PSA23 opened today with its National President Dr Fei Sim saying she has “genuine belief in the positive and upward trajectory of our pharmacy profession”. Addressing a packed room of pharmacy organisations, delegates, and with the Federal Health Minister Mark Butler present, Sim expressed the challenges ahead for pharmacy after the 60DD policy announcement in the Budget. “We have a GP access crisis, and now the 60DD policy, and with the Health Minister in this room today, I want to say we are ready, we rely on you as our health minister to enable us to do our work. “So, the question now becomes how can we move forward together? “We need to work together. “As we move forward together, we can anticipate changes to our scope and immense opportunity for our profession.” To help cope with change and the move to full scope of practice, Sim launched the updated Professional Practice Standards which have undergone a dramatic rebuild, where each clinical activity undertaken by pharmacists falls into one or more of 17 standards that are built off the medicine management cycle (PD Breaking News today). Health Minister Butler then took the stage and said 60DD “in my mind is good health policy”, and “the walls between silos need to come down and outdated red tape needs to be cut. “Everyone and every bit of work that needs to be supported to work to the full extent of their skills and training should be done and as a sector, we all need to have a laserlike focus on patient access and patient benefit. “I know the change is difficult and of course, we want to support pharmacists through the implementation of this policy, which is why every single dollar of the government saved through 60DD will be reinvested straight back into the community pharmacy sector.” Details of further pharmacy payments will be announced soon. The PSA also announced its Symbion Excellence Awards with Elise Apolloni named the PSA Symbion Pharmacist of the Year, Dee-Anne Hull MPS won the PSA Symbion Early Career Pharmacist of the Year, and former PSA National President Warwick Plunkett was honoured with the PSA Symbion Lifetime Achievement Award (pictured).