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Community Pharmacy Immunisations – A new frontier for patients – by Sam Turner

Pharmacy

Pharmacists are consistently rated amongst the top most trusted professions in Australia. With a network of over five thousand community pharmacy’s, expanding presence in primary health services and an increasingly utilised value in multiple collaborative healthcare settings, pharmacists continue to play the important role of being the most accessible healthcare professionals in Australia today. That is why the recent announcement by the Queensland government to legislate pharmacists to vaccinate under proper accreditation processes is a huge win for patients and the health of our communities.

As a recent graduate and intern pharmacist in a busy community pharmacy, I have been able to witness first-hand the success and efficacy our accredited vaccinating pharmacists have brought to patients in our community. Over the past month and a half, our clinic has managed to administer over 800 influenza vaccinations and consistently a number of pertussis (whooping cough) vaccinations. This has been in continuation of the successful Queensland Pharmacist Immunisation Pilot (QPIP), which saw over 35,000 adults immunised by a pharmacist in a two-year pilot.

The biggest positive for patients = accessibility. The overwhelming results from phase 1 of the QPIP [pilot] were that nearly 15% of those vaccinated had never received an influenza vaccination previously. Where additionally one-third had previously been vaccinated but failed to get the vaccination every year. Furthermore, 10% of people overall were eligible for free vaccines under the National Immunisation Program (NIP) however still elected to have their influenza vaccine in the pharmacy despite being offered referral to their GPs. This highlights the genuine need for this service to be rolled out nationally and since the trial, every state is now legislated for community pharmacists to vaccinate.

The process: Patient walks in or books an appointment with their accredited vaccinating pharmacist. Upon arrival the patient fills in their required details (equivalent to dispensing a script or visiting a GP) with their pharmacist or assistant. The patient then completes a consent form, which includes information for those that may be eligible for vaccinations under the NIP. Patient and pharmacist complete consent and eligibility within private clinic and administration can occur. Finally the patient must wait 15 minutes post-administration (in the unlikely event of an anaphylactic reaction). Following this the patient receives a vaccination record report of which should be given to their GP or recorded via their electronic health record.

It is humbling to see my profession move forward in ways that can effectively support and enhance primary healthcare initiatives such as community vaccinations in a way that is safe and beneficial to patients. I’m looking forward to the becoming accredited myself and seeing future graduates enter the workforce being practice ready in this space.

Sam TurnerSam Turner (@sdturner7) is an Intern Pharmacist at a community pharmacy on Brisbane’s North side. Sam is also co-founder of the @WePharmerOZ twitter handle, who host regular tweet chats via the #wephoz hash-tag. The next chat is 8pm Wednesday 13th of July talking about ‘Immunising Pharmacists’ – a new frontier’. Please join us, with more info here: http://bit.ly/1PDJtif

Disclaimer: Sam’s experience describes a pharmacist’s role in Queensland compliant with the Health (Drugs and Poisons) Regulation 1996, Drug Therapy Protocol – Pharmacist Vaccination Program and the Pharmacist Vaccination Standard. Legal requirements, accreditation and/or protocols may differ across state or territories.

 

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