Guild: it was us, not you. PSA responds : 14/05/2010 :

The Pharmacy Guild has rejected claims made by the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia that it had influenced the outcome of 5th Agreemnent negotiations.

You need to be a "premium" subscriber to read the rest of this article. Click here for details

NAPSA launches new website : 14/05/2010 :

The National Australian Pharmacy Students' Association (NAPSA) yesterday launched its new website. Improvements to the website include a news feature, more detailed information regarding member benefits and a full outline of educational courses run through NAPSA.

Click here to visit the new website.

You need to log in to read the rest of this article. Click here for details

A picture tells a thousand words : 13/05/2010 :

The image at right is a “balloon race” depicting the evidence base for a whole bunch of complementary therapies.

The higher a bubble, the greater the evidence for its effectiveness. But the supplements are only effective for the conditions listed inside the bubble.

You need to be a "premium" subscriber to read the rest of this article. Click here for details

Places filling fast for Pharmacy Expo : 13/05/2010 :

With only three weeks to go until Pharmacy Expo, registration is filling fast.  Some of the Friday education workshops have already sold out. 

Visit the website to review the program timetable and rates, topic and speaker overview, exhibitor listing and more. 

You can register online for the FREE trade exhibition or book to attend one of the 80 education topics available. 

You need to log in to read the rest of this article. Click here for details

The spin of the 5th Agreement : 13/05/2010 :

Here is another view of the 5th Agreement, as posted by John Woodward on AusPharmL:ist today.

The "2010 Pharmacy Guild of Australia Budget Brief" states that the: "The funding pool allocated to various professional pharmacy programs amounts to $752.81 million. This represents a 32 per cent increase on the previous Agreement and includes new programs such as electronic prescriptions, Medication Continuance, Medicines Use Reviews, and supply and PBS-claiming from a medicine chart in nursing homes."   I assume then that the previous agreement had $570.31 milion allocated to professional services.

Of the above listed "professional programs" I would only consider Medicines Use Reviews to be truely professional.  Electronic prescriptions, Medication Continuance, and supply and PBS-claiming from a medicine chart in nursing homes are still supply functions.

You need to be a "premium" subscriber to read the rest of this article. Click here for details

Poll: will your pharmacy be putting on another pharmacist? : 12/05/2010 :

There has been much discussion on AusPharmList in recent weeks about the apparent oversupply of pharmacists (and declining wages) in the workplace. In a great post Leon Yap argued that this is in fact a good thing and that it makes professional and economic sense for pharmacies to consider employing pharmacist rather than non pharmacist staff. This is in line with comments from Guild President Kos Sclavos that having plenty of pharmacists available positions pharmacy well to assist government with its health reform agenda.

Are you convinced? Is it likely the pharmacy you're in will accept this advice? Please let us know by voting in today's AusPharm poll.

You need to log in to read the rest of this article. Click here for details

Membership structure of 5th Agreement Reference Group announced : 12/05/2010 :

The Fifth Community Pharmacy Agreement will see a new Programs Reference Group (PRG) set up to provide advice to the Minister and the Agreement Consultative Committee (ACC).

You need to log in to read the rest of this article. Click here for details

PHARMeFOOTY weekly wrap : 12/05/2010 :

AFL Round 7 saw 7 tippers select all 8 winners correctly. The team of Anthony & Georgina Halstead from The Pharmacy Board of S.A were the closest to the margin and are this week’s winners, well done Anthony and Georgina! In 2nd place was Paul Grieger of Baycare Pharmacies with David Griffiths from Chemcoast Surfers taking 3rd spot.

NRL Round 9 saw just 4 games played but only 5 tippers could select all the 4 results correctly. Bruce Moffat of Totem Pharmacy had the best margin so is this week’s prize winner, congratulations Bruce! Fay Partridge of Gordon Croydon Pharmacy was in 2nd place with  Joyce Cooper  from the University of Newcastle taking 3rd position.

You need to log in to read the rest of this article. Click here for details

Budget 2010-11 : 12/05/2010 :

The full set of Budget papers are available from links on the AusPharmacist.net.au web site.

You need to log in to read the rest of this article. Click here for details

More 5th Agreement details announced, budget handed down : 12/05/2010 :

Further details of the 5th Community Pharmacy Agreement were released last night, following the handing down of the Federal Budget. The total Government allocation of funds to the Agreement over five years will be $15.4 billion. This is up from the original estimate of $15.1 billion published on 24 December 2009.

You need to be a "premium" subscriber to read the rest of this article. Click here for details

PSA: Budget positive for pharmacy : 12/05/2010 :

The Federal Budget is a good one for pharmacy with details of the Fifth Community Pharmacy Agreement showing total funding of $15.4 billion over the five years, up from $11.6 billion in the Fourth Agreement, the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia says. The funding package includes $660 million for professional services.

