Community Pharmacy Scope of Practice Pilot

About the Queensland Community Pharmacy Scope of Practice Pilot (the pilot).

What is the need for this pilot?

The Australian Government Productivity Commission and the Queensland Government report, Unleashing the potential: an open and equitable health system, identified that using pharmacists and other health professionals to their full scope of practice is an efficient and effective way to improve access to healthcare delivery and lessen the impacts of workforce shortages and distribution problems, particularly in regional and rural communities.

The Queensland Government has a current election commitment to work with the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, and other stakeholders to design and implement a pilot of pharmacists practicing to their full scope in North Queensland.

How far we’ve come

12 October 2022

The Queensland Government announced The North Queensland Community Pharmacy Scope of Practice Pilot.

25 September 2023

The Queensland Government announced the expansion of the pilot to the entire state to improve healthcare access for all Queenslanders, regardless of where they live.

21 March 2024

The Queensland Government announced the establishment of a separate training pathway for pharmacists to prescribe medication for hormonal contraception under a new Queensland Community Pharmacy Hormonal Contraception Pilot.

Although a hormonal contraception service is already available through the Queensland Community Pharmacy Scope of Practice Pilot, establishing a separate Queensland Community Pharmacy Hormonal Contraception Pilot means that access to these services can be fast-tracked for women and girls across Queensland.

24 April 2024

The, now named, Queensland Community Pharmacy Scope of Practice Pilot officially launched on 24 April 2024 and will continue until 30 June 2026.

The pilots will be formally evaluated to determine how an expanded role for community pharmacists can assist to increase access to high-quality primary healthcare for Queensland communities. The department has engaged Deloitte to undertake a comprehensive service evaluation of both pilots, aligned to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare dimensions of system performance: accessibility, continuity, effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability, appropriateness and safety.

July 2024

The Queensland Community Pharmacy Hormonal Contraception Pilot will commence. For more information on the Hormonal Contraception Pilot, please visit our webpage.

Resources

• Queensland Health: Queensland community pharmacy pilots
• Extended Practice Authority: Pharmacists – Community pharmacy scope of practice pilot