Medicines in the bush workshop breaks new ground : 16/01/2013 :

The importance of the work undertaken by pharmacists and other health professionals in rural and regional areas across Australia will be highlighted in the first Medicines in the Bush workshop, to be held on Sunday April 7th immediately prior to the opening of the 12th National Rural Health Conference in Adelaide.

Convened by the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, Medicines in the Bush will not only showcase the important work of rural and remote pharmacists to other rural health practitioners, but also highlight the collaboration between health professionals working in these areas and the benefits to patients from such collaboration. It will also explore such issues as prescribing rights and extended practice for rural pharmacists.

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Poll: clinical intervention rate : 16/01/2013 :

A couple of recent posts to AusPharmList have revealed particular pharmacy's Clinical Intervention rates to be around 1.6%.

Greg Stark suggested we run a poll to see what rate other pharmacies are achieving. Sounds good to us.

Please let us know, in today's AusPharm poll, what Clinical Intervention rate was achieved in your pharmacy for the last claim period - 1 October to 31 December 2012.

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Pharmacist appointed to research ethics committee : 16/01/2013 :

ACT pharmacist Lyn Todd has been appointed to the ACT Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC).

Ms Todd joins a group of other professionals on the committee which aims to protect the welfare and rights of participants involved in research.

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AusPharm CE: Persistent pain management in older people : 15/01/2013 :

As advised last week, as a special treat for our basic level members we'll be making selected AusPharm Continuing Education activities available to you through January.

We'll only make them available one at a time and only leave them open for a week.

This week's activity is Persistent pain management in older people. It was prepared for AusPharm by Jenny Gowan and first published in February 2012.

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Annotating scripts to clarify a prescriber’s intention : 15/01/2013 :

The January edition of Medicare's Bulletin Board details the kinds of annotations to PBS scripts that may or may not be made by pharmacists when they need to contact a prescriber to clarify an issue.

Annotated scripts need to record the date the prescriber was contacted, the prescriber's advice and the pharmacist's name and signature. 'Significant' alterations are not permitted - these include changes to Schedule 8 scripts, supply of a completely different drug and supply to a different patient.

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RGH E‑Bulletin: Medicines and heatwaves : 14/01/2013 :

The topic of this week's RGH E‑Bulletin is Medicines and heatwaves.

"Global climate change continues to be the subject of international debate, which has included concern about the health impacts of climate change. Attention has also focused on the impact of 'heat waves' on morbidity and mortality. Over 70,000 additional deaths were recorded in 12 European countries over the summer of 2003 during a prolonged heatwave - after this, a number of related papers were published in medical literature, including some that specifically looked at the potential for increased harm from medicine use during the heatwaves. A number of countries including Australia have since operationalised 'National Heat Wave Plans.' In Australia individual states having developed specific information for to help people to manage in heatwaves, including SA Health’s “Extreme Heat – guide to coping and staying healthy in the heat.”

Click here to read the bulletin in full. The E‑Bulletins are archived on the AusPharmList website here

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Cold chain maintenance: APF22 has the answers : 14/01/2013 :

The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia is reminding pharmacists that the APF22 has a detailed section on cold chain management.

Some of the challenges faced by pharmacies include power outages resulting from summer storms, bushfires and other natural disasters and having a plan in place to deal with cold chain breaches is an important part of any pharmacy business plan, says PSA.

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Guild adds backing to Pharmacists' Support Service : 14/01/2013 :

The Pharmacists' Support Service (PSS) has announced it is now receiving support, both financial and through participation on its management committee, from the Pharmacy Guild of Australia. This expands the scope of support that the PSS already received from the pharmacy profession, through both associations and individuals.

John Coppock, President of PSS, said “I am very pleased that PSS now has representation from all the major pharmacy membership organisations.  This is the essence of PSS with the pharmacy profession looking after its own.  PSS is all about pharmacists supporting pharmacists.”

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AHPRA seeks members for Community Reference Group : 13/01/2013 :

Individuals with strong links to their community are invited to apply for appointment as a member of the Community Reference Group being established by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).

The Community Reference Group is designed to complement the role of the existing community members of the National Boards, icluding the Pharmacy Board, which regulate health practitioners in Australia. Meeting up to four times per year, the group will have a number of roles, including providing information and advice on strategies for building better knowledge in the community about health practitioner regulation.

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Leeton pharmacy plan gaining support : 13/01/2013 :

Support from the Leeton community for a third pharmacy in the town has been 'amazing' according to pharmacist Tracy Rudd, who is trying to get PBS approval for the proposed pharmacy.

The petition will form part of an appeal to the Health Minister against the expected Australian Community Pharmacy Authority decision to refuse the initial appication as it does not meet the formal criteria. The federal Health Minister has ministerial discretion to over-rule the ACPA decision and issue the PBS approval number.

