SA Pharmacist of the Year Finalists named : 11/08/2010 :

The South Australian Branch of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia has announced the finalists in the prestigious Pharmacist of the Year Award.

The finalists are:

* Ms. Kirrily Chambers, accredited pharmacist and diabetes educator;
* Mr. Lewis Pounentis, accredited pharmacist, proprietor and diabetes educator; and
* Ms. Julie Bedford, accredited pharmacist and proprietor.

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Ms Liesel Wett new PSA CEO : 10/08/2010 :

The Board of PSA has announced the appointment of Liesel Wett as the new PSA Chief Executive Officer.

Ms Wett, who is currently Deputy CEO and Chief Operating Officer of the Australian General Practice Network, is expected to take up her appointment on 1 October 2010. While at AGPN (since 2003), she has also served as Company Secretary and completed Australian Institute of Company Director qualifications.

PSA president, Warwick Plunkett, said "As well as her executive roles at AGPN, Liesel has held senior executive roles at other health organisations and holds an MBA and relevant other qualifications in health-related areas including a Masters in Public Health. Her strong experience in liaising and negotiating with the Minister's office and staff, senior Department of Health staff as well as staff across the health network, will help to ensure PSA's voice is heard and that the interests of pharmacy are taken into account."

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Workforce Symposium examines pharmacist numbers today : 10/08/2010 :

There has been much industry discussion about the intake of pharmacy student numbers at
universities and the ability of those students to find jobs when they complete their studies. How many pharmacists does Australia have? How many are being trained? And how many are needed in the coming decade and beyond? These will be among the questions being considered in Canberra today at a meeting of pharmacy education and industry stakeholders convened by the Pharmacy Guild.

The Pharmacy Workforce Symposium will take as its starting point the recent findings of the
Pharmacy Workforce Planning Research Project funded under the Fourth CPA. The Guild believes it
is extremely important that they, and the policy makers, have the best information available to make the right decisions about the pharmacy workforce into the future. Leader of this project, Lee Ridoutt (Human Capital Alliance), will present to the symposium, giving an update on the findings of the model developed by the project.

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Pharmacy Board acknowledge issues / fast-track for renewal lapses : 10/08/2010 :

While acknowledging there have been issues with its introduction, Steve Marty, Chair of the Pharmacy Board of Australia, has issued a statement that, five weeks in, the new National Registration and Accreditation Scheme is ensuring consistent national registration and professional standards are applied in the regulation of the pharmacy profession.

“Clearly there have been operational challenges which the AHPRA is addressing,” Mr Marty said. “Registration applications are being processed. Thousands of registration renewal letters have been sent out to practitioners and more are scheduled. Interns are being granted provisional registration. Turn-around times are improving following a few initial delays,” he said.

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New research finds no evidence for popular weight loss products : 09/08/2010 :

New research evaluating the effectiveness of a broad selection of popular slimming supplements sold in pharmacies and health food stores has found no evidence that any of them facilitate weight loss beyond the placebo effect.

Commenting on the study findings, outspoken critic of the current regulatory arrangements in Australia, public health physician Dr Ken Harvey said:

"In Australia, a review of Listed weight loss products was instigated by the TGA in 2007, a draft discussion paper was produced in February 2009, a public consultation was held in October 2009 and eight months later nothing more has been heard or done. Meanwhile, unethical promotion of shonky weight loss products continues."

Two studies presented at the International Congress on Obesity in Stockholm, Sweden, found that popular weight loss supplements were no more effective than the fake supplements they were compared with.

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September 2010 PBS schedule : 09/08/2010 :

The September PBS schedule and 'Summary of Changes' are now available here.

Download the Full PBS schedule

Download the Summary of changes

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healthlinks.net wins business award for innovation : 09/08/2010 :

healthlinks.net, a wholly owned subsidiary company of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, was presented with an Australian Business Award in the Innovation category at the 2010 Awards. healthlinks.net was one of 105 award recipients, which received a total of 1849 entries from 962 organisations.

The Australian Business Awards are a national program honouring organisations that demonstrate the core values of business excellence, product excellence, sustainability and commercial success in their respective industries through an established series of business and product award categories.

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RGH E-Bulletin: Hyperhidrosis : 09/08/2010 :

The topic of this week's RGH E‑Bulletin is Hyperhidrosis.

"Hyperhidrosis is excessive sweating in response to heat or emotional stimuli, and is classified as primary or secondary depending upon aetiology. Primary focal hyperhidrosis is a chronic idiopathic condition that, when severe, can be debilitating to the person’s professional, psychological and physical well being. Hyperhidrosis most commonly affects palms, soles and axillae and occurs in about 2 – 3% of the population. The onset is most common in the 2nd and 3rd decades of life. There is some evidence for a genetic link but the cause is unknown. In terms of its pathogenesis, hyperhidrosis is thought to be due to a central abnormality of the hypothalamic sweat centre."

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

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Pharmacological management of bipolar disorder - online lecture : 09/08/2010 :

PSA's monthly online clinical presentation for August deals with bipolar disorder, presented by Dr Chris Alderman.

In this one hour podcast/online lecture, Dr Chris Alderman provides an overview of bipolar disorder and addresses the management options available. Upon completion of the module pharmacists should be able to:

• Understand key features of bipolar disorder
• Describe the general principles of pharmacological management of bipolar disorder
• Identify specific roles for various drugs in management of mania and bipolar depression
• Understand the principles of mood stabiliser treatment
• Discuss recent advances in knowledge relevant to management of bipolar disorder

The modules are available free to PSA members to view through the PSA website, or can be downloaded as podcasts.

