Abstract
There is a growing trend, globally, for consumers to self-medicate with non-prescription medications for common ailments. Pharmacists and pharmacy assistants are thought to be in a unique position to support consumers’ purchases of these medicines through the application of knowledge and skills, in an environment in which safety and quality remains paramount. Standards of practice have been developed by the profession to address the provision of these medicines, using a consumer-focused and risk management approach.
The application of these standards has been monitored since 2002, by the Quality Care Pharmacy Support Centre (QCPSC), created as a joint venture between the University and the Pharmacy Guild of Australia. The establishment of the QCPSC has allowed the development of a system to monitor and improve the application of standards for the provision of non-prescription medicines to consumers in community pharmacies in Australia. This system is unique in two aspects. The first is the use of pseudo-patient methodology, also called “mystery shoppers”, “pseudo-customers” and “simulated patients”, for the purpose of both assessment and quality improvement. The second unique aspect is the capturing of data based on assessments of behaviour in practice environments.
To date, the centre has conducted 14,738 standards maintenance assessment (SMA) visits, involving over 4,200 pharmacies across all states and territories in Australia. The data generated by such a system create a feedback mechanism for policy decision-making in the area of Quality Use of Medicines (QUM) for non-prescription medicines, which is of critical importance to the health and safety of consumers.
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Notes
Since 1990, the Pharmacy Guild of Australia has negotiated five-year Community Pharmacy Agreements with the Australian Government, on behalf of its community pharmacy owner members. These agreements, which cover all aspects of remuneration for community pharmacies, have become progressively more focussed on service provision in community pharmacy, and on pharmacists’ role in the quality use of medicines [12]
As part of the accreditation process, the pharmacies agree to participate in the SMA visit program. However, according to the ethics approval granted for the QCPSC, they must be given the option not to participate. Approximately 4% of pharmacies have so far chosen this option. Pharmacies are not disadvantaged in any way by choosing not to participate.
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The authors would like to acknowledge the Pharmacy Guild of Australia for providing funding to the Quality Care Pharmacy Support Centre.
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Benrimoj, S.I., Werner, J.B., Raffaele, C. et al. A system for monitoring quality standards in the provision of non-prescription medicines from Australian community pharmacies. Pharm World Sci 30, 147–153 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11096-007-9162-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11096-007-9162-7