Maintain Pharmacist Ownership Laws
The Guild calls for a commitment to not only continue requiring pharmacist ownership of community pharmacies in the NT, but to enhance these laws by:
- Establishing a publicly accessible register of NT pharmacies and owners to improve transparency.
- Limiting the number of pharmacies a single pharmacist can own to promote a professional focus, aligning with other states.
- Restricting direct access between pharmacies and non-pharmacy businesses like supermarkets to prevent commercialization.
Pharmacist ownership ensures medicines are treated as health products, not general retail items. Owners must meet professional obligations over commercial interests.
Expand Pharmacists' Scope of Practice
The Guild seeks a commitment to implement a statewide community pharmacy full scope service model within 12 months, mirroring Queensland's pilot program. Enabling pharmacists to practice their full scope could save the NT millions annually and relieve strain on GPs, hospitals, and emergency services. Additionally, the Guild calls for pharmacists to be enabled to administer vaccines to all age groups to increase public health outcomes.
Support Opioid Dependence Treatment
Over 70% of NT opioid dependence treatment (ODT) dosing points are in pharmacies. The Guild seeks incentive payments for pharmacies participating in the ODT program to maintain patient access after 2023 remuneration changes affected service viability, following other states' approaches.
These policies reflect the Guild's commitment to sustainable community pharmacies delivering focused health services and addressing public health issues in the NT.