All Pharmacies across Australia to Assist Patients Suffering Chronic Pain

Federal health minister Greg Hunt has just announced a new program to be funded by $20 million under the Sixth Community Pharmacy Agreement.

The Pain MedsCheck trial will see pharmacies assist patients taking medication to deal with chronic pain that has been ongoing three months or longer, Through a Pain MedsCheck a pharmacist will evaluate and review a patient's medicine and the pain management program that is being undertaken, ensuring it is supporting their clinical need.

Pharmacists will conduct a face to face consultation with the patient and develop a written action plan incorporating education, self-management and referral to doctors or other experts where additional support is required.

The Pharmacy Guild of Australia and the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia will jointly manage the Pain MedsCheck trial, which will be in place for the remainder of the Sixth Community Pharmacy Agreement which runs until June 2020. Training modules will be developed, and pharmacists will be encouraged to participate to ensure they are able to deliver counselling support to assist patients with the management of chronic pain.

Guild national president George Tambassis said the Pain MedsCheck trial was great for patients, "and a significant boost to the capacity of community pharmacies to make a contribution to the management of chronic pain. "It is particularly appropriate that this trial program is getting underway at a time when the management of pain is undergoing a significant transformation, with low-dose analgesics containing codeine becoming prescription only from 1 February," he said.

Source: pharmacydaily, breaking news, 25 January 2018