GPs call for pharmacy antibiotics trial to be halted
Allowing pharmacists to issue scripts for UTIs may increase resistance, says Queensland RACGP chair Dr Bruce Willett
The RACGP has called for a trial allowing pharmacists to prescribe antibiotics be put on hold until a national review on resistance is complete.
The college’s Queensland chair Dr Bruce Willett says the state government should wait until the review — titled Australia’s Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy 2020 and Beyond — has been handed down before taking any more steps to conduct the trial.
The call comes three months after the Queensland Government said it was preparing to launch a state-wide pilot program to allow pharmacists to provide antibiotics for UTIs without a current prescription and the contraceptive pill.
The move came out of an inquiry into pharmacy held in the state last year.
