General News
6 June, 2025
Pharmacists to treat more health conditions following 12-month pilot
Pharmacies will be able to treat more conditions which would usually require a doctors appointment in an effort to improve community access to healthcare and ease the pressure on local doctors.
Announced as a part of the 2025-26 State Budget, pharmacists will now be able to treat 22 acute and chronic health conditions without a General Practitioner (GP) prescription.
The Victorian Government has also announced an $18 million investment to make the consultation free.
Pharmacists who complete post-graduate training will be able to assess and treat conditions including allergies, type 2 diabetes, asthma, ear infections, smoking cessation support and minor wound care with more to come over the next two years.
The announcement follows a 12-month pilot which expanded the role of community pharmacists to provide prescription-only medicine for a handful of services including resupply of select oral contraceptive pills and treatment for uncomplicated urinary tract infections (UTIs).
The continuation and expansion of the program follows a summarised report finding 97 percent patient satisfaction, no serious safety concerns, and comments on how it improved access and convenience — particularly for women needing treatment for uncomplicated UTIs.
President of Pharmacy Guild of Australia’s Victorian branch, George Tambassis, said the “modern reform” is a win for patient health.
“The proof’s in the pudding,” he said.
However, the news has been divisive among the various organisations for pharmacists and GPs.
Victorian chair of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP), Dr Anita Muñoz, said the summary report’s focus on customer satisfaction and convenience was “woefully inadequate”.
“I don’t believe that is a reasonable way to undertake a trial in medicine,” she said.
“We’re not hearing much about quality, safety, and well-honed diagnostic and prescribing skills. We’re not having a conversation about any of that. We’re having a conversation about access and convenience. I think if we decide that’s the most important thing in medicine, we are going to cause problems for Victorian patients.”
In contrast Mr Tambassis views these 22 conditions, which echoes systems used in other states such as Queensland, as fairly uncomplicated.
“We’re all healthcare professionals. We’re all perfectly well trained. If there’s any extra training required we’d do so,” he said.
During the 12-month pilot, according to the report summary, participating pharmacists used evidence-based clinical guidelines and specified training ahead of the extra services.
However, Dr Muñoz isn’t convinced the training pharmacists have or could get compares to the years of training and experience GPs receive getting their qualification.
“It’s not easy to look at a patient and be able to make a diagnosis. Pharmacists are not trained as diagnosticians. They are not trained to examine patients. They are not trained to take a detailed history,” she said.
“I do not see how a nine month online course can satisfy me that a pharmacist has the same skills as a GP.”
In regional communities like Maryborough, where the healthcare system is strained and improving access is a prioritised battle, Priceline Pharmacy Maryborough owner Taren Gill finds herself diagnosing patients every day.
Ms Gill points out pharmacists diagnose people when they consider giving Schedule 3 medicine, a pharmacist-only category which includes some cold and flu medications.
But they also regularly diagnose people for conditions they can’t treat without a GP script — something that could take weeks due to demand.
“We’re going out and talking to these patients anyway and then saying ‘sorry, off you go to the doctor’,” she said.
They’re already doing 95 percent of the work, Ms Gill said, they could be doing the extra 5 percent for some conditions and help local doctors.
“We’re in the same boat rurally,” she said.
Mr Tambassis believes it will free up capacity for GPs to treat more chronic conditions.
“I can assure you the GPs at the ground level are very supportive,” he said.
Locally Ms Gill said pharmacists and GPs work together collaboratively, improving health outcomes.
“The feeling in our community is there’s enough sick people for everyone, there’s no turf wars. If I can take the load off our two clinics in town for vaccinating and minor ailment triaging ... they really appreciate that so they can look after more complex people,” she said.
However, by expanding what pharmacists can diagnose and treat, Dr Muñoz is concerned symptoms won’t be methodically considered.
“The essential premise of practicing medicine well is being able to make the correct diagnosis in the first place,” she said.
“Not everything that coughs or wheezes is asthma.”
According to the report summary, eight to 21 days after uncomplicated UTI treatment 13 percent of survey respondents said their symptoms did not resolve.
However, State Government found this was consistent with published reports of treatment failure for the condition suggesting the pilot’s treatment was “no less effective or safe than in usual care settings”.
Overall, 14 percent reported seeking further care after receiving treatment from a community pharmacist.
Despite the division Mr Tambassis emphasised patients should come first.
“It gives our patients a choice. If our patients in regional areas are more comfortable seeing their GP, no problem, but this gives them one extra choice,” he said.
However, Ms Gill reminds locals that while the announcement has been made, training and roll out still needs to be completed.