Pharmacy Council of New South Wales

Welcome to our first newsletter of 2021, and on behalf of the Council, Happy New Year and all the best for 2021. On 1 February we saw the requirement for Active Ingredient Prescribing for PBS & RPBS prescriptions introduced under new legislation, with a 6-month...

AND WE DO CARE ABOUT YOU… Amidst the turmoil of bush fires and the COVID pandemic, your Pharmacy Council Inspectors have attempted to emulate the aspirations of the US Postal Service, that is, always getting through. Apart from a six week period in April/May when your...

‘Where can I find this information?’ ‘I didn’t know this guidance was available to me.’ ‘I have never seen that advice before.’ These are phrases we at the Pharmacy Council of NSW hear repeatedly when speaking to pharmacists. When a concern has been raised in the form...

Paul Sinclair was first registered as a pharmacist in 1981 and owned community pharmacies in south west Sydney, southern highlands and the central coast during 1981 to 2017. Paul’s professional activities also included Past President NSW Branch Pharmacy Guild of...

In this section of the newsletter we will help you apply the poisons legislation in your practice. Each newsletter will include explanations, guidance, tips and resources relating to one or more of the common areas where the Council sees that practitioners have...

The NSW Ministry of Health has received several confirmed reports of pharmacists being targeted to obtain Schedule 8 drugs fraudulently.

Early in 2020 there will be a number of significant changes to the pharmacy ownership approval process. Lodgement dates: There will no longer be lodgement dates for receipt of applications. This means that complete and compliant applications will be assessed and...

Readers may be aware of the outcome of the Australian Health Practitioner Regulatory Agency’s (AHPRA’s) prosecutions of individuals who were working as pharmacists whilst unregistered and the Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC’s) prosecution of a pharmacist...

Fentanyl patches and oxycodone tablets together make up more than 50% of forgeries reported in the last 12 months, with benzodiazepines coming in next, such as alprazolam making up 9%. When dispensing a prescription for a Schedule 8 medicine, a pharmacist must verify...

Are you a compounding pharmacy who compounds for other stores in your banner group? Or provide compounded medication to other colleagues who do not offer a compounding service at their store but provide a “referral “service? Both compounding pharmacists and “referral”...