What’s up, doc?
Aussie GPs are prescribing between four and nine times as many antibiotics as they should be, according to MJA research Research led by Christopher Del Mar, Professor of Public Health at Bond …
Hospital antibiotics rates drop
Antimicrobial stewardship is working, with hospital pharmacists at the frontline of efforts to curb resistance A new report released by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care …
Breaking point
Following backlash from the GP community, Sonic Healthcare and its subsidiary SmartHealth have withdrawn from Sigma’s in-pharmacy screening program Sonic says that while the program was developed in line with …
Workforce woes
“It’s the worst situation I’ve seen in 30 years,” says recruiter… But are pharmacists really leaving the profession in droves? There’s an enormous undersupply of pharmacists willing to work rural …
RCPA distances itself from pathology stoush
Following GP backlash to Amcal pathology screenings, the Royal College of Pathologists has clarified its position In a formal statement, the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia (RCPA) has stated …
Poll: Your thoughts on HMRs
What do you think needs to happen in the medicines review space? The King Review panel has acknowledged that changes need to be made in this space, with several submissions …
Shortage processes need to change: pharmacists
More needs to be done so situations mirroring last year’s metformin shortages don’t happen again, they say Medicines shortages are rife and the current processes don’t seem to be helping, …
What you said: Pharmacy pathology screenings slammed
A roundup of zingers from across the AJP website and social networks With pharmacy pathology screening likened to “getting your car serviced at the lawn mower shop” by a leading …
Recognising the signs
Dermatologists are trying to bring more awareness of a chronic skin condition that causes severe distress to patients Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease impacting around 130,000 …
“For love of my family, medicines need to be locked”
Parents share their medicines safety strategies as part of RUM consumer awareness campaign The Return of Unwanted Medicines (RUM) project has partnered with online community Mum Central to spread the …
Forum: Patient confusion over recommended dose
An AusPharm member states: “Had a patient talking to me about these today. I hadn’t paid attention to the wording before. Does anyone want to hazard a guess at what …
Doctors castigated for overprescribing antibiotics
The Chief Medical Officer has sent out more than 5000 letters to GPs with the highest prescribing rates Australia’s highest antibiotic-prescribing GPs have been targeted with a letter from Chief …