The RACGP has repeated warnings that making COVID antiviral treatments available over the counter from pharmacies would be a recipe for disaster.
It comes following last week’s claims by the Pharmacy Guild of Australia that national GP shortages were a valid reason for the federal, state and territory governments to make the treatments available from community pharmacies without a prescription.
The Guild’s national president, Professor Trent Twomey, called the current GP wait times unacceptable and suggested that they were endangering people with COVID, a suggestion that RACGP President Adj. Professor Karen Price has rejected as unfounded and misleading.
“This is not a time to create a false narrative around accessibility to advance the Pharmacy Guild’s commercial interests,” Professor Price said. “Clear messaging is needed for patients and the Pharmacy Guild… needs to stop muddying the message on access.
“Over-the-counter pharmacy consultations and prescribing by pharmacists is not the answer to getting these treatments in the hands of those who need them.
“We need pharmacists to concentrate on their own job of stocking and dispensing safely and let the GPs get on with doctoring, because lives can be saved. Pharmacies already have an important role to play so that’s where their focus should be right now.”
The Pharmacy Guild had argued that there was no reason for limiting accessibility to these treatments, given its belief that pharmacists in Australia have the necessary skills, expertise, and knowledge to assist these patients.
“Given the treatment program of these life-saving anti-viral medicines needs to commence within five days the initial onset of COVID symptoms, it’s vital that patients test early and often and receive treatment without long delays due to the lack of appointments,” Professor Twomey said.
“As highly trained medicine experts, pharmacists understand drug interactions, can adjust dosing as required and refer more complex patients to medical practitioners to ensure better triaging across limited GP appointments.”
However, the RACGP President stressed that prescribing these treatments is not a straightforward task.
“The COVID oral antiviral treatments are not without risk. Specialist GPs are medically trained and understand the urgency of getting the medicines out to patients early to ensure effective treatment,” Professor Price said.
“Patients needing these treatments will require a medical review of liver and renal function as well as a follow-up to check for side effects and adverse reactions – these treatments are not suitable for everyone and the patients who are eligible often have complex chronic conditions that need to be taken into consideration before making the decision to prescribe.
“At the end of the day, pharmacists do not have the appropriate skillset to interpret a life history, including a sexual history, or the diagnostics of liver and kidney function; nor can they order urgent tests if needed,” she explained.
“Prescribing these medications is not simply taking them from a box on a shelf and handing them to a patient. This should be a job for GPs, it’s as simple as that.
“GPs are the most appropriate health professional to safely prescribe these treatments in the community because we know our patients and their health history including existing health conditions, what medications they are on and other factors which may impact their eligibility.”