Chronic kidney disease a rising burden on Australia’s hospitals - and set to worsen : 18/08/2010 :

Hospitalisations related to chronic kidney disease (CKD) are increasing, and look likely to remain a significant burden to Australia’s health care system, according to a report released today by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

The report shows that men were 1.6 times as likely as women to be hospitalised for regular dialysis, while Indigenous Australians were hospitalised at 11 times the rate of their non-Indigenous counterparts.

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Pharmacy election brief from Stephen Greenwood : 18/08/2010 :

Guild members will by now have received letters of support for community pharmacy from both Julia Gillard / Nicola Roxon and from Tony Abbott.

Watch this space tomorrow - we'll have a detailed commentary on these and on Saturday's election from former Guild Executive Director Stephen Greenwood. Stephen saw the Guild through 4 federal elections during his time at the helm, from 1992 – 2006.

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Sigma agrees sale of pharmaceuticals division to Aspen : 17/08/2010 :

Sigma Pharmaceuticals has agreed in principle to sell its pharmaceutical division to Aspen Pharmacare, for $900million. This encompasses Sigma's generics, consumer, OTC, Herron brand, ethical products, medical products, orphan and manufacturing businesses. The anticipated proceeds from this sale will exceed Sigma’s net debt.

Sigma is to retain its wholesale and retail businesses, which are under its healthcare division. "Sigma will emerge after the sale in a financially powerful position for future growth and business improvement under the company's new management team led by Mr Mark Hooper," said Sigma chairman, Brian Jamieson. "We will also consider potential capital management initiatives."

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Guidelines for preparing medicines in hospitals released : 17/08/2010 :

SHPA have released new guidelines for the preparation of medicines in hospitals, both sterile and non-sterile preparations. The guidelines apply to:

• all types of medicines prepared in Australian hospital pharmacy departments;
• from immediate-use products for individual patients to batches of products made in advance;
• procedures from labelling and re-packaging to aseptic manipulation; and
• medicines prepared by externally contracted pharmacists servicing hospitals / nursing homes.

The new SHPA guidelines complement the internationally recognised Pharmaceutical Inspection Cooperation Scheme (PIC/S) guide to good practices for preparation of medicinal products in healthcare establishments, endorsed by SHPA as the standard for medicines prepared in Australian hospital pharmacy departments. The SHPA guidelines provide detail and instruction to assist with implementing the PIC/S guidelines.

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Slight increase seen in survey of pharmacist wages : 17/08/2010 :

APESMA have released findings of a recent survey of pharmacists' remuneration, showing a slight increase in actual average hourly base rate (from $37.52 to $38.20). This represents a 1.8% annual increase, compared to an average 3 to 4% increase in other scientific and technical professional groups.

Geoff March, President of the Pharmacists' Division of APESMA said “In contrast to this small increase reported in the survey, pharmacists have been calling 1300APESMA to clarify the provisions of the relatively new Pharmacy Industry Award that commenced on the 1st January 2010, especially the Transitional provisions that relate to wage rates, penalty rates and loadings that start changing on 1st July 2010 and will be completed by 1st July 2014.” He added “A number of callers have indicated their employers are misleading them by telling them they are not covered by the Award or they are not eligible for penalty rate payments”.

Pharmacists who believe they are being underpaid are encouraged to confidentially call 1300APESMA. “PDA will have no hesitation in prosecuting owners who breach the Award provisions - we are currently investigating a couple of cases of Award breaches on our member’s behalf.”

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Asthma with allergic rhinitis - new patient resource : 16/08/2010 :

In addition to their existing resources for healthcare professionals, the National Asthma Council Australia has commenced distribution to pharmacists of a resource kit for Spring about the connection between asthma and allergic rhinitis.

Many sufferers don't realise that effective treatment of one condition can help with the management of the other. The new materials are designed to raise awareness and prompt people who have experienced symptoms to seek advice from their doctor or pharmacist.

The resource kit features a poster for waiting rooms and pharmacies which asks: ‘Is your nose making your asthma worse?’ and a checkbox screener card for patients to help them identify common symptoms and understand the link between asthma and allergic rhinitis.

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Pharmacy Cricket Carnival dates confirmed : 16/08/2010 :

The dates for the 2011 Australian Pharmacy Cricket Carnival have been confirned as Wednesday 26 to Saturday 29 January 2011.

The venue for the carnival is Shepparton, Victoria.