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Australian pharmaceuticals saw export growth in 2009/10 : 08/08/2010 :

ABS export figures for the June quarter show that the pharmaceutical industry remains Australia's most valuable hi-technology exporter.

Medicines Australia chief executive Dr Brendan Shaw said pharmaceutical and medicinal exports for 2009-10 totalled $4.12 billion, up 2% from the previous year.  Dr Shaw said "Australia's overall exports fell 11% in the 12 months to June 2010 compared with the previous year. Pharmaceuticals were one of the very few manufacturing industries to have actually posted a growth in a very challenging global market. "

Asian countries accounted for approximately 41% of pharmaceutical exports in 2009-10. South Africa, Europe and New Zealand were the other major export markets. Dr Shaw said export earnings for the Australian medicines industry had grown 800% since 1990.

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National Intern Training Program - uni enrolment talks commencing for 2011 : 06/08/2010 :

The PSA will be commencing promotional talks at universities around Australia from 18 August 2010 to encourage final year pharmacy students to enrol in their National Intern Training Program (NITP) in 2011.

The course aims to assist in the transition from university to workplace and ensure that graduates make the most of the career opportunities before them.

Reflecting the recent introduction of national, rather than state, registration for pharmacists, the NITP course incorporates discussion of national and state-based issues. Being a national program comprising a combination of a combination of interactive workshops and workplace-based activities, it enables interaction between interns and pharmacists across Australia.

Details of the PSA presentations about NITP at universities and pharmacy schools will be published online at www.psa.org.au/intern.

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On the phone? I'll get back to you : 06/08/2010 :

Reports are now commonplace of rude customers insisting on holding mobile phone conversations while businesses attempt to serve them... whether it is coffee, train tickets or prescriptions. This week's poll sought to find out how staff in your pharmacy handle this.

Seems the majority leave them to it. One wonders whether, at some future time, widely regarded mobile phone 'etiquette' will evolve that eliminates this seemingly rude behaviour.

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Pain management workshops for outreach pharmacists : 06/08/2010 :

NPS is inviting pharmacists providing outreach services to Aboriginal health services to enrol in the NPS Outreach Pharmacists for Remote Aboriginal Health Services program and attend workshops over the next month on chronic pain management.

The outreach program aims to improve the health of remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities through providing quality use of medicines education and support to pharmacists who work with staff at local Aboriginal health services.

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Latest Mirixa newsletter now out : 06/08/2010 :

The latest issue of the Mirixa Messenger newsletter is now out.

• Ask a CHAMPION! Pharmacy Owner shares his success
• 260 new users complete training
• MedsIndex in Session #2: It’s about the trend
• New programs: Omeprazole and Sertraline
• Changing dispense vendors?

Click here to read it in full.

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Political campaigning can lift your blood pressure : 06/08/2010 :

While out campaigning on Wednesday the Minister for Health and Ageing Nicola Roxon visited a pharmacy in the Brisbane electorate of Moreton.

At the Terry White Chemist Sunnybank Plaza, managing pharmacist Ming Loi was happy to give the Minister and the local MP, Graham Perrett a tour of both sides of the dispensary counter.

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Pharma: Coalition medicines plan good for retirees, economy : 06/08/2010 :

Medicines Australia chief executive Dr Brendan Shaw said yesterday that the Coalition’s election commitment to expand eligibility to the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card by indexing the income threshold to inflation would improve access to prescription medicines for Australian seniors.

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Trial confirms benefits of pharmacist intervention : 06/08/2010 :

A research project funded under the 4th Commmunity Pharmacy Agreement has demonstrated a significant improvement in compliance following a structured pharmacists intervention.

Over 700 patients on long term medication were recruited to take part in the in the six month trial involving 132 pharmacies. They had a mean basline MedsIndex score of 65.5 and, as a result of the interventions, patient compliance significantly improved to 77.2 at three-months, and 81.3 at six-months. A MedsIndex score over 80 is defined as being compliant.

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(Almost) 10 years of HMRs : 05/08/2010 :

The announcement in May that the Home Medicine Review Divisional Facilitator Program would not be refunded as part of the 5th Community Pharmacy Agreement saw AusPharm receive a few emails lamenting its passing but, at the same time, engendered some fond reminiscing from our correspondents.

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Rate of diagnosis of Type I diabetes in children has steadied : 05/08/2010 :

The AIHW has released a 35-page report showing that since 2005 the rate of new cases of Type 1 diabetes in Australian children has steadied, as compared with the beginning of the decade when the incidence increased by about 6% each year (2000 - 2004).

There were over 8,000 new cases of Type 1 diabetes diagnosed in Australian children between 2000 and 2008, an average of two new cases every day.

According to Anne-Marie Waters of the AIHW's Cardiovascular, Diabetes and Kidney Unit, the figures suggest that "the incidence of Type 1 diabetes in children is stable at present. However, Australia still remains in the top 10 OECD countries with the highest rates of Type 1 diabetes in children." The somewhat stable situation for Type 1 diabetes is in contrast to the known increase in Type 2 diabetes.

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eRx meets mandatory national security & privacy check : 05/08/2010 :

eRx Script Exchange’s security and privacy standards have been independently validated as achieving national standards this month, with the successful completion of independent Security Assessment and Privacy Impact Assessments.

All Prescription Exchange Services (PES) are required to undertake the independent assessments as a key condition of the 5th Community Pharmacy Agreement ePrescription Incentive Payments. The assessments are guided by the National eAuthentication Framework around security and ensure that all obligations are met under the Commonwealth's Privacy Act 1988.

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