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Kick off your CPD for 2013 - SHPA Introductory Seminar in Clinical Pharmacy Practice : 11/01/2013 :

22-24 February 2013 | Melbourne, Vic.

Suitable for all pharmacists - including those who undertake medication reviews. 

This seminar is designed for pharmacists seeking to improve or update their knowledge of current clinical practice and focuses on general tasks undertaken by pharmacists in the workplace (review of laboratory tests, bedside tests, therapeutic drug monitoring, medication reconciliation, medication chart review and drug-related problems and documentation of therapeutic plans and clinical activities) as well as key therapeutic areas (pain management, endocrinology, adverse drug reactions, neurology, infectious diseases, cardiology, drugs in renal disease and anticoagulation).

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Majority of pharmacists plan to attend at least one conference in 2013 : 11/01/2013 :

The result of this week's AusPharm poll suggests that more than 50% of pharmacists are likely to attend at least one pharmacy conference this year.

36% of respondents said they'd be attending 'one or two' events with a hard core 8% of conference 'junkies' planning to attend several.

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Guild Victorian Branch gets a new Director : 11/01/2013 :

Allan Crosthwaite has been appointed as the new Director of the Pharmacy Guild’s Victoria branch and will commence in that role on 21 January 2013.

Mr Crosthwaite will take over from Guild legend Maurice Sheehan, who is retiring after almost 20 years in the role.

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Queensland pharmacist honoured for contribution to pharmacy : 10/01/2013 :

Former PSA Queensland President and PSA National Councillor, Andrew Petrie, has been awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science Degree by The University of Queensland in recognition of his outstanding career and his contribution to pharmacy and healthcare at the state and national levels.

The award citation highlighted his involvement with the development of in-hospital teaching of pharmacy students and the establishment of the Queensland Poisons Information Centre.

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Undoit undone for good? : 10/01/2013 :

Earlier this month, the TGA announced that it has cancelled the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG) registration of weight loss product Undoit Plus on the basis that there was insufficient evidence to support the listed indications for the product and the presentation of the product was unacceptable.

The latest ARTG cancellation follows the voluntary cancellation by the sponsor of a similar product (Undoit) in May 2012. This brought to an end a TGA post market review of the product looking at the evidence supporting the therapeutic claims made for the product.

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Discussion paper on joint Aus / NZ therapeutic goods regulatory agency released : 09/01/2013 :

In December 2003 the Australian and New Zealand Governments signed an agreement outlining a joint regulatory scheme for therapeutic products to be administered by a joint agency, the Australia New Zealand Therapeutic Products Agency (ANZTPA).

A discussion paper setting out the high level features of a possible framework for regulation of products within the ANZTPA was released yesterday.

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Store medicines safely in the heat: NPS MEDICINEWISE : 09/01/2013 :

With a heatwave sweeping the country, NPS MedicineWise is reminding people that extremes in temperature, particularly heat, can have an impact on the effectiveness of medicines.

Clinical adviser at NPS MedicineWise, Dr Philippa Binns, is telling consumers that extreme temperatures can make it difficult to control the conditions in which medicines are stored but is suggesting strategies that can be used to keep them safe and effective.

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Poll: conference attendance 2013 : 08/01/2013 :

The 2013 pharmacy calendar positively brims with pharmacy conferences ranging from the long standing and large APP, PAC and SHPA conferences to the newer NSW events, the NSW Pharmacy - National Convention & Exhibition and the PSA Clinical & Practice Expo.

There are also a number of smaller conference events on the calendar, including ConPharm, the Australian Friendly Society conference and the Australian College of Pharmacy conference.

Will you be attending any of these this year? Please let us know by voting in this week's AusPharm poll.

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Ocular chloramphenicol to remain in Schedule 3 : 08/01/2013 :

Ocular chloramphenicol products are to remain 'pharmacist only' medicines following an interim decision made by the Advisory Committee on Medicines Scheduling (ACMS) at its October meeting.

Announcing the interim decision yesterday not to upschedule ocular chloramphenicol products back to S4, ACMS said that quick and easy access to this substance is a 'vital issue for patients'. Of the eight public submissions received by the committee on the issue, two supported upscheduling and five supported the status quo - to leave these products in S3. One submission stated that labelling and training should be addressed if chloramphenicol was to remain in Schedule 3.

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Need to catch up on some CE? : 08/01/2013 :

As a special treat for our basic level members we'll be making selected AusPharm Continuing Education activities available to you through January.

We'll only make them available one at a time and only leave them open for a week.

The first one is Issues around drug dosing in women who are breast feeding, prepared for AusPharm by Ella van Tienen and first published in March 2012.

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