Kat THEOPHANOUS (Northcote): I rise to speak in support of the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Amendment (Authorising Pharmacists) Bill 2023, a bill that gives effect to our commitment to delivering a community pharmacy statewide pilot and a bill that will make health care more accessible and affordable for Victorians when they need it most and close to home. Back on 23 November, when this commitment was announced, I was on my second week of pre-poll, standing out at Northcote Central shopping centre talking to hundreds of local residents coming in to vote, doing their shopping or grabbing a coffee with their friends. Let me tell you, this announcement struck a chord with my community.
Over recent years it has become harder and harder to get to get in to see a GP. You can sometimes wait weeks for an appointment, and if you do not have a regular doctor, finding a clinic that can take on new patients can be incredibly challenging. And when you are unwell, finding a GP or waiting a week or more to see them can make a difficult situation even more stressful. On top of that, even if you can get in to see a GP, there are less and less clinics providing bulk-billing. This situation is the direct result of almost a decade of neglect of primary care by the former federal Liberal–National government, but thankfully we now have a partner in Canberra who is committed to fixing Medicare and supporting our GP workforce, and we are working alongside them to deliver tangible reforms to the health system for Victorians. That is why we are stepping in to take action, just as we have with GP respiratory clinics and our urgent care centres, to help Victorians access the affordable care they need.
The community pharmacy statewide pilot is a practical step to ease pressure on families and make health care more accessible in our communities, and this bill is the first step in establishing the legal and regulatory framework to make this pilot a reality. What does it mean for Victorians? Well, the Andrews Labor government is investing $20 million to deliver a 12-month pilot expanding the role of community pharmacists from October this year. I do note the proposed amendments by those opposite, and I will just say that I think that a 12-month trial is appropriate, given that we do want to evaluate this pilot and not delay the implementation of the pilot on a more permanent footing if it is evaluated to be effective.
What will it enable community pharmacists to do? Well, treat mild skin conditions, provide antibiotics for uncomplicated urinary tract infections, reissue oral contraceptives and administer more travel and public health vaccinations, including hepatitis A, hepatitis B, typhoid and polio from the age of five. This will help ensure that Victorians, particularly women, can access care for some of the most common conditions impacting our community. UTIs are the third most common human infection after respiratory and gastrointestinal infections. Women are more likely to be impacted, with 12 to 15 per cent of women experiencing these infections annually. Nearly one in three women will require treatment before the age of 24, and this increases to around one in two women by the age of 32, so half of all women. If left untreated, UTIs can become extremely painful. The infection can travel up to the kidneys and become a kidney infection, which is very dangerous. If you have ever experienced a kidney infection, you will know how excruciating that is. I was in my early 20s when I was hospitalised for a kidney infection; let me tell you, it was a rough, rough time.
Women will also have better access to contraceptives, with the inclusion of the pill under this pilot. Oral contraceptives are the most common method of birth control in Australia, with 30 per cent of women who require birth control relying on this form of contraception. Safe, affordable and timely access to contraception is a priority for this government as a fundamental part of health care. We know that when you run out of your script, waiting to access a GP appointment just for a refill is not just inconvenient, it is critical. The pill takes about seven days to actually kick in and take effect, so disruption to your regular pill schedule is not a straightforward matter and can mean scrambling around to find other forms of contraception in that intervening time where you cannot find the pills to continue.
Last year we did publish the Victorian Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health Plan 2022–30 to provide a framework to ensure Victorian women, girls and gender-diverse people have access to the sexual and reproductive health services they need. We know there are still significant gaps in this, particularly across regional and rural Victoria, so alongside our work to improve access to things like long-acting contraceptives and medical abortions, this pilot is a critical piece of the puzzle in ensuring women and girls do have access to the sexual and reproductive health care they need. For anyone who needs some advice around that, we have a wonderful service called 1800 My Options, which provides independent and confidential advice on contraception, pregnancy options and sexual and reproductive health services that you can find in your area. So I will just put that on record.
Finally, the inclusion of skin conditions, primarily mild ones, will ensure care for very common conditions that affect all parts of our community. For example, one in three people will develop shingles during their lifetime.
By expanding the role of community pharmacists to provide care for these conditions, we will deliver a significant benefit for Victorians. That includes improving access to primary care in a trusted and welcoming setting. It will also help save Victorians money, as the government will subsidise the cost of medications for pharmacists and consumers, so there is no more cost than if the service had been accessed through a bulk-billing GP. The pilot will also help ease pressure on our GPs and hospital system by ensuring access to affordable care in the community and freeing up GP appointments that otherwise would have been used. This is particularly important for regional and rural areas, where there are fewer GPs available. All community pharmacists will be eligible to participate in the pilot, and participation for both pharmacists and patients will be on an opt-in basis. When it comes to our health and the healthcare system, patient safety is paramount. That is exactly why the pilot model will be designed to protect patient safety and maintain professional practice. Community pharmacists are trusted health professionals who already help Victorians manage a range of health conditions. This was never more apparent than during the pandemic, when many Victorians turned to their local pharmacists for advice, support and clinical services.
My mother was a pharmacist, and actually I myself worked in community pharmacy for a great many years when I was at university. What I learned during that time was that pharmacists have an immense amount of respect within our community. They are trusted sources of advice. They have built up relationships with their communities. They are there for our community in a very accessible way when they need them. These are highly skilled and qualified medicines experts, and the depth of their knowledge is quite extraordinary. I will attest to that, because whenever I have any condition or my girls have any condition, the first place I will go to is asking my mum, who is a pharmacist, and she will always have the best advice for me, as she did for all of her patients who came into her community pharmacy.
Pharmacists prescribing is already an established practice in a number of countries including New Zealand, Canada and the United Kingdom. There are pilots already underway in New South Wales and Queensland. This is not a new thing, but it is certainly something that is going to make a big difference to the availability of these treatments for so many Victorians. Our pilot will be guided by a clinical reference group made up of expert clinicians. The reference group will play a critical role in determining the exact conditions, medication and eligibility for accessing services under the pilot. The bill also enables structured prescribing, which is where prescribing is tied to conditions like the completion of special training or following specific clinical protocols. This means that before pharmacists participate in our pilot, they will need to meet certain conditions and complete mandatory training.
The model will be informed by an advisory group representing stakeholders, including pharmacists, GPs and consumers. A safety and escalation framework will also be developed to support the pilot, and the pilot will be evaluated to assess how well it is working. So any future considerations of the pilot will also be informed by work undertaken at a federal level on Medicare and the PBS. The pilot will be safe, it will be effective and it will protect patient safety. It is something that we need to do to create a more accessible healthcare system for Victorians, and I absolutely commend this bill and this pilot to the house.
