Major PBS Shake-Ups for Community Pharmacy

BY DANEIE GEDDES

Labor's plans to double prescription dispensing periods to 60 days in next month's budget has raised concerns for regional and rural communities. 

It's feared the plan could create severe medicine shortages and delays, with regional communities like the Hunter at the forefront of it's impact. 

With many Hunter residents already facing challenges in accessing medical support, the decision looks to make those challenges even more difficult. 

National President of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia Trent Twomey says millions of patients will be worse off.

"I don't want to see a stand-off in any community in Australia where some patients get double the medicine they need, while others get nothing," he said. 

A new poll shows 8 in 10 Australians reject Labor's plans to double prescription dispensing periods.

"The research is crystal clear, Australians do not support a policy if it means pharmacy shelves are bare and patients miss out on vital medicine they need. We are calling on the Federal Government to reconsider," Mr Twomey said. 

National Vice President of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, Anthony Tassone, says medicine shortages are not the only concern. 

"It will have a direct flow-on effect to jobs, trading hours and services pharmacies provide to the community."

However, Doctors Reform Society Spokesman, Dr Robert Marr says residents in regional communities like the Hunter should not be concerned. 

"There's nothing to be frightened about. It will save people from the country and everywhere from having to go to the pharmacy twice a month when you can just go once every two months," he said. 

He's reassuring rural residents, the plan is a great advancement for community pharmacy and said the concerns will have more of an impact on pharmacy income than patient health. 

"It's a great cost-saver for patients and for the government, the only people that loose out is pharmacists who won't get as much money from forcing people to go every month," Dr Marr said. 

At this stage the plan is set to go ahead in next month's budget, while many residents and pharmacists continue to rally against its introduction. 

Calls for State Government To End Confusion Over Travel, As Sydney Covid-19 Cluster Spreads to Hunter

BY SAMUEL BARTLETT

Labor MPs are calling for clarity around travel recommendations, as Covid-19 clusters in Sydney spread to the Hunter region. 

A 20-year-old man from Sydney infected with Covid-19, believed to be a contact of a cluster at a Thai restaurant in Wetherill Park, came into contact with a Hunter Valley family forcing them into isolation.

He also visited the Windsor Castle Hotel on July 13th in East Maitland, which closed for cleaning on Wednesday.

The man is also believed to be the source of infection in a 60-year-old Port Stephens man. 

NSW Health are advising against all non-essential travel, but travel bans are yet to be imposed.

Hunter Health physicians are also warning local residents not to travel to Sydney. 

“Gladys Berejiklian is telling residents in South West Sydney to avoid non-essential activities. Then she says people should carry on as normal. All while a Hunter health bureaucrat is telling people to avoid Sydney,” Shadow Minister for Health Ryan Park said.

“What does that mean for the rest of the State?"

“Should people in the Illawarra, where I’m from, avoid travel to Sydney? What about people from Wagga, the North Coast or the Blue Mountains? Should Sydney residents stop visiting regional NSW?."

Mr Park is calling for an end to the confusion and says clear and consistent messaging around new restrictions needs to be delivered.

“The advice from the NSW Government is as clear as mud. Are people free to move about the State or should they limit their travel?," Mr Park said. 

"If the health officials are saying to the government that they would like to see non-essential travel stopped then lets make that clear."

"What we don't want is confusing circumstances all around the state as to what people can and can't do. That's when mistakes happen and its where, inadvertently, people do the wrong thing."

Image Credit: Illawarra Mercury

University of Newcastle Researchers Receive More Than a Million Dollars to Address Mental Health Inequities

BY DAKOTA TAIT

Researchers at the University of Newcastle have been awarded $1.3 million in funding by the National Health and Medical Research Council to examine the capacity of community health services and preventative care for people with a mental health condition.

Professor Jenny Bowman, from the University of Newcastle's School of Psychology, will lead a team of researchers in a three year project which also includes experts from the University of Melbourne, Flinders University, and the Hunter Medical Research Institute.

Professor Bowman says a large number of potentially preventable risk factors, both social inequities and physical health conditions such as poor nutrition and low levels of physical activity, cause individuals with a mental health condition to die an average 10 to 15 years earlier than the general Australian population.

"Many folk with mental health problems experience social marginalization, isolation, are more likely to be of a lower socioeconomic status, less likely to be employed, be living under the poverty level, et cetera," Professor Bowman said.

"It's actually quite a complex range of those kind of factors that come into play."

According to Professor Bowman, clinical and structural issues such as inadequate time, low levels of clinician confidence, and a perceived lack of referral options contribute to a poorer provision of preventative care for people affected by a mental health condition.

Researchers are hoping to develop a new approach to mental health and encourage clinicians to incorporate preventative care strategies into their practice.

"This project, we hope, will at least provide people with an opportunity to have those lifestyle risk behaviours assessed, recognized, and then offered support in a way that is meaningful for them, feasible for them to take up, and is likely to work to actually help them change that behaviour."

Professor Jenny Bowman