You need to log in to read the rest of this article. Click here for details

Webstercare Newsletter : 11/05/2010 :

Every second month our friends at Webstercare produce a newsletter that is distributed to all aged care homes throughout Australia. They've kindly agreed to make it available to pharmacists too, through AusPharm.

The latest edition contains:

• Medication Management Reports: Webstercare Software can generate a number of useful reports on medication events & resident history
• Dopamine Agonists: April’s Continuing Education deals with this common treatment for Parkinson’s Disease
• MedsComm & MedSig: New technology replaces faxing and streamlines administration  
• Concertina Technology: Webster-paks utilising concertina technology make medication administration easy 

Click here to download the latest Webstercare newsletter in full (550kb pdf). Click here if you have any feedback, suggestions or queries about the newsletter.

You need to log in to read the rest of this article. Click here for details

Big Pharma calls for PBS changes : 11/05/2010 :

Major policy flaws in the management of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme could be putting patients at risk, Medicines Australia (MA) chairman Will Delaat told the Senate Community Affairs References Committee on Friday.

Mr Delaat also told the committee that the mandatory Cabinet approval for new medicines costing more than $10 million per annum before they can be PBS listed should also be reviewed so that patients can have earlier access to the medicines they need. Medicines Australia has also called for the abolition of the therapeutic groups policy.

You need to log in to read the rest of this article. Click here for details

Union says 5th Agreement provides a 'glimmer of hope' : 11/05/2010 :

The Pharmacists Division of APESMA (PDA) yesterday issued a response to the signing of the 5th Agreement last week, saying there were a few 'glimmers of hope' but that there was little joy with the outcome of the  continued reliance on a supply model of practice.

PDA President Dr Geoff March said: "The folly of relying on one form of professional income has been no better demonstrated than with the $1billion 'return' to government agreed to by the Guild. The Guild should have begun expanding the remuneration base of community pharmacy 15 years ago to alleviate such a 'stroke of the pen' calamity."

You need to be a "premium" subscriber to read the rest of this article. Click here for details

Budget 2010-11 : 10/05/2010 :

The 2010-11 Budget papers will be available from links on the AusPharmacist.net.au web site from 7.30pm EST on Tuesday 11 May 2010.

You need to log in to read the rest of this article. Click here for details

Bruce Elliott named Young Professional of the Year : 10/05/2010 :

Current PSA Young Pharmacist of the Year, Queenslander Bruce Elliot was named on Friday as the 2010 Australian Young Professional of the Year. He was nominated by his professional association, the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia.

Bruce is the Managing Partner of four Central Queensland based pharmacies within the ChemCoast Pharmacy Group and is an accredited consultant pharmacist. He has a clinical interest in aged care, pain management and chronic disease management, particularly cardiovascular health.

You need to log in to read the rest of this article. Click here for details

RGH E-Bulletin: Interaction of statins with grapefruit juice : 10/05/2010 :

The topic of this RGH E‑Bulletin is Interaction of statins with grapefruit juice.

"Grapefruit juice has been extensively studied for its ability to interact with drugs. As a naturally occurring product, the interacting substance(s), not fully identified, appear in different quantities in different fruit. The commercial juicing process forces large quantities of potentially interacting substances normally present in the pith and rind into juice. This has lead to the suggestion that the whole grapefruit is less likely to interact as the fruit juice."

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

You need to log in to read the rest of this article. Click here for details

New and emerging prescribers will benefit from attending the National Medicines Symposium : 07/05/2010 :

Following the signing of the Fifth Pharmacy Agreement, the National Prescribing Service (NPS) is encouraging pharmacists to attend the National Medicines Symposium to join national discussion about the safe and judicious use of medicines, and the latest developments in clinical practice and interventions.

Hosted by NPS, the Symposium will be held in Melbourne on May 27-28 and will bring together everyone working in the medicines space from health professionals to academics, consumer groups and policy makers.

You need to log in to read the rest of this article. Click here for details

Funding of e-prescribing a win for pharmacy and the community : 07/05/2010 :

New e-prescribing incentive payments announced within the Fifth Community Pharmacy Agreement represent a 'win-win' for pharmacy, medical practitioners and the community, according to eRx Script Exchange. 

You need to log in to read the rest of this article. Click here for details

Industry lobbying for changes to S3 advertising rules : 06/05/2010 :

The Australian Self-Medication Industry (ASMI), the industry body representing non-prescription consumer healthcare products, has called for reforms to therapeutic goods regulation to allow advertising for schedule 3 medicines.

You need to log in to read the rest of this article. Click here for details

Click here to go to the old "Industry News" page (pre 01/09/2006).