More details will be available from the Pharmacy Cricket website as they become available

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RGH E-Bulletin: High dose Vitamin D supplementation : 16/08/2010 :

The topic of this week's RGH E‑Bulletin is High dose Vitamin D supplementation.

"Vitamin D3 deficiency is associated with muscle pain and weakness, fatigue, reduced bone mineral density and an increased risk of falls and fractures. Vitamin D3 levels decline with advancing age, presumably due to reduced sun exposure and cutaneous synthesis, and impaired renal function. The recommended daily intake to prevent deficiency in Vitamin D3 replete patients with minimal sunlight exposure is 400 IU for those aged 51-70 years and 600 IU for those >70 years. Patients in residential care may require higher intakes."

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

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Pharmacy Board agrees on format for oral examination : 16/08/2010 :

The Pharmacy Board of Australia has published details of its most recent meeting held  on 30 July 2010.

Of note, the board's examination committee reported on the approach to be taken for oral examinations. For 2010 the past approach of State/Territory boards with regard to oral examinations will continue unchanged, but the committee has worked on a recommendation for a standard format to be introduced from 1 Jan 2011.

The Board agreed to an oral examination format which will include four scenario based questions involving:

• a patient medication profile
• a primary health care scenario
• a legal and ethical practice scenario
• acommunication and problem solving scenario.

The exam will be 45-50 minutes duration and each candidate will be examined by two examiners. Parts will be closed-book, part will be open-book and candidates will be permitted to bring references of their choosing to use during specified parts of the exam.

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If it was up to 'listers the Coalition would romp it in next week : 13/08/2010 :

52% of those responding to this week's AusPharm poll told us that they are going to vote for Coalition candidates in the lower house in in next week's federal election. Interestingly, this is exactly the same result obtained in a similar poll we ran in 2007.

What is quite different this time around is that the Greens have attracted double the vote 'listers gave them in 2007, moving from 10% in 2007 to 21% in 2010, perhaps reflecting their status as 'the new left'. There was a lower voter turnout in this week's poll than in 2007, possibly because we've run the poll a week earlier this time. Running a week earlier is likely also the reason there are four times as many undecided as there were in 2007 (12% v 3%).

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MBA thesis survey invitation - strengthening Guild membership : 13/08/2010 :

Pharmacists are invited to participate in a survey forming part of the research for an MBA thesis examining ways that the Pharmacy Guild could strengthen its membership over the next five years. The survey is open to all pharmacists, not just pharmacy owners or Guild members.

The survey is being conducted by Paul Watkins, a retail pharmacist based in regional Victoria who is also studying towards an MBA at the Melbourne Business School. Paul's thesis is a private, non-funded work and will not be published. It has two purposes: to act as final assessment and also provide some material benefit to the organization being studied.

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GSK re-signs with Mirixa Australia : 13/08/2010 :

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Australia has re-signed with Mirixa Australia to continue the Seretide® Compliance Program and will soon announce the launch of a new Mirixa Australia program.

Arthur Charlaftis, GSK Director of Primary Care said, “GSK is committed to supporting initiatives, such as Mirixa, that enhance the quality use of medicines.  Pharmacists are well positioned to encourage patient compliance.”

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NAPSA: it's a great time to be a pharmacy student (mostly) : 13/08/2010 :

National President of National Australian Pharmacy Students' Association (NAPSA), Ashleigh Coome, said yesterday that with national registration now available and the recent signing of the Fifth Community Pharmacy Agreement, "it is a great time to be a pharmacy student".

She added, however, that the profession did have some hurdles to jump. "Some challenges include an oversupply of pharmacists, a shortage of intern positions and lacking infrastructure to provide the key cognitive services that the profession requires," she said.

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Children's cough and cold preps to remain OTC : 13/08/2010 :

In a decision announced this week, the National Drugs and Poisons Schedule Committee (NDPSC) agreed that certain cough and cold preparations for children aged 2 to 6 would move into schedule 3, not schedule 4, as had been foreshadowed by a TGA review in 2009. Products such as Demazin, Dimetapp and a number of house brands, will continue to be available to consumers without a prescription. For children aged 6-12, affected products will remain in schedule 2. For those children under 2, they will remain schedule 4.

This decision was included in the NDPSC's 'Record of Reasons' for its June meeting, released this week. A number of other issues were also decided at the meeting.

