The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) has spoken out against expanded pharmacy prescribing powers in South Australia. It comes following the Govt’s announcement that from Mar next year, women aged 18 to 65 suffering from a urinary tract infection (UTI) will be able to access antibiotics from pharmacists. Women will also be able to obtain a resupply of their oral contraceptive pill from their pharmacy (PD 20 Nov). Earlier this year, the RACGP President Dr Nicole Higgins and South Australian Chair Dr Sian Goodson spoke out at a Parliamentary Select Committee hearing on why expanding pharmacist prescribing is not the right call, with Higgins commenting, “GPs and practice teams have nothing but respect for the vital role that pharmacists perform in communities; however, they simply do not have the training and expertise to diagnose and prescribe these drugs, and a retail setting is not a suitable environment for these consultations”. “Govts must keep in mind that all GPs in South Australia and across the country complete over a decade of training to diagnose and manage patients and treat conditions such as UTIs.” RACGP South Australia Chair Dr Sian Goodson backed the President’s comments. “The fact that this week is World Antimicrobial Awareness Week and that WHO has declared antibiotic resistance a global health emergency highlights just why this decision is not in the best interests of patients,” she remarked. As the College warned, the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care has also urged judicious prescribing of antibiotics for a range of health conditions including UTIs. “So, with this decision we are heading in exactly the wrong direction because introducing more non-medical prescribers of antibiotics through pharmacies risks undercutting our efforts to fight antimicrobial resistance.” One example Goodson cited is a 2021 study that found a “huge increase” in topical chloramphenicol prescribing after it was rescheduled to PharmacistOnly in 2010. “Expanding pharmacist prescribing runs the risk of disrupting continuity of care, as a GP will not know what the pharmacist is prescribing for their patient and vice versa. “If the Govt is determined to press ahead, we recommend they consult closely with medical groups, including the RACGP, to make pharmacist-antibiotic prescribing as safe as possible,” Goodson added. In Western Australia, the RACGP stated it was able to provide crucial feedback on antibiotic choice, exclusion criteria, record keeping and mandating that the dispensing record be transmitted to My Health Record, she explained. “It’s far from ideal, but it is certainly better than nothing.” JG