Game changer producing early results
Date: 4 January 2024
Western Australian women* have embraced the diagnoses and treatment of uncomplicated urinary tract infection by Western Australia community pharmacists.During the initial five months of operation, pharmacists in 405 community pharmacies have been trained, and are delivering this critical healthcare service. Collectively they have provided over 2,500 occasions of service. Access to early treatment from these medicines experts has delivered timely relief from the very painful symptoms of this acute condition.
At the time of its launch, Pharmacy Guild of Australia WA Branch President, Mr Andrew Ngeow, described the Pharmacist Initiated Treatment of Urinary Tract Infection program as being a ‘game changer’ for Western Australian women.
“These early results underscore the reasons the WA Branch advocated for the program to be established,” Mr Ngeow said. “The true value of the program is already being demonstrated.”
Community pharmacies began treating patients in the days immediately after Western Australia’s Minister for Health, the Hon. Amber-Jade Sanderson, announced the program in August 2023.
Diagnosis and treatment of an uncomplicated urinary tract infection is now an entrenched core service provided by Western Australian community pharmacies. It is providing eligible women across Western Australia access to convenient, safe, and timely treatment options.
“The feedback that we are receiving from patients is that the program is achieving positive health outcomes,” Mr Ngeow said. “Our goal as a sector is to continue to increase patient access, so that no Western Australian woman should be in pain and suffer unnecessarily, from this very painful condition”.
“Given many of the community pharmacies providing this service are open seven days per week over extended hours, it is no surprise that Western Australian women are increasingly choosing to receive pharmacy-based treatment due to both its convenience and high-quality care,” Mr Ngeow said.
The list of community pharmacies in Western Australia that offer urinary tract infection treatment can be found at: https://www.findapharmacy.com.au/.
* Patients eligible for this service are aged between 18 and 65 years with anatomical female urinary tract, presenting to a community pharmacy with symptoms indicative of uncomplicated UTI, and meeting all clinical inclusion criteria.
For further Information and to arrange an interview, please contact:
Andrew Ngeow Alan Hill
President Policy and Media Officer
0412 650 052 0428 076 278
Contact: Andrew Ngeow
Phone: 0412650052
Page last updated on: 04 January 2024