In Practice newsletter
1 December 2015
RACGP cautions pharmacist role in primary healthcare
The debate continues on how pharmacists can best contribute to the delivery of primary healthcare services in Australia.
The RACGP supports the inclusion of non-dispensing clinical pharmacists working within GP-led teams.
However, the RACGP has serious concerns around patient safety and privacy, should the role of pharmacists be extended to include services such as vaccination, cancer screening, mental illness management or treatment of prescription drug dependence as independent entities.
These critical issues cannot be viewed in isolation and need a whole-of-person approach as is exemplified in a GP-led medical home.
RACGP members have made it clear that they do not believe pharmacists’ roles should expand to deliver undifferentiated primary healthcare services.
There are real concerns in and around basic pathophysiology concepts. Pharmacists are trained in pharmacology – this does not necessarily translate into patient-centred therapeutics, nor does it reflect a deep knowledge of illness and disease and how this affects individuals. In addition, we are all aware of the inherent conflict of interest between a dispenser and a prescriber.
Our position remains clear:
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Access to primary care including preventative health interventions, should be provided within general practice to avoid fragmentation of care.
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Fragmentation of care invariably causes wasted resources.
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Clinical pharmacists within a GP-led medical home model have the potential to add quality and enhance patient care.
It is also concerning that pharmacy trials earmarked for three locations in Victoria in 2016 will see pharmacists administer vaccines and manage chronic diseases.
The RACGP Expert Committee – GP Advocacy and Funding (REC-GPAF) will further discuss the role of pharmacy in primary care at its next meeting on 10 December 2015.
Dr Frank R Jones
RACGP President
RACGP privacy policy template for general practices
General practice has a fundamental role in ensuring the privacy of patient health information. The RACGP has provided resources to ensure general practices are not exposed to breaches of privacy and feel comfortable navigating the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).
The RACGP has worked closely with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner on a revised privacy policy template for general practices, which can be adapted to their individual circumstances and meet the requirements of the APPs.
The revised template covers practice procedures, staff responsibilities, patient consent, collection, use and sharing of information and access to information. The template is designed to communicate to patients how a practice manages personal information and to complement other practice policies such as complaint resolution and breach notification procedures.
For further information visit the RACGP website.
New GP Mental Health Treatment Plan templates include parenting and child needs
Many GPs acknowledged that parenting could be a potential stressor as well as a motivator for seeking help for mental illness. To address this, the General Practice Mental Health Standards Collaboration (GPMHSC) has worked with not-for-profit organisation Children of Parents with a Mental Illness (COPMI) to incorporate parenting and child needs into new Mental Health Treatment Plan (MHTP) templates for general practice.
These templates aim to make conversations about parenting and children a routine part of mental health treatment planning in general practice. The templates also aim to improve treatment planning and outcomes for patients who are parents, support healthy parent-child relationships and promote protective factors for the child's wellbeing and development. To download the template, visit the GPMHSC website.
RACGP clinical pearl – communicating directly with patients via Facebook
Facebook is currently the most highly used social networking service globally. At the beginning of 2015, almost one billion people logged on to the website every month. Many use it as a way to stay in touch, or as a way to share moments from their life or promote their business publicly.
Facebook has an instant messaging feature, where private messages can be sent directly to and from individuals. General practices should take care in directly communicating with patients or followers of the practice’s Facebook page via the messaging feature. Unless a patient has provided consent to being contacted by this means, contacting patients via Facebook may breach patient privacy and confidentiality. For further information visit the RACGP’s Guide for the use of social media in general practice.