The Pharmacy Guild of Australia welcomed the commitment made this week by all health ministers to achieving a national solution on real-time prescription monitoring.
The statement from the Council of Australian Governments Health Council said: “The ministers agreed to progress national real-time prescription monitoring as a federated model with jurisdictions committed to progressing development and adaptation of systems to connect to and interface with Commonwealth systems to achieve a national solution”.
The National President of the Pharmacy Guild, George Tambassis, said: “With unanimous support across all states and territories, there is every reason to expect a national real-time prescription monitoring system can be achieved as soon as possible, so that lives can be saved.
“The solution must be nationally consistent to be fit for purpose – namely to connect prescribers and dispensers in real time so that clinicians can be informed and make decisions to minimise the risk of drug abuse and death.
“The Pharmacy Guild and the pharmacist profession have led the way in calling for such a system for many years, and we stand ready to assist in the implementation of a national system to address the scourge of prescription drug abuse.”
