The state risks following in the footsteps of the UK, says the RACGP.
Today, Queensland’s Labour government has committed to making its two pharmacy prescribing pilots permanent if elected later this month.
According to RACGP Queensland spokesperson Dr Bruce Willett, making the “experimental pilots” permanent risked the safety of patients.
“If these experimental pharmacy pilots are made permanent, we will see many more cases of misdiagnosis and incorrect treatment, and life-threatening illnesses could be missed,” he said.
“This is exactly what happened in the UK when they allowed non-medically trained health professionals to do the work doctors do and treat patients when they aren’t trained to make a diagnosis.”
As the original ringleader of pharmacy prescribing – the claimed success of its UTI trial led all other states and territories to follow suit – Queensland has since implemented two additional pharmacy prescribing trials.
The Community Pharmacy Scope of Practice Pilot, which officially launched in April, allows pharmacists to diagnose and prescribe for 17 different conditions.
The conditions range from acute conditions like reflux and shingles to chronic conditions like obesity management and support for smoking cessation.
In July, the state government launched the Pharmacy Hormonal Contraception Pilot, allowing pharmacists to prescribe hormonal contraception to women and girls aged 16 years and older.
Both trials attracted the ire of the AMA and the RACGP, with RACGP Queensland chair Dr Cathryn Hester labelling the move “a desperate grasp from the Pharmacy Guild to maintain relevance”.
Today’s promise from the state’s government to embed the pilots into ongoing practice has unsurprisingly warranted similar disdain.
“The Miles Government is putting politics before the health and wellbeing of Queenslanders, and I strongly urge other parties not to follow suit,” said Dr Willett.
“My message to Queenslanders is this – this election commitment from the Miles government could put your health and wellbeing at serious risk, and it’s just not worth it.
“We have already seen too many cases of misdiagnosis and incorrect treatment from these pharmacy experiments.”
A 2022 survey run by AMA Queensland found that at least 240 patients across the state suffered complications after misdiagnosis during the initial UTI trial.
“Pregnancy was labelled UTI on at least six occasions,” said Dr Willett.
“What this shows is what the Miles government doesn’t understand – patients come with symptoms, not a diagnosis.
“Diagnosis is complex and requires years of training – specialist GPs train for over 10 years to understand the difference between a minor ailment and something more serious.”
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Neither of the current pilots have been evaluated, and the original UTI trial was only ever evaluated by the team that ran it.
“None of these experimental pilots have been properly evaluated for health outcomes, and the Government has done nothing to ensure Queenslanders do not suffer poor health outcomes as a result,” said Dr Willett.
“These pilots bypass Australia’s national regulations for prescription medicines, which exist to keep patients safe.
“The Therapeutic Goods Administration determines the rules for medicines to protect the health of Australians and has transparent processes in place for safety.”
Premier Steven Miles said that while there was “no silver bullet” for relieving hospital pressure, the pharmacy prescribing trials had “proven to be incredibly successful in reducing the need for GPs to be kept busy with simple scripts, like treatment for UTIs and the pill”.
