The report, titled ‘Beyond Convenience. Protecting Patients: The Case Against Liberalisation of P Medicine Sales’, urges policymakers to prioritise patient safety and maintain pharmacist involvement in the supply of P medicines.
The PDA asserts that restricted access and pharmacist supervision is not just beneficial, but essential for ensuring the appropriate use of P medicines, preventing harm or misuse, and providing professional advice.
The current regulatory framework, which mandates restricted access and pharmacist intervention, not only minimises medication errors but also ensures public safety. Any changes to the current model should only be made following full consultation with pharmacists, ensuring decisions align with best practices in medicine safety and patient care.
A shortened version of the full report has been generated with the assistance of AI and can be found below.
read THE SHORTENED VERSION OF REPORT
The full report can be found below.
read THE FULL REPORT
PDA Chairman, Mark Koziol said, “The PDA’s P medicines report demonstrates why consumer convenience must never be given priority over patient safety in a community pharmacy, regardless of how attractive this might be to those in the business of retailing. It also shows how, when so many hospital beds are currently filled with patients suffering with adverse drug reactions, the unique expertise of pharmacists with medicines, requires them to focus even more on being the patients’ medicines related champion.
At a time when closer collaboration between healthcare professionals right across the system is key, it is clear that each of those need to focus on their own unique and distinct roles, contributing to patient care. It is evident that pharmacists as the trusted medicines expert, must be made more available to patients and the public and remain at the core of community pharmacy practice.”
PDA Director of Pharmacy, Jay Badenhorst said, “I am proud to support the launch of the P medicines report. It highlights the critical role community pharmacists play in providing accessible, expert care. This report reinforces the vital importance of maintaining pharmacists at the heart of pharmacy and why they must remain as the cornerstone of access to medicines. With the healthcare landscape rapidly changing, it is more important than ever that pharmacists remain the go-to professionals for medicines expertise, ensuring patients receive the highest standard of care in their communities. We will continue to champion the voice of pharmacists on key issues, such as the self-selection of P medicines, to ensure the profession’s role in patient safety and care is safeguarded.”
Learn more
- P medicines for self-selection, are you concerned?
- PDA challenges RPS on its ‘open display of P medicines’ policy review
- P meds on self-selection. GPhC decision must be challenged
- Self-selection of P medicines – not in the public interest!
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