Over 1,000 pharmacies across New South Wales have signed up to participate in a clinical trial that will allow them to administer new prescriptions, in an effort to alleviate the pressure on the state's healthcare system. 

As of next month, NSW pharmacists who have undergone additional training will be able to prescribe medication for urinary tract infections (UTI) to women under the age of 65. 

Starting from July, the trial will also permit women aged 18 to 35 to receive a resupply of the contraceptive pill, even if their prescription has expired. 

While the trial was announced by the Perrottet government in November 2022, it has gained support from both sides of the political aisle. 

The newly elected Labor government has endorsed the initiative, with Premier Chris Minns calling it “innovative”. 

Although the Australian Medical Association (AMA) has repeatedly rejected the idea of pharmacists prescribing medication, the president of the NSW AMA branch, Michael Bonning, supports the clinical trial. 

Bonning believes that it will provide the evidence necessary to assess how the change will impact the entire healthcare system. 

In 2020, the Queensland government tried a similar program for UTI medication and permanently extended it in 2022. 

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) was critical of the extension, calling it a “recipe for disaster”. 

However, Pharmacy Guild of Australia NSW Branch vice-president Catherine Bronger believes that this argument shows that “doctors are out of touch with what we do in a pharmacy”. 

Bronger is part of the steering committee of the New South Wales trial, which includes representatives from NSW Health, the RACGP, the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, academics, and practising GPs.

Pharmacists will continue to refer patients to doctors regularly, and they will only diagnose within their scope of practice, according to Ms Bronger. 

“It will bring together more collaboration between doctors and pharmacists. We all just want a better healthcare system,” she said.