From June, NSW pharmacists will be allowed to initiate the oral contraceptive pill for women rather than just issue a resupply.
In a move he says will ease the “burden” on women, New South Wales health minister Ryan Park has given the green light for pharmacists to prescribe oral contraceptives – and it will even stump up funding for the first 5000 consultations.
While the state has run a pharmacist-led contraceptive pill trial since late 2023, pharmacists have only been allowed to dispense resupplies of oral contraceptives that women previously had a prescription for.
There are close to 800 community pharmacies participating in the resupply initiative, but only pharmacists with a graduate certificate from James Cook University will be eligible to participate in the prescribing initiative.
NSW Health estimated that only around 60 pharmacists in NSW currently had this qualification but said that more were expected to come “online” in the next few months.
Only women “at lower risk of complications” will be allowed to access a contraception prescription from a pharmacist. It is not immediately clear how a lower risk of complications will be defined, or how pharmacists will be able to make that determination.
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The NSW government also said it would pay anywhere between $20 and $60 to cover the cost of pharmacist consultations, but it was a limited time offer – funding will run out after just 5000 consultations.
“This is basic healthcare for millions of Australian women – and this is about making it easier to get that care, without extra cost or hassle,” NSW premier Chris Minns said.
“Just because something’s always been done a certain way, it doesn’t mean it’s the best way to keep doing it – it’s not working for busy women to access a doctor to get a script.
“Being able to go to your local pharmacy and sort it out quickly just makes sense.”
Mr Park was also positive that women would reap the benefits of the new policy.
“Access to contraception should not be a burden for women, and the NSW Government is providing new solutions to make life easier, more affordable and safer for women,” he said.
“I’m excited to announce that women in NSW will now have ongoing and easier ways to continue their chosen contraception option through community pharmacies.”
AMA NSW GP council chair Dr Ken McCroary did not share this optimism.
“It took me 10 years to get my degree, and … we’re hearing that pharmacists [only] have to do a couple of role-plays … and that’ll be enough to allow them to initiate the pill prescription for someone who’s never seen a GP, for all we know,” he told The Medical Republic.
Dr McCroary called the new initiative “policy on the run” and said the state government would likely spend “exponentially more in the long run” as women presented to hospital with preventable diseases.
“There’s no continuation of GP care, so we don’t get to talk about breast care and cervical screening tests and vaccinations and their migraine headaches and the contraindications – all this stuff that’s really important,” he said.
“And it’s not just that; it’s the wider family stuff as well. A couple of women yesterday came in for pill scoops, but we spent most of the conversation [talking through] concerns about the 12-year-old daughter who’s not eating and has dropped three dress sizes since Christmas.
“… This stuff won’t be happening if they’re just swinging by during the day, picking up a script from someone they don’t even know and who doesn’t know anything about them, their health or their family’s health.”
It should also be noted that the NSW decision is separate to the upcoming federal government funding trial, which will subsidise any contraceptives prescribed as part of a pharmacist-led consult to the same level as a PBS script for women who have a healthcare card.