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CMI research identifies improvements : 12/08/2010 :

Research into Consumer Medicine Information (CMI) usage conducted by the University of Sydney, and funded under the 4th CPA, has identified areas for improving their use and effectiveness.

The Investigating Consumer Medicine Information (I-CMI) Project set out to investigate issues arising from research and anecdotal evidence that suggested limited use of CMIs in the community. The research was undertaken between April 2008 and January 2010 and included collaboration with national and international experts in the field of medicine information from the University of Leeds in the UK, Curtin University of Technology and the University of Qld, as well as experts in functional linguistics, information design and workflow change management.

The I-CMI Project found that over 69% of consumers received a CMI leaflet in the six months prior to the survey, and 38% received one in the month prior. Of these, 39% had received a CMI directly from the pharmacist.  About half of consumers reported wanting a CMI for their medicines, with 44% indicating that they preferred verbal counselling rather than written information. More consumers are aware of CMIs than they were five years ago, but there are a number of improvements that can be made to the leaflets to increase readability and usability.

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Nominate a pharmacist for PSA excellence award : 12/08/2010 :

Do you know someone who deserves the title of Pharmacist of the Year, or Young Pharmacist of the Year for their achievements in 2010? Or maybe a colleague who has provided sterling service over many years is a candidate for the Lifetime Achievement Award? PSA excellence awards are one way of acknowledging those pharmacists who go above and beyond in the pharmacy profession.

Nominations for these 3 awards close on 1 September 2010; award winners will be announced at PAC10 in Melbourne on 29 October 2010.

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Future of Pharmacy Project - workforce issues are key : 12/08/2010 :

Leading stakeholders in the Australian pharmacy profession have reiterated the urgent need for a whole-of-profession vision for the future. When a Future of Pharmacy Forum was held in Melbourne in late July 2010, pharmacy stakeholders agreed that it was imperative that the profession move quickly to commence the development of a vision for the future of pharmacy in Australia. A teleconference of stakeholders will be held in early September 2010 to further advance the Future of Pharmacy Project.

Many of the issues and opportunities identified at the Forum related to the pharmacy workforce, including:
·         addressing aspirations of new pharmacists;
·         number and quality of new graduates;
·         effect of increasing graduate numbers and corporatisation of practice on quality of practice;
·         adherence to professional standards generally throughout the profession.
 
Underlining the work of the Future of Pharmacy Project is the concern that if the pharmacy profession fails to develop its own shared vision there is a risk that Australia could be left behind internationally.

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Mental Health Services expenditure report : 12/08/2010 :

The AIHW has just released a report on national expenditure for mental health services, showing that in 2008-09, over 21 million mental health-related scripts were subsidised under the PBS/RPBS, costing the Australian Government over $742 million. The majority of this cost was for antipsychotics (51%) and antidepressants (41%).

According to the report, Mental health services in Australia 2007-08, national recurrent expenditure on all mental health-related services in Australia in 2007–08 was estimated to be $5.3 billion. Of the $5.3 billion, about 60.5% came from state and territory governments, 36% from the federal government and 3.5% from private health insurance. Patient out-of-pocket expenses were not included in this figure.

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AusPharm CE: RGH E-Bulletin Digest No. 27 : 11/08/2010 :

The next in our 2010 series of continuing education activities is the RGH E-Bulletin Digest No. 27.

This CE activity assesses your understanding of four recent RGH Pharmacy E-Bulletins (Volumes 38-11 - 39-2  --> July / August 2010).

After completing this activity, pharmacists should be able to:

• Understand the clinical implication of abnormal bleeding associated with SSRIs
• Describe clinical factors that relevant to benzodiazepine use in the elderly
• Identify clinical relating to the management of central post-stroke pain
• List the caffeine content of various food and drinks commonly consumed in Australia

Click here to do this Continuing Education activity. Or, if you prefer, you might like to take a look at our other CE activities here .

AusPharm gratefully acknowledges the financial support provided by the sponsor of our CE program, MIMS.

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Specific diabetes stream at PAC10 : 11/08/2010 :

Diabetes in Australia is now about three times more prevalent than it was 20 years ago, with more than 800,000 of today's Australians having been diagnosed with the disease. Statistics show about 85-90% of diabetes cases are Type 2, linked to our low levels of exercise and our rising levels of overweight and obesity. Pharmacists have a pivotal role to play in the management of diabetes by using their expertise to deliver professional services and information to support and assist people with diabetes over the entire course of the disease.

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