Last week, AusDoc sent the open letter detailing the dangers of the pharmacy prescribing trial in North Queensland to the nation’s health ministers.

Running to 47 pages, it has the signatures of more than 3100 doctors from all corners of Australia.

While the immediate safety issues relate to the communities being targeted by the trial, the issue of pharmacist prescribing itself is now national, with NSW and Victoria running their own schemes allowing the prescribing a range of S4 drugs, including antibiotics.

With the Federal Government pledging to examine options for expanding pharmacists’ scope of practice, this is just the beginning of a vital debate.