr Clarke summarised by saying “We are supportive of the concept of some drugs being dispensed for longer periods which is a benefit in terms of time and cost savings to patients. However, announcing more than 300 drugs on the list, in three tranches over 12 months, will mean that it will be difficult to address any of the negative impacts we are concerned about. We are calling on the government to provide further detail on how it plans to mitigate the potential negative impacts of this policy, so that it achieves all of the successful outcomes planned” he said.
For further information contact: David Clarke on 0416 156 923 or Nick Coatsworth on 0417 610 483
email dclarke@patients.org.au